Made in China

I wish I could say that I purposely got the props for this image to make a point. Sadly, I did not.

I needed a American flag for another photograph in this series and went to my local Target store to buy it. I was not prepared for what happened next, and it was a source of inspiration I could have done without!

I was directed to the display where the flags were hanging, but none were large enough for my needs. I was about to leave when I noticed most of the flags on display were made in China!

An American flag made in any country other than the USA would was disturbing enough, but one made in China is, to my mind, an outrage! It is common knowledge that the Chinese workforce is, at best, oppressed and, at worst, enslaved.

I will never fly this particular flag because an American flag made by an oppressed worker must never be allowed to become a symbol of our freedom. The only thing worse than flying a flag made by a Chinese slave, would be to one flown made by an American slave.

To make matters worse, when I purchased the Chinese American flag, I was charged state sales tax. I informed the cashier that U.S. flags are exempt from sales tax, but she insisted that the store always taxed them. This matter had to be taken to a store manager to get a refund—and then it was a ‘courtesy’ discount just to make me go away. The dollar they returned is in the picture, as is the receipt showing the tax. I felt this was a fitting irony.

The manager’s excuse for the taxation was that corporate people did the computer programming. Was this an honest mistake? Maybe, but the greed evidenced by where the flag was made has caused me to consider this whole situation, including the supposed accidental taxation, was about money.

I bought a second flag at a Lowe’s Hardware for the other photograph I was working on, and it wasn’t taxed. That flag was made in the USA!

Sending American jobs overseas to control prices, coupled with end-of-the-quarter management imperatives and abject corporate greed, will destroy this country someday.

Until that day, should it come, I will fly an American made flag with reverence…and concern.