Is the Center for Consumer Freedom Really for the People?

   When I watched the video about the Center for Consumer Freedom(CCF) my initial reaction was being dazed and confused. To me it was evident that the video seemed to present itself as an advocate for us the individual and the consumer's rights. However, after a few seconds it started talking about the fight against taxes on candy bars and how organizations such as People for the Ethnical Treatment of Animals(PETA), Center for Science in the Public Interest  and other organizations were going to far in telling us how to run our lives. In other words,  the Center for Consumer Freedom aimed to present a honest debate mainly about food and beverages but is it really in favor for the consumer?

   In reality, the Center for Consumer Freedom is a non-profit American lobby group. As seen in the video, this group mainly focused on how to inform us, defend our consumer choice, and promote common sense. However,  this group failed to tell us their own reality. It is a coalition of restaurants and food companies and other individuals that was founded by Richard Berman an executive director of  Berman and Company. This coalition campaigned against  PETA, The Disease Control, and other agencies that have informed Americans about what is in our food and to be conscious on how animals are treated or any other social problem related to this topic.  

       An example of the Center for Consumer Freedom from their website an article titled "Health Food, or Slick Marketing?" explored the reality of organic food.The text argued about how the process of organic food was just more expensive and in fact there was no clear evidence stating better health benefits of this type of  product than purchasing other natural products.  Justin Wilson from the CCF in his interview with Johns Stossel from Fox News in the segment called " Is Organic Food Worth the Price?" believed organic food was "eco-fads rooted in elitism."


http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/1245915096001/is-organic-food-worth-the-price/


http://www.consumerfreedom.com/news_detail.cfm/h/4552-health-foods-or-slick-marketing


Then this corespondent further affirmed that  the United States Department of Agriculture(USDA) only labeled Organic products as a marketing tool.  For author Raj Patel  of Stuffed and Starved(2007), he pointed out that instead of having a higher cost of food that differentiated healthy food for the poor make it more affordable and accessible to everyone. Organic foods could be a fad; however, there are differences in its process with lesser chemicals or none at all.  Moreover,  these products are getting to more preferred nowadays and as an result, it is transforming the food industry and how the food production system has been industrialized is being further questioned.  For farmers producing organic items, they might progress in markets that have been bullied by corporations like Wal-mart or Tyson.  To me,  this article established the perspective of the CCF on organic foods in order to discourage buying these products by also placing an emphasis on class in order to demonstrate the higher cost of these items. Thus, Justin Wilson further included in his interview about buying locally.  He believed that this placed a carbon footprint as well as buying product from other people elsewhere but to him, people only bought these products in order for them to" feel better."  To me, I found that this comment about locally grown food failed to conceive a better argument since in reality locally grown food is more beneficial. As Patel noted, local products are often more cheaper than the supermarket,  better for the local economy, and they are less processed making them healthier(307-308). In other words, locally grown products are more beneficial to the local economy hence corporations like Wal-mart are not benefiting from it unless they join into buying these type of products by changing the way it has done business due to consumption of consumers and the idea of supply and demand.
     In reexamining both the article and video, the Center for Consumer Freedom capitalized on their power of persuasion by misinforming the consumer.  In order to keep the consumer, they must delegitimize other organization and agencies, yet they toyed with the idea of consumer freedom and choice.  For Patel, “Choice is the word we’re left with to describe our plucking one box rather than another off the shelves, and it’s the word we’re taught to use"(254). This meant the word "choice" was conditioned to us in which the consumer believed that they had a choice. However for Wal-mart locations in poorer areas, customers did not have a choice of an alternative on item since there was no other stores near by. To me, this suggested the present power relationship of corporations with its consumers where corporations are on top and the consumer is at the bottom. Thus, Patel also argued the fact that the consumer relied not on choice but rather on instincts in which corporations and other forces tried to condition and control.  For instance, CCF creating their perspective they aimed to alter the person's instinct to engage in other possiblities to change their mind in consumption of healthier foods and buying locally. Furthermore,  the video and the article do not care about the dignity of the individual-the consumer, the farmer, and the American public.  In fact, corporations' interests have always been to gain more profit rather than looking at the bigger picture of a change of diet that is desperately needed and treating  farmers fairly instead of exploiting them and their workers.
    As Patel noted in both in his book and radio discussion, the people need to get angry for change to occur.  In reality, rather than consumer freedom, we need food sovereignty, which is a" vision that aims to redress the abuse of the powerless by the powerful, wherever in the food system that abuse may happen"(303). In other forms, this addressed the issue of how peoople are being treated by the powerful or corporations in which a consumer was made to think they are the ones that are stupid for purchasing better quality food. In contrast, the reality is the food industry-corporations- are the ones who set the price.  For me, I believe in order to change this cycle of manipulation by corporations, there is need for reclaiming control not only at an individual level but at a collective level. For CCF, this group aimed to be your friend as a strategy to further control the consumer in order to further neglect how they process food, or exploit farmers and workers.  Similarly, they played with issues of class status for their own benefit to further manipulate us into believing that they are right.

