Our Abundance and the World’s Need

Happy New Year! I begin this year with great gratitude to each of you who read and support theirreverentreverend.blog.  By reading and sharing with your friends, subscriptions are growing and Facebook support is increasing. Since having to retire several years ago due to illness, this is now my primary ministry. It is a privilege to share my thoughts with you each week. Thank you for reading.

Your feedback for the daily posts in November and December was heartening. I so enjoyed choosing music and quotes and writing reflections to share with you each day. I wish I could do it all the time! However, that would take me away from some other writing projects; I have a few books I am working on and hope to finish in 2020. Stay tuned, you will be among the first to know when they are finished.

Another highlight of the Advent Season was following the alternative Advent calendar I published early in December. I admit it was not in the most user friendly format, so I will make some changes for next year that will make it more accessible.

Our household gathered a total of $146.20. It will go to the Rhode Island Fuel Assistance Fund, a resource that helps low income families stay warm through the winter when they are unable to pay their heating bills.

Admittedly the two biggest ticket items for me were shoes and books. Both are a tremendous weakness.  I never met a pair of heels I didn’t want to wear or a book I didn’t want to buy. Of course buying a book and reading a book…well, you know.

Another interesting observation from the month long exercise is that I didn’t truly miss the amount of cash I put in each day. I still had money in my wallet to buy food and the few gifts I exchange each year. I am a little embarrassed by this realization. What I intended to be an exercise in giving generously turned out to be a reinforcement of the privilege that is mine simply by the luck of birth and the color of my skin. I still have some serious pondering to do on this one.

There are two examples that highlight my point. First, sports shoes. I have more than one pair of sneakers and I imagine many of you do too.  When production costs began to rise in the United States, factories went overseas. Demand for just wages and benefits sent manufacturers looking for cheaper labor markets.

Several decades ago Taiwan and South Korea led the world’s production of sports shoes. Low wages, non-existent benefits and worker repression assured cheap production costs while high purchase prices for products made for record breaking profits for the companies. When Taiwanese and South Korean labor markets gained strength, multinational corporations shifted production to cheaper labor markets in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and China.

Today China leads the world in production of shoes in general and sports shoes in particular. According to Corporation Watch, China’s mass unemployment, low wages and lack of enforcement of labor laws and standards keep production costs low. The state run All China Federation of Trade Unions supports the collusion of factory management structures and local governments whose interests lie in attracting foreign capital and assuring massive profits.  These colluding forces keep unions out and exploit laborers.

Nike, Asics, Puma and Reebok are only examples of the corporations that participate in what I call the round robin production and exploitation plan. Corporations and governments win. Workers lose.

In a similar way, increasing demand for smart technology changed the face of production several times over the last few decades. Currently, the largest producer of smart technologies is India, with China a close second. In 2014 annual production in India was 3 million. In 2017 it was 11 million.

As demand increases, manufacturers vie for market share by changing production venues and negotiating contracts favorable to profits but not to workers.  Samsung quit Chinese production when contracts expired. LG ceased production in Korea to go to Vietnam where a more “favorable” manufacturing contract was “negotiated.” The abrupt arrival and departure of manufacturing plants creates additional hardship for workers as major sources of employment evaporate.

What both these examples have in common is the commitment to maximum profits and the absence of any social conscience for just working conditions for laborers. Ongoing high demand for products and shifting market nuances keep the production processes circulating through poor countries, entering and exiting as contracts are forged and eventually expire.

The exploitation of labor markets to assure astronomical profit requires trade agreements that depend on government collusion in both production and marketing.

It is more than troubling to see how we unwittingly participate in the global injustice of it all. After all, it’s just a pair of sneakers. After all, I am due for an upgrade on my smart phone.