Speaking out against Corporate Exploitation

Upon monday, I am set to deliver a speech in my class about the exploitation of corporate entities.

If you folks wouldn't mind, I'd like to share that speech with you all.

On every dollar in America are the words, “In God We Trust”. Funny, a prayer on the root of all evil. These days, there’s a different almighty. A strange creation, larger than the sum of its parts. The Corporation is what rules us, binds us. They’ve bought our politicians and convinced them that corporations are legally people. They’re rich in resources that they’ve cheated the locals of. There is blood on their hands that won’t wash off.

There is a corporation that’s scrubbed itself nearly clean, however. You can go into any store in America and buy its products. The Coca Cola corporation, as American as apple pie and napalm. It astounds me how completely Coke has integrated itself into the culture. A patent medicine invented by a junkie ends up as the most popular beverage of all time. Well, the Coke business is sordid indeed. How do you feel about unions? Do you believe they deserve to die? Well, Coke did. In 1993, there were over a thousand unionized workers working for Coke in Columbia. In 2004, there were less than four hundred. You know what happened? A campaign of extrajudicial violence against union leaders.

In 1996 and 97, two union leaders named Adolfo Munera, and Isidro Gil both turned up dead with a serious case of lead poisoning. Gil was shot by “paramilitaries” right at the entrance to the factory. Munera, who had filed a lawsuit against the company, they tracked to his mother’s home, and shot in cold blood. Coca Cola denied any involvement or wrong doing in either death. It was all the paramilitaries! Not Coke, they could never do anything like that..

There’s something rotten in Denmark when a corporation’s enemies start dropping dead. The Coca Cola company isn’t the only one guilty of such crimes, either. Anyone fill up their car at Shell?
Well, Shell had a thorn in it’s side from a man named Ken Saro-Wiwa. You see, Ken loved his homeland. He didn’t care to see it polluted by oil companies that took everything and gave nothing back. So he arranged a group of likeminded folks and staged a non-violent protest. He began to draw the attention of the corporate machine, however. So, with a few bribed officials, he and his movement were arrested.

He wound up facing a kangaroo court, and he and eight others went to the gallows for their grievous crime of protesting a huge corporation. In 2009, the Shell oil company would later pay a settlement of 15 million dollars to the families of the victims. Comparatively, they made 31 billion dollars in profits that year. That’s less than .004% of what they earned. Such generosity. There’s no amount of money that you can pay to bring someone back from the dead. Murder is set in stone, irreversible. If a corporation is legally a person, Shell ought to be tried for it’s many crimes.

There’s a certain mindset that just disregards atrocities if they don’t happen here. That the problems of non-Americans are not our problem. When the news gives absolutely no air time to these sorts of things, people forget. Well, I don’t forget. The amorality of the market place has given way to monstrous entities that have no qualms breaking a few skulls to make an omelet. I’ve only addressed the tip of the iceberg in regards to the legacy of greed and exploitation that goes on from the corporate machine.

What can we do against so much power and money though? We can stop ignoring the 600 pound gorilla in the corner. Folks are bickering over which side of the stars and stripes they stand for, when the whole flag is on fire. The root of all evil has given way to a tree with poisonous fruit. We need to join together, and resist the divide and conquer tactics they use to manipulate the public. If we don’t, the future looks very bleak indeed.

reply to post by Grifter42


It is so much easier than you think to start a movement, go wild with your voice

reply to post by Grifter42

What can we do against so much power and money though?

Not much in reality. Except maybe universal international boycotts.

The International Central Banking/Corporatist cartels are the most powerful organizations in world history.

They *are* "The State".

Some theories delve into the possibility that their systems are based on many Marx principals.

They may be using words like "State", "Public", "Centralization", "Education" and applying those as re-defined models for doing business.

The "Corporations" *own* "Governments".

xuenchen
reply to post by Grifter42

 

What can we do against so much power and money though?

Not much in reality. Except maybe universal international boycotts.

The International Central Banking/Corporatist cartels are the most powerful organizations in world history.

They *are* "The State".

Some theories delve into the possibility that their systems are based on many Marx principals.

