anon: you may not have noticed, but there is already a resource crisis going on, though not quite of apocolyptic proportions. When people starve to death, ain't got fresh water, thats a crisis. And this is happening to billions of people, by no means a small number. I look at the past and the present, and perdict that any further shortages will not be taken out of the American pot, just like now.
Originally posted by mikhael
I'm not responsible for anyone's condition but my own and the people with whom I interact. Those other humanoid organisms on the other side of the dirt ball? I don't do a thing to affect their condition. You might argue that I interact with organizations that have affected their condition, but that's like arguing that lumberjacks are responsible for murder because someone beats someone else to death with a 2x4. Non seqitr, as the Romans like to say.
I could just as easily been born a cockroach. Actually, given the strict mathematical odds, I had more of a chance to be born a roach, or other arthropod, than I did of being born a mammal, let alone a hominid, or indeed a homo sapien. That doesn't mean I'm going to help them flourish.
All any rational person needs to care about is their segment of the world. Rational self-interest dictates the rest. What this actually boils down to is an exercise left to the reader.
Among others things, you are a citizen of the United States and you are a consumer. Those two things are your clearest links to Third World exploitation and suffering.
Unless you disown your country, which I don't think you're doing, you are responsible for the government's actions. Good so far? OK, then we have the US government using its influence (sanctions, trade threats, military threats, debt, media representation etc) to push what is commonly reffered to (though rarely in the States) as neo-liberal economic programs. Countries which are too weak to resist, as most are, really have no choice but to accept. The damage that could be inflicted on them by refusing is just too great. So, under "globalization", several things happen to a country's economy. First, all government works are privatized and sold off at bargain prices. And who buys them? American and British corporations mostly. Another thing that happens is that borders are opened up to free trade. Imports from heavily subsidized foreign nations (First World) flow in, while the local goverment is prevented from subsidizing its own economies under the rules which they accepted. This destroys local industries, who can not compete with foreign imports. You then have a large number of jobless people, who flock to the cities in hopes of finding work there. A massive influx of people creates a large pool of cheap labourers. Wages go down, work conditions worsen. The government, in an effort to attract foreign investors which they believe will get their economy out of the gutter, creates Export Processing Zones (EPZs), which are factory complexes where foreign companies get a several years (5-10) tax holiday. American corporations (Nike, Walmart, GAP etc etc) use these EPZs as a means of ultra-cheap manufacturing. Materials are brought it, tax free, the workers assemble them, tax free, and the final goods are exported again, tax free. Within the EPZs, local government allow gross violations of labour law, all in an effort to keep the foreign investors. Sometimes, they even use the military to crush unionization attempts. When the 5 year tax holdiay runs out, the American corporations either move to a new country or sign up with a new contractor to get the tax break all over again. The workers are paid so little that they can not contribute to the local economy in any meaningful way. The corporations contribute nothing at all to the economy, so instead of being a give-take relationship as it usually is, it is what amounts to economic plunder. The wages are kept down by competing nations using the low wages as an incentive to attract foreign corporations. A race to the bottom. All this is conductedthrough smany layers of contracting and sub-contracting to excuse the multination corporations from any responsibility.
Thats the first part, thats how you as an American citizen are responsible. As a consumer, its much simpler. You buy the goods which are manufactured by these companies, thus supporting them. At no point do you question their unethical practices. These goods that are produced in sweatshops around the world, they're made for you. A $30 shirt is not made to be bought by an Indonesian making 20 cents an hour.
Furthermore, you defend (as I understand it) the government which allows these corporations to do as they please. The fact that Dubya (and Kerry and most politicians) are feasting at the corporate trough is no secret. Nor is the fact that they consistantly make policy to help their corporate buddies get off the hook.
This is not an abstract link, its quite direct if you think about it. What you are implying, is that might makes right. There is no such this an justice or injustice, because it doesn't concern you.
You can disregard others, so long as your are not actively harming them. If you are, you are responsible.
