In an attempt to gain all the rights corporations enjoy, Jon Stewart launched “United Jonco International.”
Nick of Time: “Gonna Make You Sweat”
After seeing Jim Keady and Leslie Kretzu’s short documentary about Nike’s sweatshops posted on the Mutt, once again re-exposing the Nike’s exploitation of the Indonesian poor, I thought to myself.. “I saw this before”…
Yes, that’s a young Michael Moore in “The Big One” attempting to persuade Nike’s President Phillip Knight to not just off set his “sweatshop” labor practices in Indonesia, but begging him to open a factory in Flint, Michigan. Knight went on to utter the line “America does not want to make shoes”. Despite heart wrenching pleas by people from one of the poorest parts of the US, Knight was still not persuaded that Americans wanted to make his shoes, while of course not being “about the money”. When Jim Keady approached Phillip Knight rudely interrupting his lunch, Keady was dismissed and despite being 10 years later… Phillip Knight has yet to go to the country of Indonesia to personally see what was going on there. Fact is Knight has no interest in EVER seeing Indonesia or is he even remotely interested in the issue. Until he feels the pressure on his wallet, he along with just about every US Corporation will NEVER make a conscious decision to forgo profit for basic human rights. In fact, as long as their practice remains legal in the US, Knight has a LEGAL OBLIGATION to protect and perpetuate the economic model that affords them the success they enjoy. It’s a sad fact… so unless America stops buying Nike products… (fat chance) … they are not going to listen.. So where do we go from here? Maybe we can start holding athletes accountable for their “paid” endorsements. For starters isn’t it at all concerning that a professional athlete would easily switch the type of garment that is essential to their craft on the basis of a few dollars. That either suggests that the there is NO DIFFERENCE between Nike’s or Adidas brand of shoes, or that the paid athlete simply does not care. And if they are not going to care, why should we? Nike’s poster boy, Tiger Woods would be a great way to start applying the pressure… but America is far more interested and offended with his sex life as opposed to endorsing a company that takes part in human suffering. Michael Jordan would be a great target… but that’s like trying to take down the Jesus Christ of endorsement dollars. Remember a few years back in 1996 when Kathie Lee Gifford’s shitty line of “Wal-Mart” clothing came under fire for being made in sweatshops… America was at a loss. But NOT ONE mention of Michael Jordan or any athlete who were endorsed by Nike. Michael Moore was the only known high profile figure to have the courage to take it to Nike… but that was before Michael Moore became Michael Moore. I guess the biggest reason why this issue annoys me so, is because this represents everything that America has evolved into. We are now a Country that spends more on advertising and the marketing of products, as opposed to actually making the products for a few dollars more. We are more interested in educating our brightest to be bankers and marketers, as opposed to engineers. I am not putting bankers down… or anyone’s living… but our collective attitude. Because there will come a time when good people of Indonesia will tell Nike to fuck off, and we will have to find another poor country to exploit, or a class of immigrants to abuse. I certainly hope so… because “America does not want to make shoes”. But this isn’t Phillip Knight’s fault, Michael Jordan’s fault, and we can’t blame George Bush for this either (though I would love to) collectively… it’s our fault for allowing it. Suggested Reading / Links Downsize This – Michael Moore Collapse – Jared Diamond And if you really want to take it to the next level… please e-mail mark.parker@nike.com (President of Nike) and explain that as a consumer and you are concerned about labor practices/transparency and your reasons why. They get the emails… by Brooklynmutt contributor Niko
Following the Supreme Court decision implicitly granting corporations the right to free speech (by determining that political spending is a kind of speech), a corporation has decided to take what it believes to be “democracy’s next step”: It is running for Congress.
(via Corporation Says It Will Run for Congress - Economix Blog - NYTimes.com)
“Today, less than 1 percent of America’s 30 million companies export — a percentage that is significantly lower than all other developed countries.”
