"From the [World Trade Organization's] perspective, a fish is a fish is a fish, and it doesn't matter what happened to sea turtles, dolphins, or workers when that fish was caught." -Hawken, 120
This statement was very striking to me. Fall term I learned about the Bretton Woods Institutions, World Bank and International Monetary Funds, along with the WTO. These systems claim that they are helping developing countries but in reality, they are exploiting them and hindering them from every developing. An argument my professor in International Studies mentioned was that it seems as though, in order for the West to function, we need the Global South to stay impoverished. We are riding on their backs, and the big global leaders intend to keep it that way. When a developing country needs a loan, the WB opposes structural adjustment programs, demanding that in order for the country to receive their loan they must privatize and open their markets. This has little to no benefit for them at all. In the process of this closed-door money transfers and contracts, the environment is left in the dust. Globalization has woven its way into society but is not a glossy picture. Hawken writes that, inevitably, it entails the corporatization of the commons, i.e., water, seeds, media, and the human genome (121).
"Privatization... removes assets from the hands of the state and place them into the marketplace, where consumers vote every day with their wallets." -Hawken, 129
We are born to consume. When the economy is in crisis, the government gives us more money so that we buy more stuff to stimulate the economy again. What is wrong with this picture? EVERYTHING. We have come a far cry from the simplicity of our ancestors. As Professor Barbara Brower said in class today when talking about how Native American's and other indigenous cultures survived for so long, "They defined their needs and wants. They did not want what nature could not give them." We want what nature cannot give us and this has led civilization down the path of environment and potentially self-destruction. Restoring humanity is not about fancy words such as 'sustainable', 'organic' or even 'environmentalist'. We need to revert, in some strides, back to nature. To put it simply: There are no tomatoes in Oregon in the winter so we should not eat them. Also, modern technology needs to be used as a tool for spreading the message, connecting, and learning, but not a hinderance to face to face communication.
Want what you need. Think before you buy. When you buy that out of season fruit, cheap Made in China toy, or Happy Meal, you are casting your vote and letting your government know you approve. How we use/do not use our wallets can change the world.
One of the things that has struck me most about this massive consumption is that it is not making us any happier. The "happiness" we experience is fleeting at best. For example, when I go out and buy a new pair of shoes or get that awesome piercing that I have been ogling for a while, it gives me a sense of pleasure to have spent that money and got something that I wanted. But all too soon, I am thinking of the next thing that I want, the next shirt of pair of jeans or that other piercing that I just have to have. It doesn't really contribute to my overall, everyday happiness. I have found that my close friends and my family have been the things that have made me happy on a consistent and persistent basis. More than just getting the piercing, it is talking with my friend about the piercing and showing it off, getting her reaction that makes me happy. I have really started to see how important other people are, and also how important my own self is, to making me happy. The love of the people I care most about, and a love for myself is what is going to endure long after I have decided to take the piercing out, or chuck those shoes or shirts.
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