But I also know that no reasonable person will listen to me unless I back up my claims, so, ahead of time, here is the evidence:
ttp://www.youtube.com/watc
http://www.corporatecampai
http://www.commondreams.or
http://www.hrw.org/en/news
There is a whole lot more proof out there, but basicly I tried to post links that cover Coke's offenses in Columbia, India and El Salvador.
In Columbia Coke has repeatedly hired paramilatary thugs to kill union leaders and threaten workers not to join. Nine Union Leaders have been killed so far. If their families were not killed with them they are now in hiding.
Some people here in the USA make the argument that unions hurt more than they help, that workers do not need to worry about being treated fairly by their employers because the government's regulatory laws keep the companies in check (ironicly these same people who make this claim are often for the deregulation of the economy)
I do not agree with them and there is a lot of proof behind my claim, but that is a fight for another day. Today we are talking about Coke and Columbia, where the government has no regulation of companies in an effort to attract jobs. They are getting them alright, but with severely low pay and poor working conditions. When the workers try to band together Coke hires the same paramilataries that distablize the Columbian government to keep the workers from unionizing. And we wonder why people hate America when our ambassador companies treat them like shit?
Boycotting coke is simply part of being an active citizen, the same as voting. We need to ensure that our US based companies aren't making us enemies or commiting human rights violations.
We do not have a vote outside of our country, we only have buying power. Our buying power is our vote.
The next country where our dear American classic is acting up is in India. The factories in India are regularly accused of using up too much water and drain several wells that Indian farmers rely on. They have also been found guilty of having one to many pesticides in their Indian distributed sodas, where regulations are lax. To top it all off they have also been selling their waste products to unsuspecting farmers as a fertilizer. This poisons the crops as well as the soil. This comes back to haunt us at home when the USA imports food and spices from India.
Last of all: El Salvador. A sugar company there has been accused by Human Rights Watch of using child labor in the sugar cane feilds which the hummanitarian organization classiflys as extremely dangerous work.
To those unfeeling people who claim that it is the parent's fault for sending their kids to work instead of school, ask yourself if they would rather their child starve. Often times the family need the pay the child earns. They would not have to send their child to work if the USA pressured their companies there to give their adult workers fair wages. Then the children could eat and go to school. I do not think that any feeling parent wants to send their child to the sugar canes where they know they will be forever because of the lost schooling. But a unfed belly is a need thats more imminent.
Coke a Cola is the biggest buyer of sugar from this very company.
Some will tell me that if I intend on boycotting Coke then I should just boycott every company that acts up. I agree. I am trying to become more consumer aware. I am also boycotting Walmart and am looking into Hershey's. If any of you have further suggestions I would be grateful. I am not perfect in using my consumer power but I am in the process of getting there.
If I have convinced any of you then you should know that Coke also makes these products:
-Dasani Water
-Minete Maid Juice
- Dr. Pepper
Many highschools and colleges have moved to bane coke from their campuses. This is the most effective way to get Coke's attention because the company considers young people to be its primary audience. If they can get us to like them at a young age they figure they'll have us forever.
Here is a link to a list of schools that are banning Coke:
http://www.killercoke.org/
Also, if you are interested in trying to ban Coke from your school, then www.killercoke.org/ has resources available and a step by step guide of how to do just that.
2 comments:
The Middle East has been boycotting Coca-Cola for about seven years now. They have different reasons, though. As I was reading, I thought the same thing you said people tell you about boycotting everything. I agree with that, to be honest. No company has a clean record. If every company should be put out of business for every little thing it has done, then you've killed capitalism. You've killed all the companies. I don't know. We were actually talking about this same type thing in COM class the other day. It's too much to type, for one thing leads to another, and I'd end up never stopping, but I don't know. It's a lose-lose situation. It's a sort of ultimatum with very few outlets, very few (if any) solutions. There are pros and cons either way, and it's an on-the-fence type thing.
I don't know. I'm no longer making sense.
By the way, the word verification says, "gag log." Don't forget to fill out your gag logs, everyone! :)
Yay for the Middle East!!!
Yeah, you're right about company corruption but that doesn't mean we shouldn't fight against it. Actually the Target company, while it is not philanthropic at least plays by the rules, but then again they could be hiding somthing.
"If every company should be put out of business for every little thing it has done, then you've killed capitalism." -- if this is capitalism maybe its not such a good thing.
This is a totally different topic and, like you said, needs to be addressed later in detail, but to be short for now, my idea of a good economy is a "where capitalism is out of the question and communism is not nesscesary." (quote from the Irresistible Revolution)
It's a gift economy of sorts, one that cannot be instituted by a government or organization but can only be spread like a good deed passed on in good faith that it will come around back to you. (See the Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne for full details)
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