They may be using words like "State", "Public", "Centralization", "Education" and applying those as re-defined models for doing business.

The "Corporations" *own* "Governments".

a boycott wouldn't do nothing, there's only really two ways this world-wide oppression can change;
1)human revolution
2)Alien saviors

reply to post by xuenchen


I know it's a complex issue. I only have 5 to 6 minutes allotted for the speech, however. If I had a greater length of time, I would have addressed the government-corporate connection in more depth. I said a little bit about it, but I wanted to stay on track and on schedule.

Did it ring true? Was it any good? I wrote what I believe in, but I worry sometimes about if I'm just biased towards myself.

reply to post by ScottProphhit

a boycott wouldn't do nothing, there's only really two ways this world-wide oppression can change;
1)human revolution
2)Alien saviors

Hmmm.

Can you elaborate on 2) ?

xuenchen
reply to post by ScottProphhit

 

a boycott wouldn't do nothing, there's only really two ways this world-wide oppression can change;
1)human revolution
2)Alien saviors

Hmmm.

Can you elaborate on 2) ?

God and a fleet of angels battling the beast

Grifter42
reply to post by xuenchen

 

I know it's a complex issue. I only have 5 to 6 minutes allotted for the speech, however. If I had a greater length of time, I would have addressed the government-corporate connection in more depth. I said a little bit about it, but I wanted to stay on track and on schedule.

Did it ring true? Was it any good? I wrote what I believe in, but I worry sometimes about if I'm just biased towards myself.

With that time constraint,

Yes, you are right on.

And, never worry about being 'biased towards yourself'.

You'll get plenty of accusations from others saying you are biased against them !!

Just make them give genuine rebuttals.

reply to post by xuenchen


For the love of god don't. We need to keep this grounded in reality. Sure, it'd be great if Alien Jesus showed up and solved all our problems, but there's no such thing, and even if he was real, it'd probably be some sort of bogus deal where he bursts through your ribcage for the lord.

In the real world, these swine are getting away with it. Someone's got to talk about it. Income inequity in America is insane. Look at Denmark, or Sweden. Those are civilized countries. Well, maybe. Grass is always greener on the other side. But America's becoming savage. They're dropping the pretense. What the corporate machine has done to South America, they'll do to North America. Don't think we folks in the U.S.A. are immune to it.

reply to post by Grifter42

I was left thinking of only Coke, and Shell, instead of thinking of the exploitation, of human rights, by corporate greed.

When you started dropping names (saying Coke/Shell) you should not have went so deep into the side stories - it took focus away from your main focal point.

You should have just said so-and-so did this (briefly) and another so-and-so did that, and so-and-so did this, etc. Give more examples but keep them brief and to your main focal point.


Just my opinion.

edit to add: And stay with what is known facts too. You shouldn't throw presumptions and accusations around in a public speech.

And keep away from dark humor too. Lead poisoning... don't say that. e.g. You wouldn't want to call starvation "empty stomach disease." If telling jokes, hold them for the solution.

reply to post by Grifter42


I got the answer I was looking for.

Now we can disregard !!!!

Grifter42
reply to post by xuenchen

 

For the love of god don't. We need to keep this grounded in reality. Sure, it'd be great if Alien Jesus showed up and solved all our problems, but there's no such thing, and even if he was real, it'd probably be some sort of bogus deal where he bursts through your ribcage for the lord.

In the real world, these swine are getting away with it. Someone's got to talk about it. Income inequity in America is insane. Look at Denmark, or Sweden. Those are civilized countries. Well, maybe. Grass is always greener on the other side. But America's becoming savage. They're dropping the pretense. What the corporate machine has done to South America, they'll do to North America. Don't think we folks in the U.S.A. are immune to it.

For someone so smart you're not so smart, there's more evidence there was a Jesus of Nazareth than there is that you exist, and I could prove UFO contact using the bible alone?

If you took a look you'd see corporations were envisioned in the bible and that Jesus would return(in his normal form, God) when they have full control

reply to post by Grifter42

On every dollar in America are the words, “In God We Trust”. Funny, a prayer on the root of all evil.

