"Life’s about film stars and less about mothers/ It's all about fast cars and passing each other/ But it doesn't matter cause I’m packing plastic/ And that’s what makes my life so fucking fantastic/ And I am a weapon of massive consumption/ Its not my fault, its how I'm programmed to function."
As I try to be a more ethical consumer, I'm astounded by how much every day things actually cost. We as a society have built our lives around huge discount stores and fast food restaurants. The items may be cheap, but the overall cost is not. Most of us realize now why things from China are so cheap, but its a bigger problem than that. Slave labor is also a factor. If something is so cheap that the company couldn't possibly be making a profit from it, look at it again. Something, somewhere is very wrong.
This article from the Economist describes the latest statistics of human trafficking and the slave labor market. While it does focus a lot on women being forced into prostitution, the numbers they quote about this black market industry are pretty shocking. The trade is too big to affect only a small group of countries, but the recent study that was conducted by the State Department failed to study the business in America as well.
Also check out this in depth analysis from the BBC on 21st century slavery and just how prevalent it reportedly is in the US.
In China, one of the fastest growing economies in the world right now, and where we get many of our products, extensively uses forced labor from their prison camps. These camps are aimed at brainwashing and reforming political and religious dissidents. Even more disturbing are the stories of children in bonded labor in India.
Globalization can have remarkable benefits for everyone. But as it stands now, its bulldozing over nearly as many people. For more information on just how incredibly crazy and important all this is, check out the International Labour Organization's Publications site.
Don't just hop on the Going Green bandwagon, hop on the Go Fair bandwagon as well. Because really, if we're going to blindly conform to anything isn't this the best way to go?
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