Yesterday my wife went off to the USA for a holiday with our two small children to visit family. I say 'holiday', but I'm sure the flight with two children under 3 years was anything but a holiday! (God bless you, J. I love you!)
That means that for the next two weeks I get to live the bachelor life again (more or less). The house is already a mess and I've eaten pizza for the last two evenings. I'm planing to watch a whole load of movies too - mostly ones that J. would find REALLY boring. (I have my eye on a Russian black and white classic from the silent era - Battleship Potemkin). So far I've watched four movies. Tonight's one was excellent.
I went to the Irish Film Institute to watch a movie called Black Gold. It's a documentary that highlights the plight of coffee growers in Ethiopia. These people work so hard and get paid an absolute pittance for their labours while we sit back and enjoy the coffee experience in some high market coffee establishment...or even a jar of instant (bleh!) at home. One kilo of coffee beans sells for less that $1, but by the end of the product (ie. that steaming espresso) that same kilo is worth over $100! Unfair trade rules mean the poor get poorer.
The documentary followed one man's struggle to sell the produce of his farmers co-operative in order to get a fair price for the beans. I've been a supporter of Fairtrade for some time now, but this movie made it more real. I'd like to get a copy of the film so if you don't get a chance to see it you'd be welcome to come over to my place, put a pot of coffee on, and watch it with me. It may stir your conscience. It made me cry.
The biggest reason for my wife to travel to America is to see two beautiful boys, A. and B., who have recently been adopted by my sister-in-law and her family. The boys are from Ethiopia which made tonight's film a little more poignant for me.
Thursday, 28 June 2007
Sunday, 17 June 2007
Sorry, Naomi
A few years ago a Canadian author named Naomi Klein wrote a book called No Logo. I managed to get through most of it.
Basically it is an in depth look at the crazy way that most of the West (and growing beyond) has become obsessed with stuff. Mostly high priced stuff. Mostly high priced stuff with a label on it that is supposed to make you feel good. Klein points out that many of the goods manufactured under a particular logo (not just clothes) are produced under exploitation of the workers. But, for Klein, the exploitation doesn't stop there. It continues on to exploit the consumer of the logo. I would tend to agree with her.
However, this weekend I think I probably put myself in Naomi's bad books.
In order to keep up my visitation of all Starbucks in Ireland - (I'm not sure how long this will last. There's a couple that have opened near me since I last wrote about my project. Starbucks tend to have an aggressive marketing policy that involves opening loads of stores in order to push out local coffee business. I know this because Naomi told me.) - I went into a clothes store in the city centre, BT2, that had a Starbucks upstairs...in its children's department.
Being in this store did start to make me feel uneasy. There were logos everywhere! As I had my 1 year old son with me I had to find a lift to get my coffee. Now, fair play to the staff. They were very helpful in taking me to a lift which involved going back outside and through another door with the use of a security card. Once upstairs I bought my regular latte and had a quick look around the children's clothes. This made me feel even more uneasy. Ralph Lauren, Timberland, DKNY, Burberry, Ted Baker, Bonpoint...for kids!!! One very brief glance through some baby clothes revealed a 75 euro shirt for a six month old. I guess someone is going to buy it.
On the way back down another helpful staff member chatted with me. Ironically, despite there being a Starbucks store 15 feet from where he was standing when I asked for help with the lift, the young sales assistant told me he had never been to Starbucks. We were already at the ground floor before I was able to ask him if this was his ultimate dedication to the No Logo cause.
Not ironically, I didn't buy anything from the clothes store. Partly for the cause. Mostly for the money.
Basically it is an in depth look at the crazy way that most of the West (and growing beyond) has become obsessed with stuff. Mostly high priced stuff. Mostly high priced stuff with a label on it that is supposed to make you feel good. Klein points out that many of the goods manufactured under a particular logo (not just clothes) are produced under exploitation of the workers. But, for Klein, the exploitation doesn't stop there. It continues on to exploit the consumer of the logo. I would tend to agree with her.
However, this weekend I think I probably put myself in Naomi's bad books.
In order to keep up my visitation of all Starbucks in Ireland - (I'm not sure how long this will last. There's a couple that have opened near me since I last wrote about my project. Starbucks tend to have an aggressive marketing policy that involves opening loads of stores in order to push out local coffee business. I know this because Naomi told me.) - I went into a clothes store in the city centre, BT2, that had a Starbucks upstairs...in its children's department.
Being in this store did start to make me feel uneasy. There were logos everywhere! As I had my 1 year old son with me I had to find a lift to get my coffee. Now, fair play to the staff. They were very helpful in taking me to a lift which involved going back outside and through another door with the use of a security card. Once upstairs I bought my regular latte and had a quick look around the children's clothes. This made me feel even more uneasy. Ralph Lauren, Timberland, DKNY, Burberry, Ted Baker, Bonpoint...for kids!!! One very brief glance through some baby clothes revealed a 75 euro shirt for a six month old. I guess someone is going to buy it.
On the way back down another helpful staff member chatted with me. Ironically, despite there being a Starbucks store 15 feet from where he was standing when I asked for help with the lift, the young sales assistant told me he had never been to Starbucks. We were already at the ground floor before I was able to ask him if this was his ultimate dedication to the No Logo cause.
Not ironically, I didn't buy anything from the clothes store. Partly for the cause. Mostly for the money.
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