Water to wine in Africa - no miracle

I caught the tail end of a piece on NPR about a place in Africa with a dilemma that brings up some interesting points about the growing pains of development. I can’t remember the program I heard it on and I can’t remember the place. So, if anybody knows about this shoot me a link.

Anyhow, the mayor of this city is in a real bad situation. His city is incredibly poor and the wine industry is one of the few industries in town. One problem – the area has an extreme water shortage. His people are going thirsty while most of the water is being used to make wine.

In this city, converting water to wine isn’t a miracle; it’s a curse.

The mayor hopes that the inflow of money from the wine industry might improve his city’s impoverished condition. But, thirst is immediate. The wine industry might eventually change the city for the better tomorrow, bringing with it the proper infrastructure to supply water for everyone, but what about the thirsty people today?

Should these people have to sacrifice for the promise of a brighter future? Can the industry provide that future?

I’m just posing questions. I don’t have a clue. As I wrote in the comment thread on 8/24, “I don’t think it’s fair to say that all industry is good. Just as it’s not fair to say all social movements for the workers are good.”

Bill Maher on Cheap Chinese Crap

From the “New Rules” portion of his show on 8/24/07:

“If you (consumer) demand products that don’t cost anything, people will make them out of poison, mud, and shit.”

“Because in China their kids don’t play with the toys, they’re the ones in the factory making them.”

“I (impersonating American consumer) don’t have time to ponder whether these twelve-dollar jeans are a product of child labor. I just know that I’m an American on a budget and our lifestyle is a blessed one and I want to look nice standing in line for an iPhone.”

“Let’s buy toys from a communist police state, you know they’ll put in a little extra love.”

You can watch the entire segment or if you want to skip right to the bits on China skip to 3:20.

The exploitation has begun

Money is actually starting to come in from writing and talking about the quest. Soon, I’ll have earned back half the expense of the trip, which is, you know, a good thing. But…an argument can be made that when the checks start rolling in the exploitation begins.

“Why don’t you leave her alone?” said my translator in Bangladesh, after I asked her to contact one of the garment workers for me again. “What does Arifa get out of this? You write a story and get paid, but what about her?”

I address this issue in a section of my book proposal titled, WHY I’M WRITING THIS BOOK:

I hope this book reaches the right reader with the right means, and the right ideas, so that he or she may take some action to make a difference in the lives of the world’s producers.

As long as there is poverty in the world, there will be cheap labor. Throughout the quest, I came across various international groups that were doing their part to eliminate poverty. Many of these groups are partners with the ONE Campaign to Make Poverty History. In honor of the garment workers who welcomed me into their homes and lives, I will donate 1% of my advance and royalties to the ONE campaign.

Is it exploitation? I like to think it’s not, but in a way it is. The university professor who introduced me to my translator had this to say when I put the question to him:

“A writer writes; that’s how he helps the world. That’s what he can contribute.”

That makes me feel a little better about myself. Anybody else have an opinion on this matter?

Other questions I’m asking myself:

One of my goals of this project is not to be preachy. Does supporting ONE take away from that? Is 1% – of whatever advance or royalties I’m lucky to get – laughable?

Brands source their clothes in developing countries; I source my stories there. Is there a difference?

We’re all Children of the Sun

I’m sure y’all are mourning the loss of Billy Thorpe.

Who’s Billy Thorpe, you ask? The Blasphemy!

BT gave life to the pan-ultimate rock opera/ballad/trippy tune of all-time, ever, in the history of rock ‘n’ roll – Children of the Sun. It’s my favorite song. I’ve got an entire in-car dance routine to it. In fact, I once got pulled over by a cop while performing it. He thought I was drunk. I told him I was rockin’ and he let me off with a warning.

Such is the power of Children of the Sun…

ONE

Bono on America’s efforts to help developing nations: “It’s the crumbs off our tables that we offer these countries.”

John Stossell (the gimme a break guy) on America’s efforts to help developing nations:

“…the U.S. government gave out $20 billion last year, much more than other countries give, but that’s only because we are so stupendously wealthy. If you calculate foreign aid as a percentage of our wealth, the United States gives much less than others.”

BUT…We, the people, make up for the government’s stinginess. Says Stossell:

“Charity almost always does it better.

