Handmade pledge VS Wal Mart

Over 10,000 People have taken the Handmade pledge and The NY Times has also featured an article about the Handmade Consortium . Personally I choose to take this pledge for several meaningful reasons among wich were, using my stash of crafting materials, using my creative skills, giving people something meaningful and handmade which to me translates as "From the Heart", to encourage others to try making something to give and to remove myself a bit more from the consumerism of the Christmas holiday.
The bigger issue for me was well hilighted by the movie Wal Mart: The High Cost of low Price and really it just made me SICK!
I have not shopped there for years. I saw first hand what they did to small towns when we lived in Berea KY and after moving to GA I hated working at Mohawk because Wal Mart drove the prices down so far that eventually they had to close down all the domestic looms and outsource off shore. Sadly this year they then closed the whole textile division and some good friends of mine lost their jobs! We (Americans) are going to be dealing with even more of this in the future because we have moved from a society of making things that we need to relying on others to make thing for us. We use to make things for ourselves and now we just consume without thought to where it comes from, who made it and what the real cost is. Since I work in the textile industry I have seen first hand over the last 10 years how this industry has closed more and more US manufacturing facilities. Really I've just seen the tail end of another American Industry dry up.
All this being said, I'm encouraged by the small force of people out there that want to start making again and for the others that don't feel they have the time to personally make things I do hope this Christmas and throughout the year they will consider giving a gift of something handmade, made in the US, made with love and made by fair practice because it truly is the right and necessary thing to do.