Saving the Children and Corporate Guilt
You know something that really burns my butt? I hate it when people use guilt as a weapon. I also hate the fact that otherwise wonderful people are put in the position of needing to use guilt to get their basic needs met. Let me give you two examples.
The other day I was watching television when an advertisement for the Christian Children’s Fund came on. Now, don’t get me wrong. I believe they are doing important work for exceedingly needy children and families, and a few years ago I came really close to sponsoring a child. It rips my heart out to see the plight of these children. I’m also not the kind that says “go suffer as long as I don’t have to watch it.” Those are my brothers and sisters, my cousins and fellow human beings in that commercial. We are all in this together and if they are suffering, I am suffering.
What gets me is that they have to rely on pictures of crying, destitute babies and children. They have to use pictures of streets with sewage running down it. They have to show a malnourished and sick and suffering child held in a malnourished mother’s arms.
Why are these children suffering? Because much of society believes that dollars are almighty and profits are valued over humanity. Why are farmers paid to let fields lie fallow, pour milk on the ground, and otherwise receive subsidies to not grow crops? Because it would drive the price down to overproduce and there would be no profit. A spiritual solution, one that valued human rights and dignity above dollars, would say grow as much as you can. Don’t worry about market price and growing yourself out of a living wage. You will get the money you need to live, and any excess food and crops will be put to good use. There could be a worldwide clearinghouse of foods and we could treat the human family as one big family. Farmers could take pride in producing to the best of their ability rather than being rewarded for mediocrity and producing only enough to keep a small but profitable supply.
Yes, I think everyone in the world should be guaranteed a living wage, including farmers in the United States and rural inhabitants of Guatemala, where six year old Maria is crying and in need of vaccination and food because her parents can’t find work. The Christian Children’s Fund commercials should be played on BNN, the Billionaires News Network. If the bottom 80% of the US population has only 7.8% of the wealth (as of 1992) then why are we (I’m certainly in the bottom 80%) the ones that are being appealed to? We are the ones that can least afford it.
Another example of this economic injustice is the letter I got from my niece. Their school is selling magazine subscriptions to raise money. The appeal is a little pink and white form that is addressed in her handwriting. It is very well crafted so that all young school-children can fill it out for maximum chance at tugging heartstrings and helping us feel the need to give to a good cause. It is addressed in her handwriting. It also says that the school or group can keep 40 cents of every subscription dollar. I’d rather send the school a check for $20 than have to buy $50 worth of magazines for them to get that $20. Besides, I think most magazines are ill-disguised collections of advertisements.
Don't you think it is ridiculous that one of the most vital aspects of our society, education, is in such dire need of funding that we need to have our children use guilt as a tactic to raise money, much of which goes to increase circulation of magazines that use that increased circulation to demand higher prices for running ads. We should be paid for being subjected to advertisements. If it said that they schools kept 80 cents on the dollar, maybe you'd have me writing a check because I'd feel it was more than a feeble marketing attempt with child labor.
I guess a third example would be the advertisement from Wal-Mart that showed these hard-working school kids doing odd jobs to earn money so they could buy things to donate to those in need. Of course they were expected to go to Wal-Mart to spend this hard earned money. That means more profits for Wal-Mart. Why doesn’t Wal-Mart just donate the goods?
Ultimately the reason they try to use guilt on us is that we are still capable of feeling guilt. ‘Nuff said.
The other day I was watching television when an advertisement for the Christian Children’s Fund came on. Now, don’t get me wrong. I believe they are doing important work for exceedingly needy children and families, and a few years ago I came really close to sponsoring a child. It rips my heart out to see the plight of these children. I’m also not the kind that says “go suffer as long as I don’t have to watch it.” Those are my brothers and sisters, my cousins and fellow human beings in that commercial. We are all in this together and if they are suffering, I am suffering.
What gets me is that they have to rely on pictures of crying, destitute babies and children. They have to use pictures of streets with sewage running down it. They have to show a malnourished and sick and suffering child held in a malnourished mother’s arms.
Why are these children suffering? Because much of society believes that dollars are almighty and profits are valued over humanity. Why are farmers paid to let fields lie fallow, pour milk on the ground, and otherwise receive subsidies to not grow crops? Because it would drive the price down to overproduce and there would be no profit. A spiritual solution, one that valued human rights and dignity above dollars, would say grow as much as you can. Don’t worry about market price and growing yourself out of a living wage. You will get the money you need to live, and any excess food and crops will be put to good use. There could be a worldwide clearinghouse of foods and we could treat the human family as one big family. Farmers could take pride in producing to the best of their ability rather than being rewarded for mediocrity and producing only enough to keep a small but profitable supply.
Yes, I think everyone in the world should be guaranteed a living wage, including farmers in the United States and rural inhabitants of Guatemala, where six year old Maria is crying and in need of vaccination and food because her parents can’t find work. The Christian Children’s Fund commercials should be played on BNN, the Billionaires News Network. If the bottom 80% of the US population has only 7.8% of the wealth (as of 1992) then why are we (I’m certainly in the bottom 80%) the ones that are being appealed to? We are the ones that can least afford it.
Another example of this economic injustice is the letter I got from my niece. Their school is selling magazine subscriptions to raise money. The appeal is a little pink and white form that is addressed in her handwriting. It is very well crafted so that all young school-children can fill it out for maximum chance at tugging heartstrings and helping us feel the need to give to a good cause. It is addressed in her handwriting. It also says that the school or group can keep 40 cents of every subscription dollar. I’d rather send the school a check for $20 than have to buy $50 worth of magazines for them to get that $20. Besides, I think most magazines are ill-disguised collections of advertisements.
Don't you think it is ridiculous that one of the most vital aspects of our society, education, is in such dire need of funding that we need to have our children use guilt as a tactic to raise money, much of which goes to increase circulation of magazines that use that increased circulation to demand higher prices for running ads. We should be paid for being subjected to advertisements. If it said that they schools kept 80 cents on the dollar, maybe you'd have me writing a check because I'd feel it was more than a feeble marketing attempt with child labor.
I guess a third example would be the advertisement from Wal-Mart that showed these hard-working school kids doing odd jobs to earn money so they could buy things to donate to those in need. Of course they were expected to go to Wal-Mart to spend this hard earned money. That means more profits for Wal-Mart. Why doesn’t Wal-Mart just donate the goods?
Ultimately the reason they try to use guilt on us is that we are still capable of feeling guilt. ‘Nuff said.
posted by Bill @ 9:55 PM
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