Blind Consumption of Life Itself

marjorie says...

How do you like my dramatic title? What can I say...it was the thing that popped into my head as I was reading Erik's great history post about Sam "The Banana Man" Zemurray over on Alterdestiny. Yes, I'm having a bit of a lovefest with Alterdestiny this week...but its well-deserved. In this post, Erik describes the life of this guy Zemurray, who in order to build a banana empire in Central America provoked insurrections, coups, and armed conflict all in the name of his own profit. Its a very instructive synopsis of how money can corrupt government, and how democracy is never a given but rather constantly in danger of being completely undermined if not simply eliminated. Erik also gives an incredibly concise description of how blind consumption of goods that are "marketed" to the public can lead to not only mass bloodshed but incredible environmental destruction. In this passage, he describes the environmental consequences of one man's determination to make money off of bananas, which had before been considered a luxury item:

"The US demand for bananas, which soon became one of the cheapest fruits on the market, also spawned widespread environmental destruction. Millions of acres of native jungle were destroyed to provide for bananas, decimating wildlife populations. The monocultures that replaced the jungle became susceptible to diseases such as Panama disease and Sigatoka disease. Today, much of that originial Cuyamel and United land cannot support bananas."

This is, of course, how the much vaunted market works. A person decides to make some money so looks for a product. Upon coming up with an idea, that product is "marketed" to the public, composed of people who probably never realized before they needed that product. And because it is generally presented completely devoid of any kind of context about how its production impacts people or the environment, the public will blindly consume it.

We see the impacts all the time. Sweatshops are a good example, or piecework at home that forces young children to work brutal 20 hour days. I saw that with my own eyes one evening after dark in India...a child sewing away on a beautiful sari. Or the food production industry in this country that abuses animals at the same time it grossly pollutes our water supply. Or the complete destruction of the ocean itself. There are countless examples, from history and from today.

This dilemma of blind consumption begs for a new way of doing business. Rather than digress on an elitist tear about the grossness of the American public, I will simply note that there is no systemic way for the public to make informed decisions about these things. Specific issue activism itself is a great thing. For instance, child labor laws are, in my mind, one of the greatest points of progress we've made as a society, and the elimination of child labor should continue to be an issue actively pressed everywhere. But we have to think broadly when it comes to how consumption decisions are made. We certainly see heightened awareness of this issue when it comes to Global Warming. And certain efforts, such as the Fair Trade movement, are a step in the right direction although not an actual solution. Our government recognized a long time ago that capitalism has to be countered by strong social welfare programs and regulations. In the face of how capitalism works, its imperative now that we construct mechanisms to counter the destructive nature of our consumption.