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  • From: "Alan MacHett" <machett AT ibiblio.org>
  • To: internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [internetworkers][--Re:s] Wal-Mart
  • Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2003 21:24:46 -0400 (EDT)

James Manning said:
> ...We're financial sluts, willing to trade our values and principles
> for cheaper goods and services. We can't expect corporations to act
> differently until we do, and that's a huge battle to fight, albeit
> one worth fighting IMHO

The problem is that most people don't have the patience or knowledge to
contemplate such issues in full or at all. It's not their fault, really;
laziness is innate in most creatures. It's an ancient survival mechanism
-- expend no extra/fruitless effort -- and, unfortunately, it has negative
consequences for modern Homo sapiens.
Ideally, the solution to most modern ills would be education. So many
economic and social ills would disappear if understanding (empathy) and
critical thought (logic) were taught early and taught well. Again,
though, the problem is innate laziness. So the other solution is, alas,
ironically contrary to that precept and to general freedom: Protection by
the Enlightened, to borrow a concept from Colonial times. Grrrrr! the
very notion makes gut tighten -- it's the same self-aggrandizing
pseudo-logic that the Posers-That-Be use to justify the status quo. Alas,
perhaps it has some merit. Idunno. Which is better: leave shit to it's
own potentially self-destructive ends, or force the sheep into a corral
for rehabilitation and eventual reintroduction to the wild???


Steven Champeon said:
> ...I heard a woman on NPR the other day, talking about "free trade"
> [snip]
> I'm sure this will be calmly received and interpreted as "Steve
> wants the Chinese to suffer these things while we all lose our jobs",
> but I did my best, I suppose.

Eh... the argument could go both ways. Some people love the sensation of
physical labor and the joy of a finished/crafted product; they can't
imagine why someone would want to sit behind a desk all day. Granted,
we're not talking about the truly wearying and dangerous jobs. And anyone
who's seen or worked in a place like "Office Space" knows that the
white-collar world isn't all it's cracked up to be.

The world needs garbage men.

In a Perfect World, we'd spend our military billions on robot and AI
research so that we could have mechanical laborers do all the drudgery for
the planet, leaving the human population to, hopefully, better itself.


Shea Tisdale said:
> The real question is what does someone do to help stop a corporate
> beast like this. I mean, me not shopping there is hardly a dent...


explosives, my man, tons and tons of well-placed explosives...
;)

-Alan MacHett




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