Are we getting ripped off ?

Well, we all love to try out the foreign brands whether in skincare or makeup or clothing. But do we ever ponder over that if we are paying excess or over and above than what we could have invested on some local brand. Are we being ripped off only because of the brand name and seal? 

I came across this serious issue during attending one lecture in college. We have a subject called Values and Ethics in our M.C.A course that deals with several issues of environment and pollution, society and culture, industrialization and growth and so on and so forth. So in this particular lecture, the topic of discussion was British economist E. F. Schumacher's appropriate technologies who quoted the famous phrase "Small is beautiful" for his collection of essays related to diverting our focus on cottage industries rather than foreign industries. I would like to quote (not word-to-word though) a few things that the lecturer discussed on that topic - 

"...Do we have any idea that the branded jeans that we wear for e.g. Levi's are manufactured where? It is manufactured at Aravind mills with our own raw materials and labor for a cost of around Rs. 300 and then are exported to U.S. for just labeling of the Levi's tag and are imported back again, to be sold at much higher prices. What was this brand Ruf n Tuf that was so much in demand a few years back? The rejected pieces that were not labeled under Levi's and was rebranded under a new name "Ruf n Tuf" to be sold at much lesser prices......" 

And not only Levi's, Aravind/Arvind mills has tie up with many other foreign brands and also manufacture a huge range of their brands. To read more about that click here. Not only the customers are being ripped off but the laborers too are being cheated of their share from this huge price difference. I tried searching the net for some relevant articles but could not find much on this issue and I am sorry for this hurried post.

So what do you think about this issue? Aren't we getting fooled to pay those insane high prices for our own materials and the share of it which rightfully belongs to those hard laborers who are being deceived in this process? Isn't it high time that we focus on our own small scale industries and patronize them.

I am not saying that we should not buy any foreign brands but shouldn't we consider what exactly we are paying for? Well, it was a small attempt to generate an awareness. The information provided are true to my knowledge, however if there is any misconception/misinformation I would be happy to acknowledge it.