To Counter Exploitation w/o Revolution

[DarkBrown]

I am new here, since I have not reported here since about 8 months ago. Some of you might remember me. Anyway, there is something we can do as citizens of this country, if you are a citizen of the United States, to counter the exploitation of the working class in other countries. This was a big issue for Che Guevara, seeing his fellow Latin American working class getting shafted by corporate pigs who have never even visited the factory that makes them rich. You have an U.S. American company selling their products for 3,000 dollars in the U.S. while the product itself took 30 dollars to make in the Philipines. But who's fault is it really that the worker that made this product gets pennies while the owner of the so-called U.S. company makes off with the fortune? Us, the consumer. That PC we are using, that TV we are watching, that radio we are listening to, where was it made? How was it made? Was it made in humanistic conditions? You see, we do not know. Hence it is our job as concerned citizens to make the public aware that we know where these products are made and how. That is where these Watchdog groups come in. With a struggle we can hope to soon see these investigators inspect these overseas shops and report back to a consumer agency, which in turn can inform the public. Heck, they can even label the damn product with a grade specifying whether it meets such conditions concerning wages, working conditions, rights, etc. If they can regulate the quality of food from foreign countries with the D.O.A agency, then they can definitely make one for a cause such as this. But its going to take ethical lawyers and people like us that care to make it happen.

[DaNatural]

brown i agree man, we need to research and become aware of the products we are buying, i recently purchased a book called NO LOGO and in it the author breaks downwages for different countries, etc. it is shocking and i think if the mainstream public was made aware maybe a change could come about. ive thought of photocopying the wages listed, and to spread them throughout out malls hell even on the store windows.

[Nickademus]

i can't refer you to any specific websites/references etc but there is some good work in this regards. there was recently held in canada a conference of all jewellers regarding conflict/blood diamonds and how to deal with this problem.

also CLAIHR, the canadian lawyers association for international human rights is trying to pass a bill in canada regarding selective purchasing so that canada doesn't buy products from countries that don't adhere to the declaration of human rights

[CheGuevara]

I agree with you, we should take more of an active role in selecting what products we buy based upon how they were made, and work to inform others about how they were made with the hope of changing their purchasing choices. However, there will always be some segment of society under capitalism that quite frankly won't give a fuck even if they know for a fact how a specific product was made, and thus will continue to feed the capitalist machine.

[Moskitto]

For things like Tea, coffe and chocolate in Britain and France there's fair trade logos which mean goods are bought at a fair price from third world producers and that's what we try to buy. If things like these exist elsewhere I think people should buy them (where posible) instead of other goods.

[MattTheCat]

The idea of those fair trade logos sound good, but I don't think anything like that exists in the US. It's doubtful that anything will, either, unless there is a larger response. One thing you want to consider is that these people might be poorly paid, but at least they're paid something. You have to wonder if you put their livelihood's at stake when you threaten the product they make. I'd like to think not, but I can't really say that with conviction.

[Moskitto]

The thing with "fair trade" is that unlike what most people think, prices for raw materials are in many cases set by the buyers and thus prices are very low but with fair trade a fair price is paid.

[Nickademus]

michael parenti's book against empire is an excellent source of showing what free trade really is. it also shows how colonialism has been adopted to a no-colonial world.

[versus]

Yeah, the corporate lackeys have us by the balls. But we can fight back using the internet (a tool ironically invented by the capitalist swine) to form pockets of resistance around the world. We can educate each other concerning the injustices going on. I confess I learned a lot from theis site that is why I keep logging on and posting.