wealth

random pondering of the day – I finally got around to watching The Corporation last Saturday. I know, I’m about a year late, but better late than never right? Talk about a film that riles you up. My mind was spinning the entire way through. So, one of the big questions posed in the film is: who creates wealth? An interesting question indeed. Consumers sustain large multinationals and are ultimately the source of their wealth. Some Americans are less-educated about issues such as globalization and corporate structure. I consider myself privileged for having the education – both in-school and out-of-school – that I have had. I recognized almost all the commentators in the film and knew their positions. If the “average” American would see the film, they would most likely be exposed to these ideas for the very first time. So, yes, lack of proper consumer information is an issue. And of course, consumer apathy is always huge. But there’s so much more – the laxity of government enforcement for one. I mean how many environmental laws get broken every day w/o the government doing a darn thing about it? And then, even if the government is doing something, corporations will often do a little cost-benefit analysis and realize it’s cheaper to pay the fines (b/c they are low enough) then it is to change their behavior. In the Global South, brutal military regimes often hand profits over to corporations on a silver platter – sacrificing the lives of their own citizenry in the process (check out my former employer – http://www.earthrights.org if you don’t believe me). So now we have two wealth creators– consumers and the government. Then there’s the corporations themselves. Outsourcing, sweatshop labor, mergers & consolidation, high CEO compensation…. the list could go on and on.

But ultimately – who creates wealth? WE do. The collective WE. WE do in the day-to-day choices we make and in the laws we let our represented officials pass (or not pass). WE do when we vote, we do when we shop. WE do when we drive to work and we do every time we make a call on our cellphones or use our credit cards. So, to turn this thing around it will take the collective WE to get organized and fight back. Ok, enough rabble rousin’ for the day.