The Cheap World System
Last week I came across a book called Cheap, all about how the real crushing feature of a shitty economy is how cheap people are. If we'd all get on board with just paying for what a thing is worth then things would just be better. I don't disagree with much of the principled arguments made.
After skimming through it a bit, I came across something very interesting on page 196. It was so significant that I'd scribbled a note about it, there, when I had the book in my hands, but I've come to find that I've misplaced that note. Instead of just jotting down again what I saw there, I thought I'd just blog about it. Why not. The number of things I see the World System doing in its duty to fulfill Cain's legacy is huge. And I frequently make little notes about them, stuff them in a folder, and a few do actually make it into my web work. Well, how about if I just share this little note with you right now.
Right there on page 196 of Ellen Ruppel Shell's Cheap was a remark related to the chapter about outsourcing and cheap labor and how companies make their goods overseas and do it on the extreme cheap and of course sweat shop laborers suffer and there's all kinds of exploitation and all the rest of it. And please, forgive me, again, I am not at all unsympathetic to cause of elucidating the destructive nature of labor oppression.
The striking passage was along the lines of this -- I'm putting it in quotes but understand this is the most brutal paraphrase, but the key idea is still fully intact:
"There really is no international law or anything like that to make this all proper and better. The only thing working now, really, is guilt. These companies should be made to feel guilty to keep them treating laborers properly. There is no real program or institution to enforce such a thing, but there is one that is very capable of it: the Vatican. But, last I saw, it wasn't in the workplace inspection business."
Right after that the author keeps right on railing against the bad stuff with outsourcing and exploitation and on and on, you know, but says nary a thing more about the Vatican. Not a thing.
The random yet extraordinarily meaningful mention of the main ecclesiastical body charged with cracking heads of any and all World inhabitants says a ton.
First, Rome indeed doesn't send inspectors dressed in official inspection attire with official inspection checklists to these places, but it still does use the guilt thing as a prominent weapon in its sin management arsenal. Problem is the guilt thing only works to gird the legitimacy of the operation, not to really do anything about the actual exploitation. Look at the migrant crisis on the southern U.S. borders. Look at how splendid the Catholic Church is made to look for rescuing poor oppressed children when the Church has been fomenting the environment for such an eventuality for centuries.
Second, remember, the inventor of international law was an 17th century Jesuit scholar named Francisco Suarez, so anything you see about international law is a testament to the phenomenal work of the Society to govern with extreme prejudice. International law sounds so good and wholesome -- and it is!.. For the ruthless adjudication of uncooperative provincials. Again, it is all arranged merely to make the Caesars look good by keeping people in a state of rebellion to justify any of the most merciless law enforcement actions required, without there really being any teeth in the law to begin with. I mean, did you note Shell's resignation? Quite reasonable.
Quite reasonable because this is what we all see: What good is international law? What's the good of guilt accusations? What is the Vatican but a bunch of hifalutin guys in all sorts of fancy robes?
But there is a lot to see in the deep politics.
And after you see that, you can do one of only a few things. Really, there are only those things.
One, you can rage and rage and rage some more, and then go tell Rome's priests or Washington's technocrats or someone you know running the System to just go make things better dammit, there're exploited people out there! Errrghckk!
Two, you can close your eyes and ears, tune out -- or if some of it seeps into your psyche you can blap to someone some pithy thing you've had swirling around in you mind that's pithy and smart and pithy. And, then, well, there ya go.
Or three, you can immerse yourself in God's word and find out what the Kingdom is like, as well as the way to understand, to know, and also, probably the main thing of all...
To actually love...
And then to reach out and meaningfully, significantly, righteously impact the lives of any who are exploited and oppressed and whatever else affects the souls of people who God loves with His life.
That's it. There it is. There's the note. I'm sharing it with you now, so you can know about it too.
I can't help but keep thinking, though...
...How nice it would be to see people writing, sharing about seeing people being Christ to others...
...Really, actually, truly...
...Massively...
