Breaking Story Tonight: More Stuff* to be Afraid of

As a person who tries to always be aware of local, national, and global issues, I do my best to regularly follow the news reports, and from various news sources at that. One particular aspect of TV reporting, however, has bugged me for a while and with the recent wave of unrest and protests in Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya, and the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan, I can’t help but mention it. I am certainly glad to live in a time when I am able to find out about these events and observe them as they evolve, as gruesome and disastrous as they are. However, what I am not really a fan of is the major component on which a strong emphasis seems to be placed (some TV channels are worse offenders than others) and which among common people is referred to as FEAR. 

Yes, people in the impacted regions are suffering and they certainly need assistance, but who cares about all that? The main point is that something bad is happening somewhere and we as innocent people must be afraid.  When the emphasis is on destruction and fear, without the proper knowledge and with a lack of critical thinking, many can become victims to this fear. I believe that what is even scarier than a delusional dictator taking over or an impending nuclear disaster is all the people in fear of these two. Especially if these individuals have not been educated on all the aspects of the issue.  I believe that most people possess the necessary mental capacity to learn and understand detailed information on any problem. Most, though, are never given that chance. What many news reporters seem to be concerned about is showing horrendous videos and focusing on the fear of what would happen to us if that atrocious event somehow made it to our back yard. If history has taught us anything, it is the fact that when fear is the main guiding factor, irrational actions and hate could be the result. With ignorance and fear, hate and violence become a certainty. Is that what journalism is nowadays? A vessel to transport fear to regular people and a competition to determine who will show the most shocking videos and who will use more synonyms for destruction, devastation, and danger within an hour of broadcasting?

Moreover, the news about one issue people must worry about and fear (a gone-nuts dictator threatening world peace) can only be displaced by another one (a nuclear reactor explosion in Japan or even worse, a possible earthquake that causes the nuclear plants in California to explode) that must induce even greater fear. Seriously? Natural disasters and man-caused disasters will always happen, whether we want them or not. It’s about time people educate themselves on how to deal with these instead of spending their lives building up fear and even worse, acting on it. 

With all the thoughts about fear, I am reminded of the children's book The Tale of Despereaux. The little mouse with the big ears was taught a very important lesson: With so many things to be afraid of, all he needed to do is to learn about them and be scared to his best ability and run in fear from anything or anyone different and thus dangerous. Instead, however, he just wanted to be brave, curious, and able to learn. I know, weeee-iiiird! So much easier to be afraid and scurry than to be brave and educated (read: are you kidding me?!). Going back to a previous post on books and reading, I sure hope kids out there read such books, grasp the meaning, and grow up to be open-minded and not afraid to learn and ask questions without blindly embracing fear as the only viable option.

-          Krasi

*Could be anything, and I mean ANYTHING.

Wally world

My series on retailers begins with the most villainized: Walmart! Walmart is the largest retailer in the world, operating nearly 9,000 stores worldwide (source). Why has Walmart become so villainized? Many many reasons which is why I'm splitting the information into two separate posts. Today we'll talk about Walmart's unethical practices within the United States.

Walmart, like many large corporations, frowns upon unions. All employees must sign away their rights to join a union. What does this mean? Should you be mistreated, poorly paid, and ignored, who do you turn to? Walmart has been slammed with numerous lawsuits. Just to name a few: gender discrimination, sexual orientation discrimination, and racial discrimination. What Walmart, and many large corporations, know is that should these unhappy employees become organized (i.e. unionize), they become a force to be reckoned with. They would then have to increase wages and engage in fair practices and who wants that, right? Walmart is notorious for their union busting tactics. If they catch wind of anything they will exert pressure on individuals to prevent them from organizing.

What kind of pressure? It all begins when the Labor Relations teams come into the stores, holding meetings where they berate unions, presenting only one side of the issue. Team members leave scared and confused about unions, only having heard one opinion. Union activists are banned from stores so they never do get to hear the benefits of unionizing.

Other underhanded tactics include management eavesdropping on employees, threatening employees with pay cuts, benefit loss, or even job loss should they organize. According to Human Rights Watch,



"Wal-Mart’s relentless anti-union drumbeat creates a climate of fear at its US stores. Many workers are convinced that they will suffer dire consequences if they form a union, in part because they do not hear pro-union views. Many are also afraid that if they defy their powerful employer by organizing, they could face retaliation, even firing. Human Rights Watch found that Wal-Mart heightens this fear with its arsenal of unlawful anti-union tactics. Wal-Mart has sent managers to eavesdrop on employees. According to former workers and managers at one store, it has even ordered the repositioning of surveillance cameras to monitor union supporters. It has told workers they will lose benefits if they organize. The company has discriminatorily banned talk about unions and prohibited union flyer distribution, while allowing discussion of other issues and circulation of non-union materials. It has disciplined union supporters for policy violations that it has let slide for union opponents. And it has illegally fired workers for their union activity." Source

Source

Why is this so important? It's important because Walmart has taken away the voice of their employees. They cannot get together and raise concern over how they're treated. Walmart loves to tout that they create tons of jobs in the United States. While they are, no doubt, a large employer, many of their employees are kept just under the requirements for benefits. According to the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UCFW), only 52% of Walmart's workforce has insurance and for those that do, it is extremely costly. Add to that the low amount they are paid in the first place and you have a significant number of their workforce who is on welfare. According to UCFW, Walmart employees are utilizing billions of dollars in benefits a year to subsidize health care that they are not receiving from Walmart. That's money out of the taxpayers' pockets.

