"Economic Slavery"
" Slavery is a dictative condition where one human being declares ownership to another".... think about it....
My outburst is not to old slavery. Neither is it about race, religion or national orign..NO! It's more contemporary and lives with us today. Society is so blinded by the urge to make profits and get wealthier that the injustices against its members is not only overlooked and justified, but almost deemed a norm. Consider this.....
.....Every time you succumb to the temptation of your sweet tooth an eat a chocolate candy bar, somewhere in west Africa, a child is working cocoa farms from sunrise to sunset for about 25 cents a day or no pay in some cases.....poor working conditions, no healthcare, just t name a few...
.......Every time you buy a pair of expensive trendy shoes or clothes...somewhere in the US, a sweat shop is run employing illegal immigrants for less than minimum wage and no benefits as they pursue happiness in "the land of milk and honey"
.......Every time you take a breath, somewhere in Thailand, sex slaves are auctioned to the highest bidder....children as young as 8 are usually preferred by underground pedophiles who travel internationally to satisfy their sick desires.....Women are used as maids serving anywhere from basic to sexual needs.....
These soul-destroying brutality is not only unacceptable, but inhuman! I am not telling you not to eat a candy bar or wear the latest Nike shoes.....No....there are some legitimate manufacturers out there and organizations like the UN, UNICEF, WHO just to name a few who are trying to stop these atrocities........just be aware....open your eyes!
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This post reflects important challenges with regard to our consumer behavior. We live in a very consumer driven society- as we can see right now, when we stop spending money on stuff, everything rapidly unravels. Clothing, jewelry and gems, electronics, chocolate, cheap beef, wood, coffee, sugar, and other goods and resources made, grown, or mined in developing countries are among the worst offenders.
ReplyDeleteWe can all challenge ourselves to think about our consumer behavior and who it affects. Towards the end of the semester, we'll watch a great video about the process of producing 'stuff' from raw materials to the garbage. One of the interesting concepts is that of "hidden costs," which refers to all of the things that we never actually pay for when we buy cheap goods- labor, damage to the environment, wasteful packaging, etc.- things that, because of the exploitation that Anne talks about, actually come to us for free!
This posting partially intersects with the topic of my paper, which is child labor. Researching my topic, I came to the conclusion that one reason for exploitation is consumerism. Demands to increases production caused by increasing demand contribute to exploitation. Besides the exploitation of people, consequences of this system include damage to the environment, contribution to climate change, and a high rate of depleting resources. Although people have always debated in regard to these consequences, not much has been done so far to shift toward a low-consumption system. No doubt, a high-consumption lifestyle is very appealing to the majority of us.
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