On their website, they neglected true issues such as obesity.  Rather than stating it is social issue they demonstrated their point of view with sarcastic cartoons poking fun of this problem and by blaming other institutions like the Education system. 



    

       In essence, consumers play a critical role in changing the food industry.  With this being said, consumer freedom is an idea or tool to manipulate  individuals to be led to believe that they have freedom of choice.  In contrast, food sovereignty  is one of the ways to get our dignity back by demanding rights and snapping the wielded power of the bottleneck corporations and their influences over our own government and our lives.  As Patel stated with his analogy of the "Emperor with No Clothes", instead of everyone denying the facts address them and make changes by educating ourselves and tranforming the way we think about food and product consumption.


Work Cited:
Patel, Raj. Stuffed and Starved. London: Portabello Books, 2007.


"Center for Consumer Freedom." Wikipedia  2011. 30 Oct 2011
 < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_for_Consumer_Freedom>.

       

Hawaiian Labor Unions and the 1946 Sugar Stike

      Living in Hawai`i your whole life, you get an understanding for the importance of labor unions and organizations.  As a child, the curriculum only  focused just slightly on strikes in the 20^th century but without them, there would not be any progress in the Hawaiian Islands and its influence elsewhere with the organization of unions.   My father was always proud to be part of the Hawaiian Laborers Union Association.  He felt a sense of comfort and he knew that they would assist him if there were any inequalities being administered toward him or others. Labors unions make sure their members acquire pension plans, health care, fair wages, and work compensation when injured. Without them, I probably would not be here at this university today.  For these reasons stated above, I would like to present, a moment of significant history and transformation, the 1946 Sugar Strike.

             To understand this strike one must clearly take an account a little bit of history of Hawai`i.   The State of Hawai`i did not become a state until 1959.  Prior to this, the islands had a monarchy that was annexed not once but twice. Under the Newsland Joint Resolution in 1901, Hawai`i was finally annexed due to the importance of Pu`uloa -Pearl Harbor- to the United States Military especially during the Spanish American War in 1898 and the White elite in power.  These settlers like many others before them changed the face of the Hawaiian nation by creating more inequalities. For instance, the sugar and pineapple plantations exemplified a feudal system of labor in which the owners controlled the lives and families of their workers.

The Big-Five were subsidiaries and parent  companies –American Factors (Amfac), Castle &Cook, C. Brewer, Alexander &Baldwin, and Theo H. Davies &Co.- of the White Elite in Hawai`i in power.  These companies  not only controlled  the economic sector in Hawai`i but also in the educational and political institutions of the then Hawaiian nation and territory of the United States( The 1946 Sugar Strike).
      Thus, the people working in the plantations totaled 1/5 of all of  Hawaii's population. Because of the importance of sugar during the 19th and 20th century in the World's economy, many plantation companies contracted workers from different countries to work in this industry. These laborers were Japanese, Filipino, Portuguese, Chinese, and  also Hawaiian.  Because these groups were from different countries, they did not speak the same language and were segregated in different camps as a way to prevent communication and solidarity.  However, many workers understood that they were treated unfairly and the pay grade was different for each ethnic group, for example, the Japanese earned $0.99 an hour as oppose to the Filipinos workers who earned $0.69.