___
(August 26 2014 note: Guess what. I found that note. An added item about the above reference from Cheap. That remark about the Vatican doing international law stuff? It was from Richard Locke of MIT.)
After skimming through it a bit, I came across something very interesting on page 196. It was so significant that I'd scribbled a note about it, there, when I had the book in my hands, but I've come to find that I've misplaced that note. Instead of just jotting down again what I saw there, I thought I'd just blog about it. Why not. The number of things I see the World System doing in its duty to fulfill Cain's legacy is huge. And I frequently make little notes about them, stuff them in a folder, and a few do actually make it into my web work. Well, how about if I just share this little note with you right now.
Right there on page 196 of Ellen Ruppel Shell's Cheap was a remark related to the chapter about outsourcing and cheap labor and how companies make their goods overseas and do it on the extreme cheap and of course sweat shop laborers suffer and there's all kinds of exploitation and all the rest of it. And please, forgive me, again, I am not at all unsympathetic to cause of elucidating the destructive nature of labor oppression.
The striking passage was along the lines of this -- I'm putting it in quotes but understand this is the most brutal paraphrase, but the key idea is still fully intact:
"There really is no international law or anything like that to make this all proper and better. The only thing working now, really, is guilt. These companies should be made to feel guilty to keep them treating laborers properly. There is no real program or institution to enforce such a thing, but there is one that is very capable of it: the Vatican. But, last I saw, it wasn't in the workplace inspection business."
Right after that the author keeps right on railing against the bad stuff with outsourcing and exploitation and on and on, you know, but says nary a thing more about the Vatican. Not a thing.
The random yet extraordinarily meaningful mention of the main ecclesiastical body charged with cracking heads of any and all World inhabitants says a ton.
First, Rome indeed doesn't send inspectors dressed in official inspection attire with official inspection checklists to these places, but it still does use the guilt thing as a prominent weapon in its sin management arsenal. Problem is the guilt thing only works to gird the legitimacy of the operation, not to really do anything about the actual exploitation. Look at the migrant crisis on the southern U.S. borders. Look at how splendid the Catholic Church is made to look for rescuing poor oppressed children when the Church has been fomenting the environment for such an eventuality for centuries.
Second, remember, the inventor of international law was an 17th century Jesuit scholar named Francisco Suarez, so anything you see about international law is a testament to the phenomenal work of the Society to govern with extreme prejudice. International law sounds so good and wholesome -- and it is!.. For the ruthless adjudication of uncooperative provincials. Again, it is all arranged merely to make the Caesars look good by keeping people in a state of rebellion to justify any of the most merciless law enforcement actions required, without there really being any teeth in the law to begin with. I mean, did you note Shell's resignation? Quite reasonable.
Quite reasonable because this is what we all see: What good is international law? What's the good of guilt accusations? What is the Vatican but a bunch of hifalutin guys in all sorts of fancy robes?
But there is a lot to see in the deep politics.
And after you see that, you can do one of only a few things. Really, there are only those things.
One, you can rage and rage and rage some more, and then go tell Rome's priests or Washington's technocrats or someone you know running the System to just go make things better dammit, there're exploited people out there! Errrghckk!
Two, you can close your eyes and ears, tune out -- or if some of it seeps into your psyche you can blap to someone some pithy thing you've had swirling around in you mind that's pithy and smart and pithy. And, then, well, there ya go.
Or three, you can immerse yourself in God's word and find out what the Kingdom is like, as well as the way to understand, to know, and also, probably the main thing of all...
To actually love...
And then to reach out and meaningfully, significantly, righteously impact the lives of any who are exploited and oppressed and whatever else affects the souls of people who God loves with His life.
That's it. There it is. There's the note. I'm sharing it with you now, so you can know about it too.
I can't help but keep thinking, though...
...How nice it would be to see people writing, sharing about seeing people being Christ to others...
...Really, actually, truly...
...Massively...
___
(August 26 2014 note: Guess what. I found that note. An added item about the above reference from Cheap. That remark about the Vatican doing international law stuff? It was from Richard Locke of MIT.)
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