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Originally Posted by idnami
Slava, Thanks. I'm kinda getting used to being unpopular!
I've spent the last six weeks listening, reading, spell checking and publishing the many messages to the point where I am actually able to break it down to one thing. It's a quite big thing really so it's no wonder the message seems confused and lost on many people. But this is it in a nutshell: Human rights are suffering monstrous abuse due to an undue focus on profit motive.
Many people think we are saying corporations are bad, money is bad, having to work is bad, banks are bad... well some people do think that. I don't. What I think is that we really, REALLY need to think harder about what we are supporting with our hard work and money. Because some of the things we are supporting are killing people... and hurting us. You buy a pair of sneakers at Wal-Mart, you get a good deal, right? But the people who made those sneakers were in all likelihood paid incredibly poorly, so their quality of life suffers. YOU get a crappy pair of sneakers, so your quality of life suffers. Thanks to everyone wanting to save a buck or two, the independent shoe store owner down the street went out of business, so his quality of life and that of his family suffers. Then he has to go work at Wal-Mart because his business tanked and he hates it so the customers suffer!
This is one example. My feeling is that what this is all about is admitting to ourselves that we are participating in a system that is stacked against nearly everyone in some way. And then find ways to withdraw support for that system. I read today that if the "Occupy Christmas" movement succeeded in curtailing the xmas spending frenzy it would cause global economic disaster! I think it's a little scary that so much depends on this season's spendaholicism that the economy would bottom out without it. What do you think?
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I just had to respond to this hilarious Wal-Mart example. I know Slava has already torn it to shreds, but I wanted to share a story of my own experience with workers in Cambodia. I spent some time there and in speaking with a guide, who became a friend, about work the top point he made was that the factory jobs were the most sought after, and that while some factories were better than others in terms of conditions landing a job in one drastically improved the quality of life for the worker and his or her family. Of course standards need to be implemented and enforced, much like the system Wal-Mart already uses, but the 'buy from the guy down the street' argument pretends that we don't live in a global market.
For the record I can't stand Wal-Mart, not because of the labor or the quality of goods, but because entering the store makes me want to punch things, mostly myself.