            The  Sugar Strike of 1946  was one of the most important strikes in the history of Hawai`i. As  Solomon mentioned in the strike of 1919, both the Japanese and Filipino labor groups demanded better working conditions, higher wages, and eight-hour work days(12).  In order to continue controlling the work force, the plantation owners evicted the strikers from their homes, hired strikebreakers, and leaders were  prosecuted for conspiracy.  However, this group continued fighting and were granted most of their demands.  As a result, these two groups placed pressure toward  the plantation owners and  the laborers throughout the years came to an understanding that the key for change and transformation was unity and organization. Thus, in efforts to go on strike in 1946,   solidarity was essential  and all labors needed to be unionized island-wide.

       The International Longshore and Warehouse Union  and sugar plantation workers began  to unionize and effectively strategized to reduce failure.   This union, established finally in  August 11, 1937,  replacing the old union International Longshoreman Association. Their main focus was to reorganize workers and in the  Hawaii chapter, this union included sugar and pineapple workers, hotel workers, and  dock workers.  For the Sugar Strike in 1946, some leaders like Jack Hall from the ILWU came to the islands to assist in the labor movement that was embarking.  For both the ILWU and the sugar plantation workers, it was important that there were leaders from each camp that were recognizable and respected.  The leaders needed to be informed in order to inform others in their groups and to have others sign up for the union. This method of strategy was a way to utilize all the uses. Other leaders came from sport organizations and volunteer activities such as OLAA Surf Riders Baseball Team.  For the ILWU, it  was important to involve new leaders such as Eddie Lapu  from the Wailua Sugar Cane Plantation to help with the organization of the unions and to have others sign up. Because plantations enforced their own law, they prohibited organizing, which made this somewhat difficulty in organizing and having member sign up for the union.  However, the workers would meet after 9:00 PM once they were off work and they organized meetings at  Post Office places that were United States government owned. At one point in some plantations, new members signed up in the restrooms.  The plantations in order to discourage laborers, brought more workers approximately 6,000 from the Philippines in 1946.

However, upon arrival the workers on the ships were already affiliated with the ILUW because they like many others believed in having better pay and benefits. The end result of signing all workers brought a strength in numbers and a disruptions could occur to create pressure.
    The strike itself took a year to finally become organized. Prior to this , a selected groups of  workers were sent to the mainland California in formal educations on organizing,  ideology of labor history and law,  and also they attended live practicums of other union struggles.  To have this was essential in order to have a sound organized union and strike. In addition, prior to the sugar strike,  there was already comprise drawn up that allowed workers more pay than  24 cents an hour. However,  workers aimed to get paid $0.65 an hr,  work 40 hours a week, but most importantly, they wanted to eliminate  the prerequisite of free provision of  medicare, housing , and fuel.  The perquisite only made plantations perpetuate their control and  power by enslaving workers to harsh treatment and horrible living condition to their standards. Instead the union proposed that this should come out of their pay. In addition, the union demanded a union store and security in their jobs.

    In the end, the Sugar Strike in Hawaii started in September 1946 and ended on November 17, 1946.  There were 33 out of 34 plantations on strike with approximately 25,000 workers officially picketing.  Because the men were on strike the family was also in support of this strike in which this meant 75, 000 people were on strike.  During the strike everyone had a job either transporting workers, making food, going to meetings,  or providing entertainment for morale. It seemed that no one was left behind and although many did not speak the same language,  the union made sure communications were in Ilokano, Tagalog, Japanese, Chinese and Standard English.  Although there was opposition due to Hawaiian law favoring the management in prohibiting unlawful assembly, the people took the risk by attesting the constitution of territorial law by getting arrested.  In other words, the workers did not show fear and challenged the authority.  This pressure enforced accomplished change in labor in Hawai`i and the end of a feudal system. The workers earned a 20-40 % increase, 40 hours a week workdays, and the end of provision. In addition, there  was new management in which found the need to negotiate and allow grievances to be addressed instead of ignoring the workers.
   Thus,  to many workers from this era and myself this was a social victory. This transformed the lives of many and changed the lives of the community.   In the documentary about this strike called the 1946 Sugar Strike, one woman noted that they were fighting for their children and to change the future. Many were tired of being treated as second class citizens and demanded a voice.  Other ways where this sugar strike changed the course of the future is in the state government.  Those who were  citizens working on the plantations registered to vote then later voted on candidates that did not ignore the workers and their demands.  Because of this in Hawai`i till this day, the house majority is democratic and not republican.
  In sum,  when there is a strike in Hawai`i the people support them and their demands.  Without those brave people who did strike those last few months in 1946, Hawai`i would possible continued to be a feudal system of labor and there would not be a sense of racial equality in Hawai`i.  Although there is still some disparities in Hawai`i,  I know this union like many others are still standing strong in Hawai`i even though the number has dropped elsewhere.  My point is the strike created change in Hawai`i and transformed the working class to be acknowledge as a voice to be heard. As a result, there is ethnic diversity, hybridity in language and culture, and a sense of pride to be from Hawai`i.  I also believe the reason why many do not know about this Sugar Strike in history books  is because many books fail to recognize Hawai`i as a state and only remember Pearl Harbor in 1941. They  do not look  beyond that nor remember that Hawai`i was its own nation once.  Another reason for this history to be ignored is the distance that Hawai`i is from the mainland and many people still want to believe  that "there  is no trouble in paradise."


