Next month select copies of Entertainment weekly will contain a small video screen, about 1.5 in by 2 in which will advertise a new Pepsi diet soda marketed towards men and the CBS networks new fall programing. Out of Entertainment Weekly's monthly 170,000 run it is estimated that about 100,000 copies will contain the new groundbreaking advertisement. The cost of this new marketing stunt has been reported to be "in the low 7 digit figures".
Meanwhile, famine and warfare continues to ravage Africa as well as other parts of the world. Diseases that we in the western word consider inconvenience, such as diarrhea, kill children every day, The latest numbers show that 24,00 people die every day from hunger and hunger related causes with three fourths of these deaths being children under the age of five.
Can you even imagine the famine relief and lives that could be saved with even the lowest "seven digit figure", 1,000,000? In a world where people die by the tens of thousands daily and others spend millions to advertise their cola it is very easy to see that something is very very wrong.
Why is it exactly that this is ok? The most common answer would be that one is free to do whatever one decides to do with ones money as long as it dosn't harm others. However I would ask you, if you were to see a child drowning in a river and no one else was around to help would you? If you would not, what would that say about you as a person? Lastly, would you still help the child if you were wearing your most expansive and favorite outfit?
Anyone reading this is sure to say "Of course I would help, it wouldn't matter what I was wearing, where I was, or what I was doing". However this basic scenario is happening daily all over the world and its easy to do nothing because we cannot see the dying children. After all they are half the world away, are a different color than us, and belong to a different national group. These are the things that separate us.
However in the world that we live in, where matters of distance as becoming more and more conquerable vicinity is no longer an excuse. Also, matters of race and nation are not things that should stop us from lending a helping hand to those who need one to LIVE. It is clear to this author that the organizations that hold the most power in this world, the corporations who now hold 51 of the 100 largest economies on this planet, outnumbering nations, are not interested in helping those in need. Sure, many corporations make charitable donations however when compared to their profits the amounts seem trivial.
What I'm asking is that anyone reading this does is rethink the systems of profit and morality we have all become a part of and have bought into. The first step in solving a problem is admitting that the problem exists and that is a step that the human race has not yet admitted to. With tens of thousands dying every day is really responsible or ethical to buy into news about the latest dead celebrity or government bill. Is it ok to be buying shit we don't need while other die for not being able to afford what they do need? Is it even ethical or human to be buying hundred dollar pairs of shoes to keep up with fashion trends?
Would you still buy those items if those starving to death were dying on your sidewalks?
yes it is ethical to buy those shoes because no one stopped to help me up when I was dying. Im not saying its right, its what it is. I make the best of what i can at least possible expense, to myself and others. Reality is a silly thing just enjoy it while u can.
ReplyDeleteHow very "eye for an eye" of you.
ReplyDeleteIf you believe that those dying don't deserve help, than you must believe that you didn't when you needed help. And if you believe that to be true than what do you believe people are worth. Simply what they can produce?
I'm so right there with you. After seeing Story of Stuff this summer, I made a pledge not to buy anything new for the rest of the year (meaning anything that can reasonably be bought used, i.e. clothing, household items, etc., with the exception of socks and underwear) because it seems American consumerism (and the associated, even deeper cultural sickness) is at the root of all this. I've been amazed how easy it is, and also amazed at the consumer monster that's inside me, even as I try to reject it. Quite an experience.
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