You might want to change this line. The bible says in 1 Timothy 6:10...

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

As to the examples with Coke and Shell. I thought they were good, and I didn't lose sight of the topic of your speech.

Thanks for the constructive criticism. If you ask your friends, sometimes they'll just tell you it's good without any real critiques.

Good to get a second opinion before I deliver the speech.

Throwing in my $0.02 (I'll bill you later). I thought your speech was good. I think that, after focusing on both the Coca Cola and Shell incidents, however, that you could insert a statement or two that brings it more to the broader picture. You could easily do this with a battering ram of examples and bring it right on home so that they can see it's what they touch, drink, eat, and wear. Make it palpable.

ie: "Nike, Nestle, Hanes and more accused of child labor practices and more. Who owns a cell phone? Do you even know if the parts in it were manufactured by Foxconn a company also well known for its employees committing suicide?"

Broaden it out and hit them hard. Staccato those examples out so that it's not one product or two but a wide variety of products that they may be using, wearing, or have eaten in recent past.

Good luck, Grifter.

P.S. And a really very evil idea. If you can use a powerpoint, list out all the subsidiaries and connections (will be harder for Shell--they are not forthcoming on this) to show how inescapable that gorilla is. As a tip though, if you can do this, Shell has joint ventures with Chevron and Texaco.

reply to post by WhiteAlice


Well, it didn't go too well. I guess I missed the mark, or something. Perhaps I said something that folks didn't much like, or was too bleak.

Better to have tried, and spoken about something meaningful than not. The class clown got a ton of laughs, and was probably the better speech though. Poor choice of audience for a heartfelt speech about corporate exploitation. Maybe I ought to start writing about like, ultimate frisbee, or hallmark cards.

Eh, could have gone worse, but I was hoping for a better response. Still, the blame is entirely mine. I should have written for the crowd.

reply to post by Grifter42


I'm sorry to hear that and you're absolutely right. It is far better to speak than to say nothing at all. I think the problem is that people tend to be somewhat vested in various corporate entities similar to like people supporting one football team over the other (think Pepsi drinkers v. Coke drinkers). People rarely want to connect that their actions are somehow linked to an injustice, let alone to the morally abhorrent. This kind of "brand loyalty" is precisely what corporations aim to foster via their marketing strategies (I've taken marketing and aced it--I also think it's fairly vile but I do know what I'm talking about.). It is not any different than the students at Penn State who rioted after Joe Paterno was fired for being fully aware of Sandusky's child molestation activities. If Paterno had simply been a professor, riots would have been unlikely and societal approbation of his behavior would be more likely. It's amazing what loyalty to a brand or a sports team will forgive and it's a known psychological phenomena that has been studied i.e. diehard Apple products users having the same areas of the brain light up as a religious fanatic.

We presume that human beings are masters of their own thinking in the idea of "free will". However, the truth is that human beings tend to be, more likely than not, highly subject to psychological manipulation. It is the tragedy of it all so that the "class clown" gets all the laughs and positive feedback, while the speaker of apparent truth gets all the revile. One makes them comfortable, the other triggers self defensive responses--even when they are not truly defending themselves but a brand, a corporation, a basketball star, a football coach, or an entire team. It's the tragedy of humanity in that it is so frequently blind-sided.

reply to post by WhiteAlice


I've got another speech coming up. But I don't think I'll keep to the same topic this time. While it was a heart felt attempt at getting through to people, this crowd doesn't want that.

I wish I could think of a persuasive topic without talking above my audience, or talking down to them. It's so hard to have a meaningful speech. I guess I could just load up on buzzwords and talk quite a bit without saying much at all.

The problem is finding a topic that's worthy of talking about, and at the same time, the average man can do something about it. The problem of political corruption is far too big. I'm in a quandary here, but I've been in worse. I just don't want to sell out my core values though.

reply to post by Grifter42


I'd personally avoid "buzzwords" as those tend to have a lot of weighted meaning associated with them. Buzzwords tend to work like a mental lock or key, depending on which side of the aisle the listener prefers. Just my $0.02. Heck you could always do a speech on the use of buzzwords in politics.