Blog #2

           Today I am going to write about the documentary we watched in class, "The hidden face of Globalization". I have been told numerous times, "eat that, there are children in Africa who have no food" (as horrible as that sounds), or "recycle, it'll help save the world!" As a kid, I did not realize the reason why my parents and elders told me these types of things numerous times. Well, today I now know that these types of things are very, VERY important at their core.
           This documentary put things into perspective for me. I never really thought of myself as privileged, having grown up in poverty. But, I have always had something to eat and a roof over my head. I did have to work until I was 15, and even then I did not really need to work. These types of things I did not realize not everyone has. This documentary showed me things I do not see from day to day, women working 20+ hours for 11 cents to 17 cents an hour to produce shirts for Wal-mart. Women being beaten and sent to prison if they asked for the wages owed to them. And here I am, complaining about my five hour shift at Domino's where I get paid about 9$ an hour. It is amazing to me the difference in economy and lifestyle across the world, and how putting things into a world perspective as an American makes me see how truly lucky I am. I have never had to starve, sleep in a hut, or work 20+ hours a day. It seems to me a big reason for this lifestyle difference between different parts of the world is the advancement of capitalism and who is at the forefront of this movement.
           The U.S. has developed seriously fast, going from the industrial revolution where child labor was prevalent and working 20+ hours a day was common to working a mere 8 hours a day 5 days a week for a good amount of money, in comparison to the rest of the world at least. But, with this serious revolution it has had consequences for the rest of the world. The U.S. has become so much about consumerism that people base their worth, their own self-worth, after their material goods. To keep up with this demand, corporations have had to do some seriously horrible things to keep up. The documentary shows women working hours and hours on the same exact activity, whether it be sewing a button or folding clothes, I cannot imagine how horribly boring that would be or how tired you would get doing this for 20+ hours some days. Not to mention, they make little to nothing doing it. They have gotten stuck in depending on these jobs to, so they cannot complain otherwise the corporation will threaten to leave and take their business elsewhere.
            When it comes down to it, I believe the reason why these women are suffering is because of us, the consumers. This documentary just showed one example of the unfair treatment people are getting across the world in factories. The U.S.'s value system has become based on profit and consuming, the cores of capitalism. This documentary has caused me to be much more wary of my buying, and try to buy local as much as I can, because the only way this serious issue is going to be solved is if us, as consumers, start buying from the people who give their workers fair wages, and create products that are environmentally stable and healthy for people. Many people think they cannot do anything about this issue, being a small person vs. a corporation. But us, as a whole, do have a vote. And that vote is in how and where we spend our money.