Work Cited:
" International Longshore and Warehouse Union" Wikipedia. 2011.  7 October 2011 .


Salomon, R. Roots of Justice. Berkely: Chardon Press, 1998

"The 1946 Sugar Strike." ILWU 146 Hawaii International Longshoreman and Warehouse Union 7 October 2011 .

1946: The Great Hawaiian Sugar Strike. Dir. Joy Chong-Stannard. Baseline Studio System, 1997

.
Other Resources:

Center for Labor Education and Research
http://clear.uhwo.hawaii.edu/1946.html

Rise and Roses -Videos on different events in Hawaii also the documentary on The 1946 Sugar Strike.
http://clear.uhwo.hawaii.edu/riceroses.html

Zoot Suit Riots (June 1943)-Blog 3

    A riot is a disturbance that occurs when there is upheaval. In the case of the Zoot Suit Riots, this moment happened in June 1943 at a time when WWII ended. It was a moment of an extraordinary social conditions and discontent.  The riots named after the Zoot Suits was associated with Mexican-American youths’ attire.  In which, their form of style of a wide shoulder jacket, baggy pants, a pork pie hat, a long key chain, and for males a duck tail hairstyle expressed an “insolent attitude” which differed from what conventional society embodied (Solomon 23).  Whiteness was the dominant cultural ideal and everything else at the time created a sense of disruption toward the hegemony.  For this factor, the dominant “racial group” in this case, the sailors used the tactic of fear and violence to provoke chaos in a predominantly Mexican-American community in Los Angeles.  However, this time, the community decided to fight back against unfair treatment and most importantly racism.  For this reason, I selected this moment in our nation’s collective memory about these specific riots because their impact paved the way in Mexican-American cultural identity but most importantly, this moment impacted in my own family’s history because they endured this treatment and lived around this time.

      The fighting between the sailors and the Zoot Suitors lasted several days.  At least 200 sailors and civilians came to the riots  and although, there was no one killed, the lasting effects of the riots proved significant in the Mexican-American community and other people of color.   In the United States, the media in their headlines called this group hoodlum and expressed toward others groups of whites to join in the fighting against this group. These fights later on resulted in international attention to other nations especially in Latin America and Mexico due to Spanish-language commentary and reporting about disturbances from their own regional press (Grisworld del Castillo  368)  The point is that the riots highlighted internationally how Mexican-Americans, other people of color, and immigrants were treated as second-class citizens and  the ideals of liberty and civility were falsities . For the United States government, this showcased civil disorder in internal affairs within the nation and a denial of racism as the rooted issue. In retrospect,  this disturbance placed pressures on the government and distracted the “smooth functioning of societal patterns of cooperation” which was necessary for power and authority to continue operating(Fox-Piven 38).

         Thus, although the riots were not a specific movement for Mexican-Americans, I believed that in a sense it was. To be specific the subculture  created  by the Pachucos in having  their own music, language,  and style suggested a time of change( Griswold Del Castillo 369).  It gave the so-called invisible, a face, a name and their own identity. This to me was a strategy but most importantly they were challenging the authority by not following the norm nor traditional values invoked by their own family. Thus, the riot influenced in establishing the Community Service Organization (CSO) in 1946. This organization functioned as a pillar in changing history by fighting against inequalities of racism, job discrimination, and immigration rights in order to achieve civil rights and equal opportunity.  In addition, through voter registration drives, citizenship classes, lawsuits and legislative campaigns, these were

strategies to empower individuals and to challenge the controlling power. 

