I was just sent a trio of articles from the Columbus Dispatch about the damage of illegal knock-offs. You can go here to read the editorial published on December 2, then choose your search engine and put in “Battling Back,” “Thailand’s Counterfeit Pipeline,” and “In the Land of Counterfeit,” published in the Dispatch on November 27, 26, and 25, respectively. They are well worth the read, and here’s why: our buying fakes- fake anything, from purses to shirts to music, to medicines and computer products- supports drug trafficking, prostitution, child labor, narcotics, and organized crime. Just that should be enough to make us reconsider bidding on that gorgeous “Prada” handbag on eBay with the Buy It Now price of $55, but there is more. We are affecting jobs, tax revenue, and life and limb in some cases (electrical products, auto parts, batteries).

I was thrilled when my then-husband handed me a beautiful Coach knock-off he bought in Hong Kong thirteen years ago. We didn’t give a thought to the legal aspects of buying a fake, or the repercussions on the lives of others. It was gorgeous and cheap, and everyone was doing it. In retrospect, I’m sure I wondered how this purchase could hurt Coach- they are a huge company making plenty of money; what are a few knock-off gifts to long-suffering military wives?

I still have and carry this knapsack, and I will continue to do so. However, instead of just breathing in the leather scent as I pull it out of the car, or running my hands along it as I close it up, remembering old times, I will now stand in awareness of what this bag may have cost another human being- a woman, a man, perhaps a child, perhaps more than one person (surely more than one). I will remember that we get what we pay for. I won’t buy fakes.