Nike is an overhyped shoe company whose ads show Michael Jordan soaring five hundred feet above the ground, putting the ball through the hoop, making us believe we could fly if we had their shoes. Nike gets its money's worth by pricing their so-called top-of-the-line sneakers at $125 and up. (Yamada, Masako.np.) Millions of kids in the United States buy these shoes because they are endorsed by some of the world's greatest athletes, such as Griffey Jr., Johnson and Hardaway. Nike uses our jealousy, envy and our dreams to get children's money. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Shoes are inviting and comfortable to wear, but we need to think about who makes them. Nike goes out of the United States to find cheap labor to produce these shoes. Many of the places they go to are mainly poor third world countries, such as Indonesia, Vietnam or the Philippines. Most of us might think this is fine, until we read how much their employees are paid and how they are sexually and physically abused. Nike factories in Vietnam treat women like slaves, paying them as little as $1.60 a day; most of them earn only twenty cents an hour. (Yamada, Masako. np.) Congress should pass a law requiring any American company doing business in other countries to pay its employees at least seventy-five percent of the American minimum wage. Sure, this would reduce Nike's profits, but it would bring more prosperity to families in these third world countries. This would improve the economy of these countries, as well as ensure better wages for employees. Many would begin to wonder why a company, whose profits amount to $237 million, would pay a worker $1.60 a day. (Nike Protest: Boycott Nike. np.) This is simply greed. Nike can certainly afford to pay workers the money they deserve. Most of us know that this company makes a shoe that costs around $10, but raises the price to $120, making an outrageous profit. Nike only cares about how much they earn and how much they can save by exploiting forced labor, paying each employee less than $2 a day. Sure, they say, they're sorry, but they never seem to take any action to prevent this from happening in the future, especially in third world countries that don't have laws banning corporal punishment on employees. A few years ago in Vietnam, fifty-six women did not wear the right shoes for work and were forced to run around the factory until twelve of them fainted. Many would think that a company that has the most marketed shoes in the world would be a little more careful. If they can afford to pay people like Jordan or Woods million dollar contracts, they should be able to pay these people their fair wages. (Yamada, Masako .np.) Nike says they are running campaigns to check working conditions in their factories and try to correct the problems. What they are doing is not enough. They should carry out surprise inspections four or five times a month and interview every fourth or fifth employee to find out whether they believe working conditions are satisfactory. Another solution would be to have a supervisor residing in the United States to supervise work in Nike factories. It appears that human rights activists are suing athletes because they believe that all of these athletes' shoes are made by children in sweatshops earning twenty cents an hour. (Wilson, Coral . np.) It's not the athletes' fault, it's the fault.