Tuesday, September 05, 2006

David Was Right

This morning, I read this article about migrant workers in California whilst scoffing sachertorte and Trader Joe's milk for breakfast.

By the time I reached the end, the crushing sense of unworthiness overwhelmed me. How was I lucky enough to be born into the upper-middle class, to professional parents who cared for nothing but the education of their children, when there are children who sleep 11 to a room while their parents scramble to earn $10,000 in a year?

Only 500 miles separate me from the family described in the story, and it is certain that although they are a particularly grim example of how migrant families live, similar situations are happening in much closer proximity.

I stared at the remains of my recently demolished slice of torte, on lovely wedding china, and looked at the cat. Forget about me, even the lazy live rug has an existence far more luxurious than many humans. Under my scrutiny, she scarpered under the nearest coffee table.

This was a reminder to me of a conversation (in person, would you believe) that we recently had with David, where he posited the question of what we would do with our gifts, genetically inherited or otherwise. Understanding that we have been blessed with innumerable advantages is one thing; putting that knowledge to good use is another.

David and Mrs. David have chosen to clone the advantages they've got by fostering children who simply haven't had the support or resources behind them to make or take the opportunities in the modern world.

As for the rest of us, perhaps being grateful is an excellent first step. There are still some in this nation of brats who still won't deign to step inside a WalMart, much less acknowledge the fact that our lives are a careful balance of fate, effort, and the sweat of others less fortunate than us.

So why, you ask, am I still here, harping on about the seeming trivialities of a cushy corporate life? Good question. A decent answer will take some time, but I reckon that the shame I feel at the broader issue of social inequality is the same shame I wish those who lie, cheat, and intimidate in a work setting would feel. Maybe I'm just trying to find the shreds of human diginity in a world where it doesn't seem to matter anymore.

1 Comments:

Blogger David said...

Whoa, potato! Big thoughts there. Your protestations about not getting into politics ring less and less true the more you write. Please let me know if I can be your campaign manager, personal assistant, leaflet hander-outer or vice president any time soon. I’ll be there.

That article makes scary reading. The scariest bit is not knowing where the future lies for current immigrants. As it states, there was a time when you could go from being a fruit picker to a farmer in a few years. That’s the classic American Dream: hard work can get you to where you want to go. From an economic point of view, everyone benefits from that.

Nowadays that’s all corrupted (in every sense), and what amazes me is that it’s the middleman that holds all the power. In the case of agriculture that’s the supermarkets. Everyone wants to pay low low prices, so the supermarkets squeeze the farmers who then squeeze the workers. Prices go up with inflation (or does inflation rise with prices? I’m never sure). The only thing that really rockets is Walmart et al’s profits.

It’s naïve to imagine any consumer revolution taking place (“hey, let’s all pay more!”) or any of the major chains hiking prices, because people will just shop elsewhere. What’s odd (and maybe educational) is that when petrol prices go up across the board everyone grumbles but they still buy. So maybe a more managed liberal market is the way forward rather than a totally free one…? Survival of the fittest works great for the fittest. Of course, if the fittest start feeling guilty about the less fit then all hell threatens to break loose.

The article nicely captures the interconnectedness of it all. While I’d love to believe there’s a multi-national conspiracy in operation where grey-suited men sit around a table and mastermind the whole situation, no one’s that clever. I think big business is just very happy to maintain the status quo of a naturally occurring underclass to keep labour costs down. And the U.S. certainly isn’t the only place in the world that’s true. The real crime, I guess, is the conspiracy of ignorance between us and them. Do I want to know where my raisins come from? Do I want to see the conditions the people who pick my coffee live under? Don’t ask, don’t tell.

Thank you for your positive comments on fostering, by the way. Just don’t expect me to deal with kids until I’ve had my morning venti skinny vanilla latte. And if Star*ucks put their prices up I’ll be complaining to the manager.

The real problem is how entrenched we all are within the system. In fostering I have to work with lots of so-called social services, 90% of which are just plain awful, 100% of which are utterly under-resourced. So is working within a rubbish system better than doing nothing? I would say so, but could my energies be better spent pointing out the problems and attempting to redesign the whole thing? Close to impossible, I know, but should that stop me?

That’s why your conclusion that “perhaps being grateful is an excellent first step” leaves me both warm and cold. No doubt people should be far more aware of what’s going on and their place in it – it’s a circle of life, after all. And a small world. But how do the people who matter (i.e. those at the bottom) know that we’re grateful, or care if gratefulness doesn’t translate into shoes on feet or clean running water?

Is your first step just another one down a long well-trodden road that leads to no actual change, or if enough people took that path would change be effected? Is the current economic and political model so unjust that it can’t be steered back onto a decent course? Does it need to be replaced and, if yes, with what?

The article writer does well to put forward some new ideas, but he’s never going to start a revolution (because you are). We need a model that doesn’t punish people at the bottom of the pile for the sake of those at the top, but if it’s to be popular then that needs to be true vice-versa as well. Basically, we need to create more energy within an enclosed system.

If anyone can work that out, it’s you!

(Vodka consumed today: nil).

5:09 AM  

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