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Friday, April 6, 2007

Self-Sufficiency: Road to Poverty and Bad Fashion

From Wired Magazine, a story on the "100 Mile Suit:"

When educator and designer Kelly Cobb decided to make a man's suit only from materials produced within 100 miles of her home, she knew it would be a challenge. But Cobb's locally made suit turned into a exhausting task. The suit took a team of 20 artisans several months to produce -- 500 man-hours of work in total -- and the finished product wears its rustic origins on its sleeve.

Cobb's suit is a demonstration of the massive manufacturing power of the global economy. Industrial processes and cheap foreign labor belie the tremendous resources that go into garments as simple as a T-shirt.


Here's a photo gallery of the 100-mile "suit."

Thanks to Russ Roberts at Cafe Hayek, who points out that "Self-sufficiency is the road to poverty."

Having access to the global economy gives us access to the best the world has to offer, which is usually better (and cheaper) than what your local area has to offer. Think globally, shop globally, travel globally and invest globally.

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