America is a uniquely charitable country. So when you hear that “Americans are cheap,” just remember: We gave $260 billion in charity last year. That’s almost $900 for every man, woman, and child…Americans give more than the citizens of any other country. Individually, Americans give seven times more money than people in Germany and 14 times more than Italians give. We also volunteer more.”

Should our government do more? Should people of other countries do more? The fact is that there are a whole lot of poor people out there and we’re loaded. The more we talk about them, the more likely we are to help them charitably and politically.

Stossell did a recent show on American Stinginess and he also wrote this story, which the excerpts above are from. As much as we are blamed for the problems of the world we actually do some good. That’s nice to know. But is it enough?

Bono doesn’t think so. He’s the driving force behind the ONE campaign to make poverty history. I went down the list of their partners and I was amazed to see how many of the groups I saw in Asia, some of them working with and educating garment workers. If you’re looking for a way to give to the garment workers, this seems like a pretty good one.

With that, Bono definitely agrees…

Where in the World is Miss South Carolina?

Flip flops hazardous to health

SAY IT AIN’T SO!

This video from ABC News bemoans the dangers and health risks of the flip flop. According to the report, people like me with flat feet can do long term damage.

A pair of TEVAS is featured in the piece. One would have to think that an angry Pat would be giving the producers a call any time now. Poor producers.

A thousand words: Happy Birtday Sammy!

Bangladesh: Floods and Riots

There is a lot happening in Bangladesh right now. The country floods every year, but this year is worse than most. My buddy Dalton who lives in Dhaka has posted pictures from the city on his blog Dalton’s World. People are up to their armpits in water. And with water comes diarrhea and snakes.

And there have been riots at Dhaka University. Students are protesting against the military-backed caretaker government, which has been in place since the fall of 2006. The consensus in Dhaka when I was there was that I couldn’t have come at a safer time. Demonstrations and public gatherings were banned and police were on nearly every corner. I felt safe enough. But it seems the caretaker government is wearing out its welcome.

To explain the situation, here’s a glimpse of my notes on the subject:

The Prof explains to me the political situation in Bang. Their constitution has been formatted so that before an election a caretaker government takes over to make sure the elections are run properly. This was written in after a ruling party was fixing the election boards in previous elections. This time the caretaker government, with the Army’s assistance, decided that fair elections were impossible and they must remain in power. The elections were supposed to be in January, but they keep on being delayed. The scary thing is that an upper military figure is touring Bang saying much of the things that a politician looking for an office would say.

Only 3 stances on garment dilemma?

I found this 2005 story on the Huffington Post during a recent Google session. Bob Burnett visited a factory that makes LEVI’S for the article and says there are only three ethical positions to take on the matter. The weird thing is that after I’ve committed over 4-months of my life to meeting garment workers and visiting their homes and factories, none of these “ethical positions” is my position.

What is my position?

I’m still thinking about that, but it’s not any one of them stated below. The dilemma isn’t that simple. If I was made the World Czar of Garment Ethics, I would encourage organizations to work with the factories to show them that, in a sense, a happy worker is a productive worker. If paying, training, and treating their workers better helps their bottom line, widespread changes may be possible. And that’s the thing, the changes must be widespread. If we focus on one country and improve conditions and pay, conditions and pay will only get better and more expensive, and eventually the industry will jump to where the conditions and pay are cheaper.

Here’s an excerpt from Burnett’s story:

Ultimately our purchase of foreign-made products is a moral question: do we take “fairness” seriously? There are three distinct ethical positions that Americans can take. The first is to view the issue as a consumer and to make purchasing decisions strictly on the basis of price and quality; to ignore concerns about who makes our clothes and what their living conditions are.

The second perspective is to see our decision as a reflection of American global economic policy and to demand that our government protect US workers as the first priority, to take care of our own citizens before we worry about workers in faraway countries, such as Cambodia. The problem with this position is that the Bush Administration has decided that American laborers are not as important as the earnings of their employers. George W. Bush and company are not going to worry about Cambodian workers, if they do not care about American employees; in fact, the Bush assault on the rights of our labor force has lowered the bar for workers around the world.

That leaves a final perspective, which steps outside consumerism and national concerns, and asks what our religious morality has to say about whether we should be concerned about the living conditions of the workers who make so many of the products we take for granted. As more than eighty percent of Americans identify as Christians, the applicable code of ethics comes from the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth, “Treat people in ways you want them to treat you.” Indeed, Jesus emphasized that the rich should care for the poor, “If you wish to be perfect, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor.”