I was thinking about this the other day. I was walking to work and I wanted to listen to the news so I
popped into this Radio Shack to buy a radio. I found this cute little green radio for 4 dollars and 99
cents. I was standing there in line to buy this radio and I wondering how $4.99 could possibly capture
the costs of making this radio and getting it to my hands. The metal was probably mined in South
Africa, the petroleum was probably drilled in Iraq, the plastics were probably produced in China,
and maybe the whole thing was assembled by some 15 year old in a maquiladora40 in Mexico. $4.99
wouldn’t even pay the rent for the shelf space it occupied until I came along, let alone part of the staff
guy’s salary that helped me pick it out, or the multiple ocean cruises and truck rides pieces of this radio
went on. That’s how I realized, I didn’t pay for the radio.