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Billions are spent by corporations to advertise valueless products such as cigarettes and Starbucks. A consumer rebellion of one person might not put a dent in big business, but could do wonders for that individual’s conscience. Because of the marketing process, we have been conditioned into believing that there are certain things that we must have in order to achieve comfort of mind. It could be something as innocent as the softness of toilet paper – that’s not a high end item by any means, and I’m not advocating picking up a pile of corn cobs out in someone’s field, even if they are free. My point is that we don’t think in real (i.e. relative) terms about what we do in the consumer world. If we are modest in our habits, we congratulate ourselves. Consuming is not the problem. The promotion of selfishness through consumerism is the problem. It dulls our minds by diverting thoughts away from others and onto our self. Here’s a little exercise for the next trip out into the world – look at a random individual and ”see” them as a person of worth. What do you feel? *Note of caution – it may bring up disturbing feelings because this is at direct odds with self thinking or unconscious stereotyping.
On the special events page of Hope Worldwide (see blogrole) you will find out what’s going on in this GNO. For a clip of CNN’s report click here.
When I started to read about watch dog organizations, I thought they were less than useless because they had no power to enforce what they were telling governments to do, even if the government agreed to abide by the guidelines. The guidelines were noble, necessary, and in theory do-able, but if the government had 5 years to implement and report on their progress, who was going to get after them in those 5 years if they were doing nothing, or worse, and what was the punishment if they failed to comply? After putting this depressing thought aside, I went on to think of positive responses to poverty and inequality. Over time, the thought occurred to me that these groups are useful precisely because they are ankle biters. They don’t go away even if they are too small, and have little, or no enforcement power. They are the missing conscience of big government – even if they don’t quite get it right with policy. I know you can’t legislate morality, but you can stand up and give witness to a group of people who are being denied basic human rights. So bite on watch dogs.
The October 1, 2007 issue of Newsweek has a great feature on several ways people are working to solve the overwhelming problems facing the world’s poor. This is a good introduction to the idea of getting involved and making a difference. Enjoy, and let your heart be moved to action, not despair! Here’s a link for an interview with Bill Gates .