            In sum, I believed the Zoot Suit Riots encouraged a time for change. It sparked the fuel for Mexican-Americans and immigrants alike in Los Angeles and elsewhere to fight against institutionalize inequalities.  Even in Mexico,  student youth could seemingly identified with the Pachucos and the riots(Griswold del Castillo 369). The lesson learned about this event was to never give up in spite of indifference and  racial prejudice. However, another lesson learned was the importance joining together as a community and organizing to fight against inequalities.  For me in reality, I never heard about the Zoot Suit Riots until I took a course about Latino Culture and History in the United States.  Until then, I could fully understand how much sacrifices were made and how much more inhumanity there was in our nation’s past.  Then later on I felt that I could understand my father a little bit more and his pain because he experienced similar discrimination described in this era.  This moment helped me to understand my own identity as a Mexican-American and to not be ashamed for who I am.

Work Cited

"American Experience. Zoot Soot Riots." PBS.  2009.  29 September 2011.  .

"CSO Project" Community Service Organization. 2011. 29 September 2011..

Fox-Piven.  Challenging Authority:How Ordinary People Change America.Oxford: Rowman & Littlefields Publisher, INC, 2006. 

Fregoso,  Rosa Linda. "The Representation of Cultural Identity in Zoot Suits"(1981)"Theory &Society. 22. 5( Oct 1993) 659-674. JSTOR. 29 September 2011 .

Griswold del Castillo, Richard.  The Los Angeles "Zoot Suit Riots" Revisited: Mexican and Latin American Perspectives." University of California Press. 16.2(Summer 2000)  367-391. JSTOR. 30 September 2011 .

Solomon,  Larry R. Roots of Justice Stories of Organizing Communities of Color. Berkeley: Chardon Press, 1998

"Zoot Suit Riots" Wikipedia. 2011. 30 September 2011. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoot_Suit_

Riotst>.

