You shone the light on something that has been left in the dark far too long.
Two scenes are forever stuck in my memory:
1. Shoppers fighting, physically attacking, each other to be first in line to buy the latest techie gadget
2. A spokesperson for some company explaining why his company couldn’t change their policies by saying: ” The consumers demand this.”

Cheap stuff (the more, the better) has become a primary American value.

The global market place is here to stay as inevitably as the sun’s setting this eveing. I’ve never understood, however, why THE MARKET has been hailed as the answer to all the complex problmes of social systems. In some circels the market is talked of in the same tones of reverence as when discussing religion.

I certainly recognize the potential for good. That millions of Chinese and Indians have been raised to a better living standard is wonderful,, for the world no less than for the indivicuals themselves. I only wish that Africa could benefit in the same way. I’ve never understood, however, why anyone would believe that the marketplace, and its competitive drive for profits, was ever perceived to be able to function without restraint or core principles.

Every economic system tried by man has brought out the urge to exploit and to seek to profit by any means, without qualification. Why would this be any different? I know the theory of free markets, but the theory depends on the good judgment of the sonsumers. That’s not working out so well, because the consumers are driven by the same acquisition urges as those at the wheel of the markets.

‘The consumer demands it’ is a recipe for deferring to our lowest instincts at the price of ignoring our better ones. Many of these issues could be addressed by simple adjustments to the system. No one need feel that the system should be didmantled to start over from scratch. Yet, even adjustments remain out of reach, apparently and tragically.

Stories about human rights abuses have been surfacing all along, usually buried in the back pages of any newspaper. I fear the current atttention to these issues will, again, disappear in the wake of an uproar over the next celebrity’s trip to a drug rehab facility.