ACORN

[kandrathe]

So, if I have this straight...

No you don't have it straight. The single or minority opinion, and voice becomes more powerless the closer that group approaches one. Our societies have so jaded people to sources of information, that they assume everyone is lying to them which makes it very difficult to organize anyone toward a common goal. Institutionalized altruism is another name for forcing someone to do something against their will because the majority thinks it is a beneficent idea.

I have not discussed whether we should try or not, only that there are many topics to exert effort toward. All things being equal, I think its horrible that children in west Africa are forced to pick beans, but it is also a problem that West Africa should deal with since we've got our own issues closer to home. Will I feel guilty drinking my morning coffee? A little. If you want to get angry at something, look at the children around the world that dig through garbage dumps for food and items to sell. If you want to get outraged about exploiting children, look at the sex trade and slave trade in SE Asia and the Middle East. If you want to get really outraged, look at the MILLIONS of people killed and enslaved in Darfur and Sudan. Somewhere further down on my PO list are children sewing sequins on shirts in New Delhi.

Check out the lives of children of migrant farm workers in North America, or the sweat shops in New York, or Los Angeles. I'm concerned about all the ills in the world, but it seems that there is too much to do here to try to focus on every other nations inability to enforce their own laws. Check the label in the clothing you are wearing now. Where did it come from? Where did the fibers come from, and are you certain that it was made morally? Some people here seem to think they are morally superior because they care. I would say I care, but I'm not deluding myself by thinking that it will make a difference if I give up using cocoa, or sugar, or coffee, or vanilla, or wearing clothing, or eating vegetables, or using computers, or buying products from China, India, Hong Kong, or a bazillion other places or products that may be made immorally according to Western standards. If there is no organized effort, and you are not ready to lead one, then why should you or anyone decide to make the altruistic stand to suffer in the name of moral gravitas?

Give me the name of any common product, and we can discern its level of immorality. You, Shadow, and everyone here all have bought hundreds of products in 2008 that are burdened with immorality.