Far More Than You Bargained for

Picture this: you purchase a fake Gucci handbag in Los Angeles for a mere fifty dollars. The invisible, yet oh-so realistic price tag includes an extensive list of crimes and obscenities that greatly outweighs those fifty dollars. Counterfeit goods are far more than cheap imitations of luxury brand items in the realm of fashion. When one purchases such articles, he or she supports indecencies such as child labor and terrorism, as well as countless additional dreadful crimes.
Affordability is the ultimate motive for consumers to purchase counterfeit goods; however, injustice is the true price that is taking its toll on innocent laborers. “Though many consumers know they're buying knockoffs and don't care, agents said they should not assume their counterfeit deal is a victimless crime. The items are often manufactured overseas in sweatshop conditions, sometimes involving child labor, and the proceeds provide financial support to organized crime in the U.S., Russia and China” (McMahon). It is all too simple to ignore the horrific fact that child and adult workers suffer to create mediocre goods since production takes place in foreign parts. Consumers merely witness the finished product whilst its haunting past is masked by the out of sight, out of mind frame of thought. “While many genuine designer products are manufactured overseas, U.S. and international companies that invest large amounts of money to invent, design, promote and sell the authentic goods in the U.S. are being financially harmed by counterfeits -- leading to lost jobs here” (McMahon). Not only do workers overseas endure hardships; Americans are presented with fewer occupational opportunities as well. It is morally corrupt to replace the duty of an American operative with that of a child laborer overseas. Although fakes are affordable, their true cost is highly disturbing.
Terrorism and peddling counterfeit goods are seemingly different offenses; however, not only are they similar, they are intertwined. “Reports indicate that funds from the sale of counterfeit goods are being used to support the activities of terrorist groups, such as Hezbollah, and paramilitary organizations” (Cheek). False goods are to terrorists what cookies are to girl scouts; means of fundraising. Unlike girl scouts, there is no fun taking place in the fundraising of terrorists. “Sales of counterfeit T-shirts may have helped finance the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, according to the International Anti-counterfeiting Coalition. ’Profits from counterfeiting are one of the three main sources of income supporting international terrorism,’ says Magnus Ranstorp, a terrorism expert at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland” (Thomas). Acquiring bogus goods is not frowned upon in our society nearly as much as terrorism is, and it should very well be. Not only are you breaking the law when you purchase such articles, you may be generating funds to terrorist organizations. Next time you come across a counterfeit vendor, do not succumb to his or her merchandise that fuels the flame of injustice.
Nowadays, such a large quantity of individuals own counterfeit goods that we often overlook that they are illegal articles. “Most people think that buying fake goods is harmless. But counterfeiting rackets are run by crime syndicates that also deal in narcotics, weapons, child prostitution, human trafficking, and terrorism” (Thomas). Do you ever wonder why phony bags are sold out of the trunk of some