--- Jan Coffey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > "d.brin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > In protecting our farmers, for example, our price > >supports have wounded > > 3rd world farmers exactly BECAUSE we refused to > >let then tie their economy to ours! <snip> > > What? would you have us allow our own people to fall > into a 3ed world state > within our own borders? And besides, we are not > talking about fair > comparisons are we? Sure, if you work people for 16 > hours a day, and you work > kids 6 and up, and you feed them crap, and you have > them live in shacks, and > you pay them only enough to barly survive, sure, > then you can do it cheaper. > We use to have that here in the US we called it > "Slavery". <snip> In the case of certain foods, such as bananas, and various products made overseas (Nike frex, although the worst offenses are supposed to be curbed now), "we" in the sense of US-owned corporations *do* engage in virtual slavery and child labor. By purchasing these products Americans (most unwittingly) contribute to the misery of these people. But consumer awareness and demand (and willingness to pay a higher price per unit) has, and is, making some inroads on these practices. In the past, consumer protest has helped stop practices from the slaughter of dolphins in tuna fishing, to the 'pushing' of baby formula instead of breast-feeding in developing nations. While these sites have obvious agendas (and the first is a little dated - apparently Chichita has started to correct some of the worst offenses, according to the second site), promoting social justice and supporting fair trade practices (without being a Communist!) is possible. http://www.feri.com/lurkingbear/Political/bananas.html "The following links contain excerpts from a series of articles from the Cincinnati Enquirer detailing inhumane labor conditions, environmental crimes and much more from the Chiquita banana company. Chiquita's response to this has been to forcibly quash the story, taking the Enquirer to court and strongarming them into a settlement by which the Enquirer must print a misleading apology and pay Chiquita $10 million. None of the allegations in the articles were disproven, rather Chiquita was able to use the interception of internal voice mail as their legal basis for bludgeoning down the story..." http://ecatholic2000.com/sj/socjust1.shtml (I mentioned Lutheran support of "socially just" coffee, tea and cocoa in a post last year, so I'm being ecumenical today. ;D This site reports that Starbucks is now actively working on supporting "fair trade" also.) Deforestation and heavy pesticide use are two environmentally unfriendly policies carried out on many of these plantations. (links above) Child labor: http://www.csun.edu/~ss63082/child.html This article is about the small investor's ability to promote social justice: http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1104/p13s01-wmpi.html I didn't mean to put up so many religion-based sites, but those were the ones that came up in my brief search; I don't recall the thread in which many organizations, religious and secular both, were listed by various Brinellers, but many worthy projects were cited/hyper-linked. Anybody recall that one? Debbi Remember "No Rainforest Beef!"? Maru GSV Go Us! :) __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search http://shopping.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
