Selling the sacred
Nothing is sacred anymore. We've poisoned everything in our quest for cheap commodities. We are raping the global south of their resources, and capitalizing on the misery and disparity that we create in this world, in order to live ever more gluttonously while others are worked to death in sweatshops.
The first thought that jumps to our minds when we think of sweatshops is the clothing we are guilty of wearing. Although the issue of sweatshop-produced clothing has been exposed to the mainstream (yet not acted on), the fact remains that nearly all other products, which we needlessly consume, are also produced by exploiting the poorest of people on earth.
The Associated Press, with the help of an investigation by the National Labor Committee, recently broke a major story that has once again put the spotlight on our use of outsourced sweatshop labour. The story, which was surprisingly picked up by every major news outlet, shocked Americans, who were horrified to learn that the crucifixes sold in many church gift shops were being made in a Chinese sweatshop where women and children worked under some of the worst possible conditions.
Just how bad were the conditions at this particular sweatshop? “Horrific” is how Charles Kernaghan, director of the National Labor Committee, described them as he gave a press conference in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, which was one of the many churches that carried these sweatshop-crucifixes in their gift shops. The workers there, mostly young girls, work from 8 a.m. until 11:30 p.m. seven days a week for a mere 26 cents an hour. They are not allowed any sick days or vacation, and live in tiny filthy dormitories on-site where they are fed watery slop.
The fact that the church was profiting off the sale of crucifixes made in sweatshops shocked many American Christians, and even caused many churches to pull them off their shelves in embarrassment. But why is this shocking? Would it be OK if this factory was producing something else for these same Christians to consume? Would they be as shocked to learn that nearly everything they purchase to celebrate Christmas is the product of exploitation? Why doesn't the GAP or Wal-Mart pull their entire stock off every one of their stores' shelves in embarrassment every time they get exposed as the merciless sweatshop-employing corporate monsters that they are?
Even though it's shocking to some that Christian churches would seek to profit by exploiting the very people that Jesus attempted to empower, we can't criticize the church without criticizing ourselves first. How do you think we in the west have accumulated such wealth?
Why do we feel entitled to consume more than 80 per cent of the world's resources even though we comprise only 20 per cent of its population?
Do you believe we do nothing to enforce and maintain this disparity?
Do you believe that poor nations keep themselves poor voluntarily and let us take all of their resources?
Do you believe that the poorest people in the world volunteer to be exploited and worked to death in sweatshops so that we can get everything we desire ridiculously cheap?
Let's face it, we are the ones responsible for creating and maintaining the incredible social and economic injustices in the world today. Therefore we also have the power, and responsibility, to stop.
It's time to give back. It's time for solidarity. It's time for us to boycott exploitation. It's time for us to demand that workers everywhere be treated as human beings and paid fairly. It's time for us to re-evaluate our lives and separate our wants from our needs. It's time to give up our obsession with accumulating possessions and wealth and live simply so that others may simply live.
Check out “The Solidarity Economy: The impact of ‘Free' Trade and the Mayan alternative” and hear Leocadio Juracan, the Fair Trade coordinator and national representative of the Campesino Committee of the Highlands speak about his movement in Guatemala. This Tuesday, November 27 at noon in room A2006.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
The first thought that jumps to our minds when we think of sweatshops is the clothing we are guilty of wearing. Although the issue of sweatshop-produced clothing has been exposed to the mainstream (yet not acted on), the fact remains that nearly all other products, which we needlessly consume, are also produced by exploiting the poorest of people on earth.
The Associated Press, with the help of an investigation by the National Labor Committee, recently broke a major story that has once again put the spotlight on our use of outsourced sweatshop labour. The story, which was surprisingly picked up by every major news outlet, shocked Americans, who were horrified to learn that the crucifixes sold in many church gift shops were being made in a Chinese sweatshop where women and children worked under some of the worst possible conditions.
Just how bad were the conditions at this particular sweatshop? “Horrific” is how Charles Kernaghan, director of the National Labor Committee, described them as he gave a press conference in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, which was one of the many churches that carried these sweatshop-crucifixes in their gift shops. The workers there, mostly young girls, work from 8 a.m. until 11:30 p.m. seven days a week for a mere 26 cents an hour. They are not allowed any sick days or vacation, and live in tiny filthy dormitories on-site where they are fed watery slop.
The fact that the church was profiting off the sale of crucifixes made in sweatshops shocked many American Christians, and even caused many churches to pull them off their shelves in embarrassment. But why is this shocking? Would it be OK if this factory was producing something else for these same Christians to consume? Would they be as shocked to learn that nearly everything they purchase to celebrate Christmas is the product of exploitation? Why doesn't the GAP or Wal-Mart pull their entire stock off every one of their stores' shelves in embarrassment every time they get exposed as the merciless sweatshop-employing corporate monsters that they are?
Even though it's shocking to some that Christian churches would seek to profit by exploiting the very people that Jesus attempted to empower, we can't criticize the church without criticizing ourselves first. How do you think we in the west have accumulated such wealth?
Why do we feel entitled to consume more than 80 per cent of the world's resources even though we comprise only 20 per cent of its population?
Do you believe we do nothing to enforce and maintain this disparity?
Do you believe that poor nations keep themselves poor voluntarily and let us take all of their resources?
Do you believe that the poorest people in the world volunteer to be exploited and worked to death in sweatshops so that we can get everything we desire ridiculously cheap?
Let's face it, we are the ones responsible for creating and maintaining the incredible social and economic injustices in the world today. Therefore we also have the power, and responsibility, to stop.
It's time to give back. It's time for solidarity. It's time for us to boycott exploitation. It's time for us to demand that workers everywhere be treated as human beings and paid fairly. It's time for us to re-evaluate our lives and separate our wants from our needs. It's time to give up our obsession with accumulating possessions and wealth and live simply so that others may simply live.
Check out “The Solidarity Economy: The impact of ‘Free' Trade and the Mayan alternative” and hear Leocadio Juracan, the Fair Trade coordinator and national representative of the Campesino Committee of the Highlands speak about his movement in Guatemala. This Tuesday, November 27 at noon in room A2006.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
