People have been slaves to the textile industry for centuries. Once it was in Boston, now its in Bangladesh...same shit, different pile. The book "The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy" is a good read if you are interested in learning about the industry and economics. One statistic it gave was that the average American throws away 68 pounds of clothing or textiles a year. Knowing I threw away zero pounds of textiles last year, this statistic is obviously skewed towards the most wealthy of Americans (who wait in line on Saturday mornings to dump off clothes to the Salvation Army on their way to the mall). Twelve point three percent of the American population in 2006 lived below the poverty line. Obviously not all Americans are bathing in luxury, and plenty are working damn hard. The tricky part is, the 'average' American's level of consumption demands the supply of cheap labor and creates an entirely new industry of distributing used clothing to undeveloped nations - creating yet another barrier to guarantee their economic stagnation.

Something needs done to do away with these shops. Also something needs done for those working in horrible conditions. They need help improving there quality of life.

Hot Topic is their own Company, (I've been to their HQ in City of Industry, CA) A lot of their website employees are pretty awesome people--everyone had a computer and a little cubicle that they all DIY'ed. Anywho, I'm not sure what they're involved in because from what I was told by my friends who were Managers at Hot Topic in my local mall, Their district people are old white people who dress in suits. But I think most of their Merch is USA made. But they are most definitely not run by GAP. I used to work at an OLD NAVY and all GAP umbrella stores are Banana Republic, OLD NAVY, The GAP of course, and Fourth&Towne. GAP associates each branch with each other. Lastly, This isn't new news, Folks. This kind of thing has been going on for years and years--anyone remember the Kathy Lee Gifford clothing line? And NIKE? (kids were making shoes for CENTS while they walked around barefoot) And all that was in the 90's. It hasn't ended, and its going to take HUGE efforts to defeat that.

What the hell?! you see, thats why I have stopped buying clothes out of such places..

Actually Paul, Hot Topic is NOT owned by the Gap. That is just a rumor. But yes, it is horrible to think about these sweat shops. Definitely motivates me to research and make my own clothes, as well as other products.

Really, I don't think many people on Threadbanger are going to buy from Gap anyways. The real issue is Hot Topic! They are owned by Gap and are just as bad with Child Labor and sweatshops.

This is horrible if you think about by our living standards but you can't. To these countries, these "sweatshops" provide meals and living spaces for families.

Sadly, this how the world works. While developed countries' citizens bathe in luxury and relative wealth while working not all that much, at the other side of the world, you have the people doing all the dirty work and not having the standard of life they deserve. If everybody would own what they work for, we'd all live like the Amish. Sucks to think about it that way, but it's the truth.

That is horrible! I can't belive, while we are buying cheap clothes, on the other side of the world, children pretty much have to become slaves! Just for us to buy our clothes cheaper!