Yes we can all argue that the people that are working at Walmart have a choice and if they pursued a better education then they wouldn't be working at Walmart. What about the small towns where Walmart is the largest employer? What about those people who can't go to college either because of financial concerns or they're just not cut out for it? Are we willing to say that these people 'deserve' to be treated this way? Maybe those are harsh words but is that not what we're indirectly saying when we don't stand up for them? Should they not, at the very least, have the right to stand up and be heard?

Source

So what can we do? As I've said before (and sure I'll say again many many times) our money is the most powerful tool we hold. Every time we buy something, we are casting a vote. If you choose to stop shopping at Walmart, you're letting them know that this behavior is not ok.

Let's go one step further. Business is business. While Walmart has made steps as of late to remedy some of their issues, they will not willingly become as ethical as you or I would like. The only way they will do that is if they have to, i.e. laws. There are many movements active right now regarding changing labor laws so that corporations cannot do all the things Walmart is accused of. While I believe in the goodness of people, business is all about the bottom line so we shouldn't expect Walmart (or any other business) to change because they want to 'be good'; we have to force change or it won't happen.

Resources:

WakeUpWalmart

UFCW

Human Rights Watch



- A

International Women's Day

Happy International Women's Day (IWD) everyone! Did you know that it is the 100th anniversary of the holiday? It was first observed in 1911 in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Denmark. More than one million people attended various events that first year. (source)

  Source

I'll be celebrating today by thanking my mother for being an amazing woman and being mindful of the fact that I am so.darn.lucky to have been born into a family and lived in a country that afforded me opportunities that the majority of women in the world do not have.

Check out how people all around the world are celebrating!

Additional Resources:

Women Watch

International Women's Day

United Nations

Amnesty International

How will you be celebrating IWD?

- A

It's no sweatshop, but it's close enough

Most people would readily agree that child trafficking, child labor and child exploitation/abuse are crimes that must be eradicated and the offenders punished. I certainly feel anger and frustration each time I read about or come across a case of one of the above and will do my best to fight such activities. However, my anger buds were recently awakened by the accidental encounter with a practice that is just as bad as the ones mentioned and that incurs, I believe, as much damage. I am referring to and shifting your attention to the evidently popular show Toddlers&Tiaras. Yep, that’s the one. The title sounds innocent enough and I certainly have nothing against talent shows; when 90% of the emphasis, however, is placed on outward appearance and beauty, I become quite irritated to say the least. 

I rarely have the urge to reach through my TV screen and shake someone real bad but trust me, while watching an episode of Toddlers&Tiaras, I could not help but cringe and jump and shake a fist in irritation and anger. I cannot even believe I actually lasted through the whole show, but these are the sacrifices we all have to make in the pursuit of justice. As of now, I still haven’t decided if the overly involved and psycho parents or the overly made-up and confused toddlers is what scared me the most, but I am leaning toward choosing the parents. 

Watching two, three- and four-year old children worry about their appearance is as torturous to me as watching them starve to death. Maybe I am overreacting, but judging by what I saw, I am seriously convinced that these girls had no carefree childhood and by the looks of it, most will grow up to be horrible, demanding, and spoiled adults who care for what’s not important while ignoring the vital. And I thought My Super Sweet 16 was outrageous! In a society in which consumerism, materialism, and the high value placed on outward appearances have been shown to create a generation of no values and ignorance, seeing that even the youngest are not exempt from these is utterly disheartening and maddening. 

Further readings: the trilogy Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

-          - Krasi

Why you be hatin?

Most of my friends know of my disdain for Walmart. I try not to mention it because as the majority of people shop at Walmart, saying you hate it makes for awkward moments at parties.

Source

Me: ''Oooh those plates are cute, where'd you get them?' 

'Thanks! They were a great deal! I got them from Walmart'

*Rearing head back* 'What?! I.hate.walmart. You know that they have major ethical violations all around the world, including the United States?! Those plates were probably made by some poor kid who didn't even get paid!'

*Blank look on face* 'Oh. OK. I'm sorry?'                                      

See what I mean? I've gotten a little less intense as I do think it's unfair to attack people for shopping at certain places because most people don't know what they're buying. Sure, I like to get a good deal as much as anyone (OK probably more than anyone); just ask my friends. I don't, however, want to do it in a way that encourages bad behavior on the part of major corporations.

I've talked about this before and I'm now starting regular feature wherein I'll pick a store or brand and evaluate them from an ethical standpoint. My goal is to educate myself and hopefully enlighten you dear readers as to the options we all have to 1) look cute 2) buy cute things 3) waste money stimulate the economy 3) help support honest business practices that help the impoverished around the world rather than oppress them.

My question to you is: are there any brands or companies you would like to see reviewed? Let me know and I'll definitely try to do some digging to see what I find!

-A

Finito

Day 30 and I'm done!!!!!! I had two variations on this outfit today. I wore the scarf version out but I still can't decide which one I like more.

So I went shopping today but didn't buy anything because I'm still not allowed to....talk about a steel will ;). OK OK, if I'm going to be honest, I slipped up and purchased two items in Raleigh. What can I say? Dillard's was having an amazing sale! Believe me when I say I saved big and only purchased two items. One of the items you see above: the scarf. Tres lovely, no? I wish I could say I feel guilty but I don't mwahahaha!!! Look at me flaunting my disregard of the rules...classic sociopath behavior. Uh oh. First the talking clothes and now this. Either I need to talk to someone or I need to stop reading my DSM-IV for fun.

- A

29 is so fine

Day 29..woo hoo! February was a difficult month to do this challenge. First, my brain cells were depleted due to focus on other things. Second, weather here in Texas can't make up its mind.

Look at my last picture there. Even subconsciously, I'm counting down the days...one day to go (as indicated by my finger).

- A