The Anti-Corporate Ideas Newsletter, Issue 3

THE A.C.I. NEWSLETTER

For it matters not, how much we own;
The cars...the house...the cash,
What matters is how we live and love
And how we spend our dash.

- From The Dash by Linda Ellis

The following is an essay entitled The Biggest Corporation by John Henry

While staring at an image of a USA lapel pin which had Made In China on its packaging, I was starkly reminded of a prediction I had made a few years ago. I ask you, dear reader, to think about what has happened to our country as you read the following and ask yourself, Who is really at fault?

It was a fine summers day in Austin, Texas. I was looking forward to starting my new project. My plan was to build a small forge for doing some metalwork and tempering metals. One of the necessary items would be an anvil of about 35 to 50 pounds in weight. Nothing massive and unwieldly, just a small anvil. I set out on my journey to find the materials I would need. My first stop was at a local farm supply. They had anvils aplenty. Every size one could imagine, all made in China. I was taken aback. For some strange reason I had assumed they would be made in America. NOT! I had already accepted that I would probably have to use a Chimminea, (Made in Mexico), if I could not find a small pot-bellied wood stove. Then I got to thinking,

How much of the materials would I be purchasing had been made overseas? Undaunted, I decided to go American Made. I would buy American, and support Americans.

Unfortunately, it seems the Americans were out riding around in their SUVs, clogging up the roads and polluting the air.

Or something.

Eighteen months later I still had not found my American Anvil. What I had found was that very little was made in America any more. We had become reliant on the cheap labor to be found outside our borders. It was almost impossible to find anything made in this country on the shelves of Wal-Mart. The retail juggernaut had succumbed to Corporate Greed. Sam Walton is probably spinning in his grave. We had gorged ourselves on it and become addicted to it. It had ingrained itself so fully into our mainstream, that if suddenly taken away from us, we would be in a perilous state.

We cant buy American because we have become a service-oriented nation. We have become lazy, and sloven. I challenge any of you reading this to look about you. Read the labels on what you buy, then do a little research. Find out what the conditions are in the country in which the goods are made. Who owns the company that made it? What are their production standards? How are the employees treated? What is their standard of living?

Dont you dare stick your head in the sand, or rationalize this issue! China is the main recipient of our largesse, so one would think that the standard of living would be comfortable, yet it is not. Where does the windfall go? Why are human rights and basic freedoms almost non existent? Why has it become a practice to murder infant females there? I could publish demographics, stats, etc, until I go blind and my fingers grow raw and numb.

I could do this for you, but I wont.

I have done my research, now I challenge you to do yours. Countries such as China dont give a tinkers damn about the loss of income. They could close their borders tomorrow and laugh at any sanctions we propose. There is mutterings in Washington about balance of trade problems with that country, and that country could care less. Their economy wont go down the drain without the Mighty American Dollar. We will without their goods.

It is time to wake up people! We blame Corporate America for what is wrong, unjust, or just plain evil, yet it is we who are to blame for letting them lull us into the situation we are now faced with.

The industrial might of our country is what made us the greatest nation on earth. That might and the pride that goes with it was carried on the shoulders of the common man, the everyday Joe, you and me. Our Industrial Infrastructure is all but gone. How we remedy this situation will not be through the efforts of the members of the corporate boardroom. Their interests lie in how much profit they can stick in their pockets. No, the answer lies here with us.

What are WE going to do about it?

John Henry -21 September 05

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Thanks John.

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This quote seems appropriate:

"Buy this great set of American Flags, made by genuine Chinese prison labour guarenteed."
-David Cross

(Thanks to steffan for suggesting the quote)

Check out the live feed to Air America Radio with Al Franken. Great stuff.

Thanks to Killer Coke for suggesting the website www.killercoke.org.

Notes:

There still are two essays and a band review that are in need of editing that will be up on the newsletter by tomorrow, so subscribe and stay updated!