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Comment by henvic | Hacker News Reader

In my opinion this isn't really the problem. While one sector might be slightly affected, this is something many more benefit from. For the sake of argument, imagine that Santa was real and gave kids free toys, magically produced, during Christmas time, destroying this industry.

Sure thing, that'd be a pity and would generate some unemployment. However, overall we'd be better off: people would be freed from the costs of buying toys for kids and would have their resources available for other industries and endeavors...

Don't get me wrong: if this happened overnight, it'd be catastrophic for many people, but still, on the long run, we'd be better off.

A real problem, though, is that we're still wearing a lot of low quality clothing. We, as a society, would really benefit from a shift to buying higher-quality clothing that would stay good and last for longer.

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This is the case with nearly all trade restrictions. It benefits some at a cost to a great many others. The people who benefit most, disproportionately so, are business owners, which is why you see so much lobbying for trade restrictions.

Exactly. If you don’t know, you might want to look up Economic Sophisms by Frédéric Bastiat.

In particular, The Candlemakers’ Petition https://fee.org/articles/the-candlemakers-petition/

https://cdn.mises.org/The%20Bastiat%20Collection_4.pdf

Another benefit of higher-quality clothing is that it can be easily resold if you get tired of it or grow out of it, instead of dropping it in the dumpster or donation bin. Brands like Patagonia, stores like REI, and consignment stores will give you credit or money for your used stuff if it's from a known brand. But it's still more work than most people want to do, and it's still going to cost more than buying the cheapest possible item.

This is a cultural problem. Local consignment and thrift shops are great (though avoid giving to Goodwill; prefer either consignment shops that pay you or charities like St. Vincent de Paul). I even know people who are middle/upper middle class who like to visit consignment stores on occasion to see if there's something nice for sale. Those who have been know you can often find very nice and interesting things for a very good price. I emphasize "local" as this does not have the negative economic impact of mitumba, and there is market feedback based on actual need, not coercive practices like those involving mitumba.

Unless there's a disaster or crisis, it is better to act locally instead of feeding into the glamorous, if cliche, resume-padding abstraction of "helping Africa".

For used formal shirts and used formal shoes, I've found ebay much better than thrift stores. Ebay makes it easy to filter by brand and size.

I think you're trivializing the economic problem and failing to show an appreciation of how economies work. It is most certainly a problem that the cotton and textile industries in Africa were wrecked by the influx of free or cheap second hand clothing. Textiles are the entry point into industrialization. So not only does that particular industry get hit, but you kill the seed from which other industries are developed. Expertise, technological know-how, an industrial culture, and economic independence are stifled. We're also talking about a basic good here on probably the most resource rich continent on the planet, not some rare substance that only exists in one place on earth.

This is essentially price dumping.

I’m not trivializing it, and there is nothing wrong with price dumping.

Furthermore, it’s a myth that a specific industry is the entry point to industrialization, period. It might have been historical in most or even all places, but that doesn't mean that it's a required stepstone.

Now this Santa also somehow makes all software and media free forever. Opensource. No copyrights. (That includes AI)

Suddently, more people started caring about Santa.

They shouldn’t. Just find something else to do it’s what people should do, rather than complain.

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