My Reasons why Young Americans don't Fight

     Based on the article written by Bruce E. Levine,  " 8 Reason Americans Don't Fight Back: How the US Crushed Youth Resistance The ruling elite has created social institutions that has subdued young Americans and broken their spirit of resistance," I find myself in some sort of agreement of this article of eight reasons why young americans do not  fight. However, I believe this article is more of a less motivator toward young Americans because this is only semi-accurate. For this reason, I would like to present my thoughts on why us young Americans do not fight back.
     I like many others live in a world of "COLOR-BLIND RACISM" in which this is a new emergence of racial ideology of America in order to perpetuate inequalities .  Amongst many Americans,  since the Civil Right Movements and the dismantling of  Jim Crow,  there is a  a  belief that all inequalities has ended and we live in world of no " racist"  or  "racism." In other words, Americans live in denial that oppression still exist.  This denial has created frameworks in which one believes racism has ended and many individuals wonder why are others still complaining about these issues of racism or inequality. Another framework presented is the belief that racial segregation in neighborhoods are the natural way of things even in the public school systems.
   Thus, this idea of a natural way of seeing things can also  relate to  student-loan debt and social security issues.   In which, one accepts this as the norm that individuals  occur student loans for school or one accepts that social security will not exist. Other reasons perhaps many young Americans accept this because some worry more about their own benefits and privileges above others . As a result, if issues of inequalities do not pertain to us than we will just walk away.  I know this is harsh but in some cases it is true. How many of us just walk away from an issue because it did not concern us the individual or we just did not have the time to care. The point is those who live in privilege often at times may not see the reality of their own life and are in denial of issues. As for student loans, I do find it as an impediment toward youth resistance or subduing effect on activism in which the author led the reader to believe in his argument. In reality, I myself have occurred student loans and see it as a way for me to be here in another state yet the only thing that is true in this section is students should fight and lobby for free education.
       In addressing the section that  schools educate for compliance and not for democracy, the author believes that "schools don't really teach anything except how to obey orders" (Levine 3). For me, I find this is semi-true in which another author Johnathan Kozol in his book The Shame of the Nation: Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America(2005) writes about schools in the districts of New York especially in the Bronx in comparison to other sections that are middle-class.  In his work, this author describes also about charter schools and other locations in the United States to give an accurate account.  As investigated by the author, there is a sense of teaching of a drill-base teaching approach in which this is due to schools wanting to win a bonus to pass the standardized test due to "No Child Left Behind".  Another factor  Kozol mentions about how schools model themselves as a place of work in order to prepare students for the market. As being the perfect worker can lead to a system of compliance because many may believe the only profession they can strive for is a manager job. This suggest that students are not  being encouraged to be anything else and this can reflect in their lives later on and give them a lack of confidence.   In regards to Bruce E. Levine's arugment in comparsion to  Johnathan Kozol,  Kozol  provides more validity as oppose to the author  For this reason, I find the argument written by Levine true to an extent in which he emphasizes that if  students are taking orders, this lead into a system of tyranny in which there is a sense of lost of creative thought and critical thinking being developed. However, this is not the case for every school charter schools may promote creative thought. In addition, this also depends on the district and the funding needed by the school.   For me as mentioned  by Johnathan Kozol, he points out the differences between schools of the higher class and lower classes in which creative thought is either being emphasized or not due to systems of inequalities and the quality of teaching being assessed. As for " No Child Left behind"  not all educators are in agreement to this issue and again this all depends on the district and the quality of education the child receives.
   One issue of importance that I would like to mention from the Bruce E. Levine's article is the section about medicating students.  I thinks this is often used as a solution for student behavior issues but I also believe that if someone is not so called normal than they are labeled to be a certain way.  Furthermore, if they do not fit in this hierarchy and meritocracy of education than they are considered to be different because they do not follow the norms of society. In other words, medication is a form of solution for many to shine away from other issues of reality. However,  some children may need this because they do suffer from ADHD, hyperactivity and other issues where they have difficulty in concentrating, understanding things, and often fall asleep for no apparent reason.  Than this is needed if this is the only solution. However, in some cases, the cause of behavior issues could be that they are expressing abuse at home, lack of attention, and this is an image issue assumed to in perform a lack of interest in taking school seriously.
    Finally, another factor  why youths do not fight resistance is due to fear, intimidation and the lack of motivation. In our nation's past, a system of fear and coercion has led to centuries of pain and blood. As noted by Fox-Piven's book   Challenging Authority How Ordinary People Change America(2006), many individuals accept this as natural way of things because of fear of backlash by the government, violence, and intimidation.  However,  there are moments of disruption as said by Fox-Piven,  in which ordinary people become the power force to fight against issues like Jim Crow and the abolition of slavery.  For me, I believe it is important to be reminded of this so the youth can fully understand our nation's past.  As Solomon noted, some historical moments are taken out of  history in order to erase their collective memory; however, these historic moments do exist and so do their similar issues today.  For instance,  today there are still  issue of segregation, inequalities in education,  in job hiring and wages.  In addition, in the  Post 9/11 era using the tactic of fear to allow surveillance and racial profiling for fighting against terrorism is another form of racism being reinvented using old tactics by the hegemony as a method of control by eliminating privacy rights to continue on a path of backwardness.

     Thus, social institutions have manipulated  us to think differently in which everything occurring is the norm and one has to live a certain way. However, even though youths have an interdependence relationship with the controlling power, they  have interdependent relationships with other students around the world, teachers, and others who do have the spirt of  resistance. There is a fight going on everyday that many of us do not know about because it is hidden from us by the media and by our own government.  However, today social medias like Facebook has helped  social change in  Egypt from tyranny or the fight for equal rights for sweat shops, hunger, etc. You Tube and blogging  are tools for activism in which videos are posted and information is being shared. In retrospect, today communication  and social relationships amongst individuals at least in the states are at a click of a mouse.  This reminds us that activism today is different than before in how the organization is being broken down.
    In sum, to change us youth there is a need to acquire consciousness and reflect on what is going on in our own environment and in the nation.  In reality, the only things concerning many youths  are how and when to start today. Thus, another question youths may ask is how can we get to our goals to change issues that concern them and the future. These issues of concern are related to education reform, inequalities in schools, health, diversity in institutions, immigration, education for illegal students, and poverty.  In essence, it is their responsibility and others amongst ourselves  to gain consciousness and to think about the bigger picture beyond the classroom, our daily routine, and the media. In the end, I do not find that the spirt of resistance is subdued not yet since there is still hope to change the future and to dismantle the tactic of fear.


