You gotta love a letter that starts out with “Holy Mackerel!”

Especially when it’s spelled correctly and, given that Rachel Maddow strives to get her facts straight, it only follows that her spelling would be spot-on as well. It’s that focus on the facts that make our whole office such a fan of her show on MSNBC – and because she’s respectful toward everyone she interviews on her show, no matter their political persuasion.

At Rebagz®, we’ve been very fortunate to have had a fair share of celebrity “placements” – including Angelina Jolie, Halle Berry and appearances on “Entourage” and “Ugly Betty.” But I decided I wanted us to look beyond the so-called “tabloid magnets” and recognize people who don’t usually get fun fashion things sent to them.

Because Rachel Maddow’s a real “statement maker,” we just had to send her (and her hard-working staff) a bunch of our eco-friendly bags – our new “Statement Makers” among them. I wrote a letter telling her why we’re such fans of her show:

- Because she states facts, not fiction.

- Because she’s authoritative without being authoritarian – and always with a sense of humor.

- Because she maintains the same respectful demeanor whether she’s interviewing knowledgeable experts or overpaid wags.

- Because she and her staff do exhaustive research, so that it becomes clear how few facts the aforementioned wags have to back up their talking points.

- Because we can watch her for half an hour and feel completely caught up with the world.

- Because she’s the first woman to create a strong and distinctive presence on MSNBC.

And, above all…

- Because she truly represents people like me, the she-geeks of the world.

About ten days later, our (amazing!) operations manager Alexis Lyman called out, “Marty, you have to see this!” I walked into her office and she handed me an envelope and said, “You have to read this out loud.” It hadn’t been opened – the mail had only just arrived – and so I wondered why she wanted it read aloud.

Then I saw the return address was MSNBC, and that “Maddow” was scribbled above it – and here’s what our absolute favorite newscaster wrote to us:

Rachel Maddow's Note

Holy Mackerel!

Best! Rachel


We all squealed. (Seriously – we’re very geeky that way.) We hope she and her staff enjoy their Rebagz as much as we enjoy their show. If you haven’t seen it, tune in to MSNBC! No matter where you fall on the political spectrum, I think you’ll appreciate her civility and intelligence.

XOXO Marty

The Setting
I was at a meeting of small local business owners last Friday morning and the usual suspects were addressed: too many taxes on small businesses, how banks are buying treasury bonds and other banks instead of making the loans they were supposed to make with their bailout money, health care… The same subjects any business owner who survived 2009 would bring up and, understandably, these topics got the lion’s share of attention.

The Issue
I asked whether there’s some way to get a tax break or a special state certification that might help set apart those of us who do business in a socially responsible way – i.e. using eco-friendly and fair labor/fair trade practices. I talked about the difficulties we face competing with products made in China, and how inhumane the conditions are over there. I pointed out that if we help raise wages overseas then, eventually, it will become more competitive to make things here. And that means manufacturing jobs would finally come back to the US.

(That’s the big “DUH!” of this whole situation. Even if someone doesn’t care about the humanitarian situation, there are plenty of mercenary and nationalistic reasons to support it too! Not that I necessarily want to encourage that sort of thing…)

The Myth
As we were on our way back to our cars, a man who’s in charge of a very large Asian loan fund took me aside and told me that I had it all wrong about China. “China’s going to save America,” he said.

Fortunately for him, it was too early on a Friday morning for me to lose my temper. But he did get an earful about the disgusting way they treat their workers, etc. When it became clear there was no convincing me otherwise, he made his way to his car.

”China’s going to save America” – he was absolutely sincere! And completely, thoroughly and horribly misguided.

The Reality
China wants to dominate, well, the entire planet – including the rest of Asia, lest anyone should think I’m xenophobic. (This man’s last name was Honda, which is Japanese.) The Chinese elite don’t seem to care how they do it, who they abuse, who they sell the organs of their executed prisoners to or who they steal corporate and military secrets from.

And what’s so distressing is there are too many non-Chinese who, at best, turn a blind eye or, worse, don’t see anything wrong with any of that. Between what that man said and the comments I’ve been hearing from American manufacturers, I’m thinking all these people have OD’ed on greed-laced Kool-Aid.

I Need a Scotch
I look forward to stepping off my soapbox with my next blogpost…and telling you all about the “shockingly awesome” note we got from MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow.

XOXO Marty

I know I’ve been outrageously bad about blogging. I promise to do better! There’s just been so much happening that required my attention. But I saw this article and had to share it.

Apple, Child Labor & Other Forms of “Non-Compliance”

It seems Apple has revealed that child labor was used in some of its factories, and there were other forms of “non-compliance.” (Click here if you’d like to read the article.) You’ll see that, in some cases, workers were beaten for their own “non-compliance.”

Because I go out of my way to make sure our Rebagz are made under fair labor conditions – meaning good wages and a good, safe place to work – in the Philippines, this is reaaaallly a sore point for me, especially since people occasionally question our prices. I simply say, “Our bags aren’t made in China.”

Yes, it’s to Apple’s credit that they revealed this themselves rather than having someone else reveal it for them. And I do think they try to hold themselves to (somewhat) higher standards than their competitors. It’s just that I’ve become increasingly disturbed by how complacent most manufacturers are about the fair labor issue. They’re completely comfortable with the fact that people – sometimes children – work in hideous conditions and make terrible wages. They’ll literally say to me, “It’s just too expensive,” in very calm tones when I confront them about it.

Matter-of-Fact Mistreatment

It’s that calm, matter-of-fact tenor to their words that twists my stomach inside out. Of course it’s alright to treat people horribly, so long as we can sell our product. I’ve even read articles about how much better it is for the Chinese workers because they’re not stuck on the farm anymore, the women particularly.

Instead, they get to live in dormitories, and earn minimal wages that they then have to spend at the company’s store. They work weeks without a day off and, obviously, they’re not 8-hour days. They don’t get vacations. Sometimes they get beaten. Or sexually abused. But mostly they just work…and work…and work…so the factory owner and the importers can get better profit margins.

And yet, the other companies (and the Chinese) insist their workers are so much better off – to which I say, in a similarly matter-of-fact voice, that the house slaves had it better than the field slaves. But they were still slaves.

That’s usually about the time when the conversation ends.

Start Building Your Mountain

Please please please be aware of what you’re buying. Remember your dollars impact the world at large. If you purchase something made under fair labor conditions that may cost a little more than that bag made in China, you do two things. First, in all likelihood, you’ll get much better quality. Second, you literally change the world. Just a little – but little bits add up to mountains.

XOXO Marty