Blog #1: In-Class Video and "Using our Purchasing Power for Justice and Hope

Actual Text:
1) Fair Trade is not about giving and taking; it’s not about handouts. It is about mutuality and respect, because we all need each other…. The buyer seeks out and occasionally pays a bit more, knowing that the profit form the sale goes directly to the producer, not through multiple layers of people who each skim off a bit of the profit. (Hoffhine and Farrell, pg. 14-15)
2) $90 cost of average slave. (Disposable People Video)

Actual Response:
1) The Fair Trade market embodies a completely different set of ideals compared to consumer market. They encourage artisans not to compete with one another but to conjoin ideas and help each other. The focus is on enabling artists to educate themselves about the various techniques and designs used to create their unique craft. This concept of communally sharing ones unique craft in order to strengthen the entire group’s quality as a whole is what makes Fair Trade so successful. It is not about the competition and who beats whom. It’s simply about creating the most unique products for the public.

2) After watching this two-minute clip about slavery, it almost seemed as though I was slapped in the face with the harsh reality of this day and age. I am obviously not under the impression that slavery is completely abolished but had little understanding of just how large of an issue it continues to be today. It seems almost unfathomable to put the price of solely ninety dollars on a person’s life. Putting any type of number on a human’s life seems outlandish and disgusting. It should be illegal, right? Although this is a huge generalization, majority of students at Fordham University could lose $90 and be able to recover in only a matter of a couple days. The fact that someone in such “modern times” still has the ability to purchase a person for such a small amount of money shows how prominent the issue of slavery continues to be.

More blog posts in this category Common

• The Wound & the Blessing/The Economy of Communion Project Post
• The Crest- Jewel of Wisdom & Work as a Spiritual Practice Post
• "What Money Can't Buy" Blog Post
• Blog Post Ni: FTRN Booklet & Arithmetic of Passion
• Work as a Spiritual Practice (The Transformation of Work)