Work Cited


Fox-Piven, Frances. Challenging Authority How Ordinary People Change America.  Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, INC, 2006.
  
Kozol, Johnathan. The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid in America. New York: Random House, 2005
  
Levine, Bruce L.  " 8 Reason Young Americans Don't Fight Back: How the US Crushed Youth Resistance" Alter Net 31 July 2011. 29 September 2011
/151850/8_reasons_young_americans_don%27t_fight_back_--_how_the_us_crushed_youth_resistance?page=entire>.

 Salomon, Larry R.  Roots of Justice. Berkeley: Chardon Press, 1998.

Other Resources:

The Shame of the Nation  The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling  In America By Jonathan Kozol from Fall 2006 issue of Rethinking Schools. 
https://facultystaff.richmond.edu/~bmayes/pdf/ShameNation_Kozol.pdf

  
Student Activism Today
http://www.diversityweb.org/digest/sm99/activism.html

Revisiting a Life without Any Logos

Nike
Columbia
REI
Roxy
Calvin Klein
Coach
Baby Phat
Wal-mart
Disney
Victoria Secret
Guess
L.E.I
Quicksilver
O'Neil

Maui & Sons

Today, and the past few days I have been trying to composite my own list of logos that have been an influence in my own life. And today like any other I wanted to see if I could live without these brands for a day and I could say that I probably could for the most part but in reality I can not. From  the moment I wake up I see brand names in my own room staring at me like Roxy and Nike. Why? I would ask myself and I said, well as mentioned in the previous blog many of us buy brands not really for the quality but for the image it presents. Do we really think the quality is the main factor to purchase these items, perhaps so, but again is it really. Some of these brands I buy because it seems to fit and others I buy like Guess and Baby Phat for their name. As for Coach, I purchase handbags to have something of quality that is often because I am trying  to fit a certain image and create an image away from my class and economic status.   As for Roxy,  slippers or flip flops range from $25-$34 and majority of them are made in China. Then later on, I tried to look up where Roxy is manufactured and instead I would find websites that mention their history and that this is a "lead brand for active girls" since 1993(A Brief History of Roxy). Other websites mentioned that a real reason why they chose the name "Roxy" is for the mere fact this word sounded like a punk brand or club.  I am no active girl at all. These type of images as in their ad campaigns try to reflect an empowered woman/girl both physically and  emotionally.  These ad campaigns try to convey this message to fit an idea for every girl either a punk rock girl, surfer girl, an active girl, or just a girl with freewill. Also, they try to project  this perfect lifestyle, perfect wave, and perfect day without any complications or any problems.

For most part, I buy Roxy for its comfort  and for habit now; however, the real reason why I bought this when I was younger is because the image of being free spirited person and trying to fit into this kind of surfer girl lifestyle in which I never fit in nor did I ever surfed until later on in my life.  As a result,  I find that Roxy and many other brands mentioned here can correlate with Naomi Klein's argument of how we fall into this idea image of lifestyle that these ad campaigns creates. In a sense, this is a form of escapism from our own reality that perhaps might be glimmer. In fact, today social injustices are occurring everyday especially how racism is still being perpetuated in many public institutions such as in our public schools and in the workforce in which people of lower economic standing attend school with little resources and the hierarchy of the payment distribution of salaries and treatment at work for many individuals are different depending on their class, race, and gender . The bombing of ads in our own life and elsewhere create an image that potentially harms and undermines the reality of are own individuality because one is following an image often at times that are geared toward white middle class America. For Roxy, this to me seems like a key example not only to who it tries to gear their ads to but also to influence young girls to follow this perfect  body image and person.  If we think  about the bigger picture, this is creating a form of normalizing a certain perspective of how people should be perceived and generating more social and class differences among individuals here and elsewhere.
   In sum, I find myself being disgusted with myself as I look in the mirror and figure out why I buy the things I buy. Then I found myself thinking,  could I live without brands perhaps yes one day but then I realize would the brands allow us to live without them, no.

Work Cited:

" A Brief History of Roxy." Wahine Surfing. 22 May 2004. 16 September 2011.
< http://www.wahinesurfing.com/article.asp?id_article=65>.

"Quicksilver" Wikipedia 2 September 2011. 16 September 2011. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quiksilver >.

