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A self-proclaimed Mac fanatic found a picture of a factory worker on his newest device and decided he wanted to find out more about where Apple products come from and how they’re made. This man, Mike Daisey, was featured in an episode of This American Life, a program on NPR.
He investigated Foxconn, an Apple manufacturer. He managed to get past the manufacturer’s tight security and interviewed workers about their experiences. Though Foxconn has been taking steps to improve worker conditions, it remains a less than ideal place to work.
Child labor was a big issue for a while, one that Foxconn addressed. It addressed rising employee suicide rates by placing nets around the building to catch jumpers. Extremely long hours were another complaint. And people are always waiting at the gates for a job.
This is the kind of competition that comes with a globalized society, one with a rising population that’s driven to be the best, to be the richest and to own the most To be the king of what you perceive to be your domain. Some people get to be in this position because they’ve made the right connections, opened the right doors or have inherited money. Others work their way up.
However, not everyone who works his or her tail off will become rich. Those who do become rich can be greedy, territorial and seem to think they need more than they actually do. Thus, there are fewer resources for the people who haven’t made it that far.
As humans, we need food and water. Shelter is great, and so is love and comfort. Beyond this, we have wants. We have been perceiving wants as needs, and we are in a race to accumulate because of it.
I’m concerned about what our country and other parts of the world have come to value. The people who are valued are paid the most, as being in a capitalist society means your worth can be measured in dollars. There are, of course, valued positions in fields such as medicine and engineering. But why should movie stars and athletes make more than teachers? If we continue to give entertainment priority over education, our world will be comparable to the satire illustrated in the movie “Idiocracy.”
This is a world in which you can sit on the toilet in front of a screen with 12 different programs showing at once, a world in which you can get your law degree at Costco. Plants are watered with sports drinks, and die because of it. Water is what’s in your toilet, not something you drink. The movie is hilarious, but it does make you think about the direction in which we’re headed.
Let’s put money aside for a moment, because it is only as important as we make it. Truly, money is nothing. It’s paper, and the gold that in the past backed it up is intrinsically worthless. You cannot survive alone on a desert island with a bar of gold.
What would you do with your life if money was not important? What if it didn’t exist? How might you live your life differently?
The folks at Foxconn would not kill themselves at jobs like that.
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I like to think the world would be radically different, but really, money is only part of the problem. This competitive spirit has stoked a dark fire in our hearts. If you could record the number of negative thoughts you have in a day, would it outweigh the positive?
How often do you criticize yourself and others, or compare yourself to someone else? We are full of insecurities because we’ve come to value cosmetics, the superficial. Money is superficial. So are material objects. What is the point of buying phone after phone after phone, as soon as the latest version hits the market? These things are an indicator of status, and the people who buy into those trends fear that without having these things, they will be nothing. Why let ourselves be defined by what we own? We are so much more than that.
There are those who are insecure and crumple because they lack self-worth. Then there are people who develop an overinflated sense of ego, a defense mechanism. Another defense mechanism is criticizing others with the same faults as you. Anybody who’s spent time in the company of an egomaniac can see right through their show. They don’t actually think they’re that great, but want to make sure everybody thinks of them as superior.
As I see it, the root of the problem is that we see each other as different. Truly, we are not so separate. We are a social species and need each other to thrive. When people lived in tight-knit communities, there was not the kind of conflict we see today. When people care for each other, there is prosperity for everybody. It is only when societies become greedy that poverty is prevalent.
It’s not natural for us to nourish the animosity thriving in today’s world. Because of globalization, we are at an interesting crossroads in the history of the world. For the first time, we are able to travel the world, to experience different cultures, to know everything there is out there. We need to take the time to understand everybody, to hear one another out. We can either recognize we are in the same boat and behave as such, or we can continue to battle each other in the name of proving our individual superiority.
Listening to NPR when the fiscal cliff was looming, I heard two arguments. When I spoke with my Republican uncle, he explained the nuances not discussed in mainstream media. There are points at which both parties can meet. People are not entirely unreasonable.
But playing the political game gets in the way of progress.
Because once a politician recognizes they can get on board with another party’s ideals, she fears her constituents will perceive this as betrayal. This is the kind of divide that is keeping us in gridlock.
Can the world just get over itself? Forget ego, forget your reputation, forget individualism and being superior. Nobody is perfect; everybody is doing what they can to survive. The sooner we learn to get along and recognize what is truly important and necessary in this world, the sooner we can live without fear and insecurity.
