In a recent post I suggested that potentially social networks could help change the world.
In the US the following advertisement has now been retracted. I am still stunned that it went out in the first place.

The following video shows how social media, especially through Twitter seems to have lead the campaign to ensure its removal.

The company concerned have now provided a public apology via their website and have suggested that it will take time for associated printed adverts to be recalled from newstands.

As I said in my previous post we have the power to create a lobby for change. If enough of us unite and rally for the eradication of poverty we can win.

Let us take a look at one example. Certain High Street retailers are relying on local agents in developing countries to manage the production of clothes. The profit is realised when you see the knock down sales price during the up and coming sales. In the developed world our expectations on price are conditioned. We need to demand accountability from CEO’s who should be rewarded on ethical production.

Just see the following (featuring a garment trader middleman & under age workers) ..

In a world where we have so much power at our finger tips, it is now time to use it for social change.

People rush to get a bargain I wish the same energy was in our hearts to make poverty history!

Popularity: 39% [?]

The statement alone suggests that the programme first aired in the mid 1970s should be remembered as a one off! Yes it was 30 years ago when the programme / mini-series Roots first aired. Amongst, the Queen’s Silver jubilee and the rise of Punk, we saw the reality of deep inhumanity. My view is that the history Roots showed the world, something that should never be forgotten. Yet, there is lots of history that is still hidden?

Why is it that humans can be so cruel to each other, conducing genocide after genocide? Africa, Germany, India – the list goes on. Cruelty morphs itself into many different guises. Today it is not the colonial elements that influence but greedy corporations naively supporting an environment of slavery. For example, cocoa workers and clothing manufacturers. Workers are trapped by the trust that local agents misguide and abuse.

On Monday 22nd October 2007, too late for what I consider peak viewing, the BBC1 aired the documentary, ‘Roots Remembered’. This could be described as typical ethnic viewing hours or was it just a scheduling issue?

The programme covered the typical format of comments from journalists, actors and a change from the normal format, people I’d actually heard of. Interjections of selective parts of Alex Haley’s Roots television series brought home a reminder of the brutality of what happened.

It was interesting to note that before Roots, history lessons skimmed over what actually happened. Alex reawakened this undocumented and probably intentionally lost history. Was it shame that stopped historians logging what happened or political? The rich history of Africa had been blocked from public view. Many may argue that it still is. How did the Dutch and Nigerian connection take place?

This blocking from the public eye continues today. We are trapped in our day-to-day survival tactics but our luxuries have no reference or standing compared to a child in poverty. Our view of the world is controlled heavily by what is considered newsworthy.

Today the world suffers and it is like listening to someone but not acknowledging what has been said. We see the situation but grant ourselves powerless to speak against it. We know that justice can prevail but leave it to others to fight for their rights.

British history and other histories are hidden from public view. For example, how was General Dyer shot at Caxton Hall? How was Dileep Singh torn away from his kingdom or how were the early immigrants to the UK treated in the 1950s?

Roots remembered was a late night documentary yet the true essence of what the series brought us was a chance to reconsider how those scars occurred in the first place.

There is an opportunity for us to shout louder for more knowledge about what happened in the past in an accessible way, not skimmed but with openness to ensure that we do not make the same mistakes again. Write to the BBC, we pay for it!

Sadly we do not learn from our past, maybe because we are intentionally made ignorant of it or are we just too busy to try to learn about it ourselves.

Popularity: 70% [?]

60 years ago a nation was torn apart and I wonder if there will ever be a point in time if they could reconcile? Probably not, as the way it happened or was allowed to happen is unforgettably tragic.

The legacy of those fateful days continues to haunt many. The tales of displacement slaughter and resettlement transformed the lives of millions. The negativity created has caused ripples and political ramifications that generations will never forget.

It may be relatively easy for us to question why it happened. Many of us were not there at the time. Did the climate and those in power at the time ever anticipate the extent and reach of their decisions? Were these individuals so cold or just too innocent? Was there an ultimatum laid down by the British that has never been documented? Or, were the British so cunning that their ‘divide and rule’ policy had an air of vindictiveness so vile that they had a fit of jealously, running on the lines of, ‘If we can’t have India then no one can’!? Having enjoyed the riches of India for over 200 years they may have adopted this attitude.