No Logo Brands, Globalization and Resistance.  Dir Naomi Klein, 2003

Brands, Influences, and Social Inequalities

            How many of us when buying a specific item at a store or online purchase a certain brand?   Do you buy this item for its quality or for any other reason?   Brands like Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, Disney or even Apple have invented through images a certain freedom, revolution, and most importantly a lifestyle to sell their products.  As a result, consumers are buying into this idea.  Yet, have you ever wondered how was your clothing, toys, or shoes made and by whom.  In the documentary No  Logo, Naomi  Klein  highlights the reasons why many consumers buy into brands; in addition, the film reveals  the ways in which corporations like Nike and Wal-mart operate under free trade-globalization.

            Corporations like Nike, Apple, or Tommy Hilfiger  represent through their products an abstract idea and identity to divert from their quality.  Apple in their ad campaigns wants the consumer to think differently as a way to change the world. 

 As for Tommy Hilfiger, they use celebrities in their advertisements to create an identity that this brand is Rock. As for Nike, many ads show this product as the perfect performance shoe that embodies a celebrity ability in order to serve as a metaphor of an American dream. For other brands like the Body Shop, this corporation uses the environment to convey the message of being the center for what is natural and organic.   In essence, these brands like many others persuade the consumer to fall into this idea or perfect dream.  However, by ourselves being persuaded into these ad campaigns and trying to change are own identity or to be a certain image this often at times furthers social and class differences in our own society. In other words, this can be compared to the idea of an “ American Dream” in which this often refers to the white picket fence and the perfect surreal lifestyle. Naomi Klein underlines this in the documentary with Disney’s own town in Florida in which seems exclusive for individuals that have money and can afford a utopia of so-called perfection.

         Other issues of equal importance in the documentary No Logo are the treatment and conditions of workers in other countries from corporations. In order to gain more profit, many corporations have benefited vastly from free trade agreements between countries by having factories in places like Mexico and in Asia.  For example, in Mexico factories called maquiladores contain primarily a women workforce between the ages of 18 to 25 years that are originally from provinces.  At this location, they produce goods for the United States.  These women receive low wages and at night approximately 80% of these women are normally enclosed in the building overnight to continue working. For Nike and its paradigm, they have a tight workforce in which people earn less than $1.00 a day. 

Nike Sweat Shop

maquiladoras

In retrospect, these examples in the film for free trade in reference to globalization are not fair trade since the only people benefiting from these products are truly corporations. They gain billons of dollars a year while individuals that work in those factories for these corporations are being raped of their basic human rights.  Consequently, this situation creates more disparities and contributes to enslavement of workers by robbing them of better wages, benefits, and better treatment in order for them to remain in the same economic standing and feel dispensable.

            Thus, finally take a look in the mirror and contemplate if you fall for the same images as many others when buying an item.  Do you find yourself saying yes? I know I am guilty of falling for this ideal lifestyle or I buy an item because I consider it a good brand.   Not only that but brands and ads for these products are everywhere even at the university and it is at times hard to escape.  However, as emphasized in the No Logo documentary, brands create a fantasy and corporations and those who run them manipulate the world by saying that free trade is good for everyone but is it really.   In essence, by buying these items like shoes from Nike, clothing from Wal-mart or a toy from Disney contribute to more disparities in the quality of life and human rights of individuals elsewhere because this is saying to these corporations that it is okay to treat their workers as dispensable.  In fact, institutions that the people have fought for to change a system of inequality in the United States are again being reinvented now globally. With corporations, this is only one example of how brands and their images influence in our own lives and elsewhere.

Links to other resources:

Fact Sheet No. 2 (Rev. 1), The International Bill of Human Rights

http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/FactSheet2Rev.1en.pdf

Institute for Global Labour & Human Rights

http://www.globallabourrights.org/

Documentary Film:  No Logo 

http://www.filmsforaction.org/Watch/No_Logo_Brands_Globalization_Resistance/

HBO Series "Brave New Voices "

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqERbsQlcBI

    This a special called  Brave Voices  that showcase winning participants of Poetry Slams across the nation.  I find this relevant to our class because expression is another form of fighting for Social Justice and gives a voice about what is being unheard and denied in our own society. I hope you like this man and later on perhaps I will add a few more.