Do It Yourself, No Sweat (641 hits)
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Submitted by Steven Durel (View user info) at 2006-03-13 17:13:53 EST
(UConn Daily Campus - Mar. 14, 2006)
"DO IT YOURSELF, NO SWEAT"
While once working at a New Britain soup kitchen, I was assigned the simple task of managing a dessert tray. As the hungry obtained their lunches linearly, fellow volunteers scolded me for not physically handing plates of assorted pastry to the diners. I did not then comprehend why an individual should be deprived the liberty of grabbing communal food with emancipated hands, precisely in the same way I cannot today fathom why our school's Co-op boasts about its inadequate fight against sweatshops.
Our Co-op is a non-profit venture that is purportedly owned equally by UConn's 32,000 students and faculty. On Feb. 1, Co-op President Bill Simpson generously spoke to my English class about the sweatshop-made commodities being sold by the Co-op, a crime that is taking place at most major universities. The gentleman detailed obstructions preventing the detection of ethical violations, but explained UConn's relationship with the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC)—a group that "ostensibly" inspects producers—and handed out pictures of Union Made goods that have also been made available.
Additionally, Simpson humored our questions. I asked him if the Co-op had explored the possibility of independently manufacturing merchandise, since dealing with big business creates the problem of monitoring who makes what for how long, under what conditions and at what pay, at any given time, anywhere within the borders of the globalized economy. The president considered my proposal unfeasible and noted "even Wal-Mart doesn't do that." Where would we get money to execute such an initiative? How could we afford paying US labor wages to birth our precious UConn hoodies, wineglasses, pennants, notebooks, tortilla chips and salsa? What the hell was I smoking?
My class continued deliberating after Simpson left. One student, who actually owns his own business, concurred that the present course is mostly fabrication. He compared current measures to waxing a broken-down car and questioned why a not-for-profit company finds it fiscally impossible to restrain itself from outsourcing. "You must research this," voices on all sides cautioned him immediately, "to understand where this man is on the spectrum"—the Gore/Kerry defense. A sickening collective recoil condemned the fellow student for being an extremist lunatic with no sense of decency, a raving degenerate incapable of perceiving the truth; that our resignation is not a sin and we should cast all the stones we can muster.
Nothing is more corruptly putrid than a self-proclaimed progressivism that proudly champions morality while wholeheartedly surrendering to stipulation. This religion of concession is twenty times more responsible for social ills than any perpetrator because it rests fully cognizant of established evils and still abides by miscreant conditions. Behind the façade of enlightenment, it concedes genuine change for vaporous pretense. We are advised to color within lines, take baby-steps and pray for gumdrops to fall from the sky. Challengers of inconsistent logic are demonized as "idealist," yet they are the ones eager to actualize democracy rather than embracing it only as pure abstraction.
Partnering with the WRC was done with virtuous intentions, as was creating the Union Made logo. President Simpson and others have assuredly advanced in an egalitarian spirit, but they have also done so in an artificial manner. We would be wise not to uphold the same lesser-evil reasoning that once led this nation's government to side with Osama bin Laden over Russia and Saddam Hussein over Iran. We must not compromise real justice for the simulation of efficacy.
If students are truly committed to making a difference and not simply propping up illusions, then we have to rudimentarily reexamine the problem within the correct parameters. Why must we painstakingly ferret for non-sweatshop merchandise rather than altogether abandoning a medium founded on exploitation? Couldn't the Co-op invest 50% or more of its non-profit earnings into actually making what it sees fit to sell? Why not diversify our catalogue to offer unique products from proficient craftspeople? Why not actually take hold of this business that all of us theoretically own?
Autonomy is a hard thing for many to swallow because it presupposes character. Mediocrity is not a remedy for sleaze, but rather its close ally. In spite of disciplinarian cynicism, I am positive that this student body could create the Co-op's inventory if it decided to do so. Regardless of what rebuking authorities preach, I am certain that UConn does have the strength necessary to combat sweatshops head-on rather than outsourcing even that job.
User Reviews
Submitted by joedaddy (user info) at 2006-03-13 20:51:14 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
shame on me for;
1- clicking on this post
2- commenting on this post
3- failing to proofread my comment on this post
And most importantly:
4- looping back to this post
***
"high unemployment rates"
Submitted by EchoBoxing (user info) at 2006-03-13 20:05:19 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
No Comment
Submitted by cuberat (user info) at 2006-03-13 17:40:39 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by joedaddy (user info) at 2006-03-13 17:33:14 EST (#)
Ranking: -1
as long as most of us keep demanding both low wages and high wages, US factories will
continue to close and move even more production to cheaper places.
in most of these places you will find high temperatures, a high population density, low
wages and low unemployment rates
these features combine to motivate workers to work very fast and sweat
if they're not sweating, we're not saving money
it would be wonderful if we could, once again, produce most of our own clothing...
but we won't
and, whoever does will sweat
They will have to
Submitted by stevendurel (user info) at 2006-03-13 17:21:30 EST (#)
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Submitted by Foolproof (user info) at 2006-03-13 17:14:48 (#)
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It involved a deal of writing too.
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2006-03-13 17:20:53 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
ah yessss...if there's a post make me want to stab my eyes out with knitting needles, it must be a Steven Durel© post!
Submitted by Foolproof (user info) at 2006-03-13 17:14:48 EST (#)
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