When I hear my father recall the events of him reaching Amirtsar railway station in a humanitarian effort to save those who came in on the trains from the newly emerging country of Pakistan, the view of communal violence is unbelievable. These two nations were formed through the blood of the innocent.

60 years on although much is said about India’s emergence as a world economic power, there are still so many challenges. The survival of the fitness still rules as 80 percent of the population are still living in an extreme poor way.

Only this Sunday I read about exploitation of workers from India recruited by agents and then forced to work in inhumane conditions in Mauritius for tiny wages and 72 hours a week. This was not what freedom was supposed to be about. Although colonialism has gone it has been replaced by multi-national greed and local disrespect.

India may be surfacing as an outsource power house with graduates and science parks to match – fast becoming the back-office centre for the world, yet its communist neighbour China, still appears to a preferred powerhouse for manufacturing and investment by the West.

Both will probably continue to ‘pitch it out’. However, will the division of the rich verses the poor in both countries continue to be stretched apart?

60 years on India at least is growing but is it growing in a fair and honest way that will bring all of its people up to a sense of harmonised international standards?

Popularity: 77% [?]

The Ethical Trade Initiative (ETI) exists as an alliance of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and trade union organisations…in a hope to promote and improve working conditions of workers producing goods for the UK market.
There is an expectation that they can help to meet or exceeed international labour standards. The tuth is that they can provide guidelines but can not force it.

In my last article I wrote about how the confectionery industry was falling short or very short of helping to stop children from falling into slavery.

Unfortunately, with major stores like ASDA, Tesco and Primark also imposing low production cost, one result is Bangladeshi workers working in extreme inhumane conditions, long hours and both phyiscal and mental abuse.

In the UK, if a worker is sick or has a sick relative the employer can show humanity by giving time off. However, with the contracts in place with Bangladeshi suppliers, they (the factory owners) can impose whatever torment they want!

An investigation by The Guardian newspaper reveals the extent to UK retailers hung up on profits.

I am concerned when the view of some of the UK retailer board members suggests that they will do more harm by not trading!? Although they may conduct audits to find out how much is the system changing, I suspect it is not fast enough.

I visited, http://www.ethicaltrade.org/ and noticed that the site was first started in 1998. That is almost 10 years.

It is also worth visiting: http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2114582,00.html , dated 28th June 2007. This report outlines how fruit picker: Gertruida Baartman (described as ‘at the bottom of Tesco’s food-chain supply’) has barely enough to eat. How she lost her job and had to fight to get it back as she campaigned for better conditions at her farm. This was after she returned from a meeting at Tesco. Read on to find out the discrepancy between big bonus awards and how the ETI is both voluntary and although it has strived to make a change, a study by Sussex University reveals that it needs to strive for more change.

The problem has to be inherently with us.
Consumers in the West want cheap clothes, ironically some designer wear is also low cost production based.

The fundamentals of change are based on changing commercial processes, for example:

* Improving audits
* More investment across more farms, e.g: fruit
* Allowing Trade unions to exist in clothing factories
* Greater ethical procedures in the way in which retailers deal with suppliers
* Consideration given to a living wage
* Communication with the consumer.

Would we pay more if we knew that the conditions at the source were getting better? I’m sure we would – no one has tried that one balanced with reduced director bonuses!

Although another article issued on July 5th 2007, headlines -  ‘Our members have improved 3.3 million workers lives’ – no doubt this is from the Ethical Trade Initiative perspective. See: http://business.guardian.co.uk/greenbusiness/story/0,,2118893,00.html . It is clear that more needs to be done. The article suggests: Workers are best served by three things: trade unions that are free; employers that obey national labour laws; and governments that enforce it. Workers need much more of all three.

The key words that needs to be added and emphasized is ‘sustained commitment from all’ – agencies, retailers, employers and consumers.

Popularity: 62% [?]