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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>To respond to
the responses to my post connecting the proliferation of<BR>mass-produced
non-tzanua clothing with the ethical problems of mass-produced<BR>clothing in
general:<BR><BR>1) I admit - I just buy regular clothes and other products
manufactured in<BR>developing countries with no unions, labour standards, etc. I
think this<BR>dulls my sensitivity somewhat - I don't really like to think about
the<BR>tremendous disparity between my life and those of the people who
manufacture<BR>my innumerable material belongings. And a sensitivity dulled to
tzedek, and<BR>to the suffering of human beings created b'tzelem Elokim, is
perhaps more<BR>easily dulled in other respects as well (e.g.,
tznius).<BR><BR>2) I will not get into a discussion about whether, given all the
givens, the<BR>people who make our clothes are a lot better off than they would
be if they<BR>were unemployed, or worked in coal mines, or were sold into
brothels, or<BR>whatever. Indeed they are - but they are also quite a bit worse
off than I<BR>am, and that should matter to me. I am not under the illusion that
I can<BR>rectify the large-scale injustices of the global economy just by
buying<BR>union. I am not even so certain that we can, short of mashiach,
eliminate<BR>poverty and inequity. But just because there is no alternative to
suffering<BR>does not mean we should view it indifferently. Remember the story
with Rebbi<BR>(I think) who was punished for his insensitivity to the calf that
was being<BR>led to slaughter? I don't think that story is meant to teach us to
be<BR>vegetarians, but to develop the middah of sensitivity.<BR><BR>3) I am not
positing a direct cause/effect. I am just pointing out that<BR>mass-produced
clothing creates real difficulties in our observance of tznius<BR>and that
perhaps it is not coincidental that mass-produced clothing also<BR>creates
difficulties in another area of avodat H' - sensitivity to the<BR>suffering of
others.<BR><BR>- Ilana</FONT></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>