Where was your gnome born?

Several years ago my roommate Betsy studied abroad in Germany for a summer. When she came back, she had a fascinating tale of the German people's outrage over the Polish made gnomes undercutting the German made gnomes. For an actual newspaper article about this, click here. In summation, most Germans don't care and are buying the cheaper Polish made garden gnome. And many of the old German families who have been making expensive gnomes for decades are going out of business. (Capitalism in Europe, who let that in?) Well, I was browsing through Target the other day and saw a garden gnome sitting on the shelf, looking so cute and peaceful. I thought to my self, "Well, he is a bit pricey, I wonder if he is a German or Polish garden gnome?" I was not plagued by the thought that he could be make in America, not possible. So I picked the little guy up and turned him over to see a very small label: MADE IN CHINA. Not even from the same area of the world! (I wonder if the Chinese factory workers realize what they are making and if they do, do they realize how their labor is helping their fellow man all over the world? Do they find meaning knowing that the workers of the world will unite and overcome the evil factory owners who make them trade their labor for money and worse still, they labor making gnomes?)

But never fear, there is an organization ever ready to help us deal with the moral anguish this places us in. The ultimate answer is not where your gnome was born, but if he is enslaved. In the eternal words of William Wallace: "FREEDOM!"