"I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing. I think it is much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers that might be wrong" (Richard Feynman)

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Chap 10 - The World Economic System and Colonialization

Globalization and Colonialization is Fostering Unity among Youth
Most of my experience with colonialization has not seemed good. I am a person of African descent. My family history is traced to slavery. Forced migration led my people here. In the mid to late 1990s, I was one of those who challenged globalization at the political level. The bourgeosie were stealing the labor of the proletariat. Now mothers as well as fathers were not home with the children. All parents and even children have to work to make a living. Americans spend more time with fellow workers than their families and since the climate at work tends to be so strict, the anxiety and venting about our circumstances tend to fall on the family and kin in a strange version of negative reciprocity. Family seems last on our list time-wise. The impact of industrialization and commodification in our state economy.

So we are having a conversation, an inquiry, that is designed to really get up under your social constructs, which can seem like getting under your skin. Stirring up confusion, angry, and other feelings that may not be comfortable. Know this: it's all part of the learning process. Like walking out to look at the edge of the earth before our superstitions were upended, it can really seem threatening to confront our social constructs and the discourses that keep them in place. Our mindset is designed to reinforce the status quo. We cannot really seem beyond "what makes sense" or seems "real" to us. It's not a social construct. That's the way life is.

Here is the first video I want you to examine and dig into. It's called SOMETHING TO HIDE documenting a delegation composed of university students who head to El Salvador to find out who makes clothing for Nike and Wal-Mart. They find out it's people their age with little knowledge of their labor rights.

The second video called THE HIDDEN FACE OF GLOBALIZATION is produced by the same media organization the National Labor Committee. They support workers rights in a global economy. The second video is also about sweatshops but in Bhangladesh. Watching both had me realize how universal or at lease pervasive this experience has become relative to some of the largest US corporations such as Nike. From El Salvador to Bhangladesh cultlure is becoming a universally dismal like of labor and not much else.

It has been through live aid concerts and sweatshop campaigns that young people around the world have been out to make a difference. In 2008, Live 8 founded by Bob Geldof advocated for canceling Africa's debt to save African lives. Check out his appeal at the concert.

29 comments:

Nuzzy said...

To think when I go shopping, I look on the tag and it says “Made in Bangladesh,” I say “how cool,” its made from the country I’m from, or my dad goes to buy a dress shirt and it says the same thing, he says “Oh my gosh, I could’ve gotten this shirt for much cheaper if I was back home.” I never realized what kind of labor goes into making the cloths that I wear sometimes and to think that the people from my country are slaving to make these cloths because they need some sort income to make it through daily life. Even when the man at the beginning of the second video said “It is august and most Americans are on vacation and it is August in Bangladesh and these people are making the cloths on our backs.” It made me feel…well there were no words to express how it made me feel, it made my eyes teary to see that people had to go through this to earn less than twenty cents an hours. It was appalling to me.

Whether it be workers from El Salvador or from Bangladesh or any other third world country, it is disgusting to see that these people have to suffer to put a couple of cents in their pockets. There has to be a way to do something about the harsh labor that is put forth on these people. I agree with the girl from the first video, when she says “students in the 90’s don’t care about anything and that they are apathetic and all they care about is materialism and its not true” I agree with her that it is not true and we can prove people wrong if we try to get groups together to help improve the conditions in these factories.

Ivana said...

When I go to a store to buy myself a shirt or some nice pants or maybe a jacket, I look at the tag where it sometimes says “Made in China.” Sometimes I do wonder about how the shirt or the jeans are made and in what conditions because I have heard of the horrible conditions that sweatshops operate under. Sometimes it comes into my mind, but then I choose to ignore it. Sometimes when I complain about something, I stop to think that I have a better life than some people my age do in China or in Bangladesh and that I should not complain. It’s sad to think that in order for us to look fashionable, kids and women in third world countries have to work all day just for a couple of cents. It is horrible. It takes approximately a couple of cents to make a shirt yet they sell it in the United States for about $20. They treat these people so inhumanely just to make a profit. This whole world is all about business and it upsets me because we treat each other horribly just to make money. Money is necessary for survival, yet maybe if we acted differently, it wouldn’t cause us to kill and hurt others. Even doctors like to make extra money so they diagnose patients with something that they don’t even have. It is horrible that you cannot even trust a doctor, or a surgeon. Doctors and surgeons are trusted with peoples’ lives, so what kind of world do we live in when doctors lie to get money or when children in China barely get paid and work long hours to make our clothes?

NEKALLIN1246 said...

Eileen Burton
Section XZ24C

I am glad that I got to watch these two videos. It made me realize how lucky I am compared to many people living in the world. As Americans we tend to take things for granted, I know I do. Sometimes we all complain that life can be better, but our lives are so much better than others people and we don't seem to realize it. I would consider myself as materialistic, I love to shop and spend money. Now looking back at it, I kind of feel guilty every time I go shopping because I spend not because I need it, but because I want it. All these things are at the expense of other people's struggles and hard work. Watching these two videos made me realize how easy it is for me to spend money but how hard it is for other people to earn it. I wish I could do something for them, but as a whole I think we all can make a difference.

Erica Jou-Man Huang said...

Long a go in Seattle, I used to read the magazine "ADBUSTERS" which is a very anti-corporation, anti-commercialism, and anti-consumerism magazine, and I started to be aware of the cruelty of globalization that brings us daily things which we take so much for granted. The more I read that magazine, the more I think of even the notion of "Christmas shopping" is quite scary and destructive. The amount of waste and unnecessary purchase that we make... I think if we really want to change the world, changing the way we consume is perhaps the most powerful way. Some people think it's very strange, but I started to buy most of my clothes from thrift shops three years ago, because I didn't think it made since to buy new clothes...

Jouman

Anonymous said...

The fact that there are people who work in sweatshops for less than a dollar a day is extremely sad. When I saw the video in class about the people, mostly women, who work in factories in El Salvador, it made me think of the “monsters” that human beings are when it comes to money. How can the owners of these factories allow these people to work for such long hours and even worse, for less than a dollar a day? How can they not feel guilty when they see the horrible conditions that these people work in? These and many other questions I ask myself and don’t understand how people can be so cruel and take advantage of others like this.
Another sad part is the fact that many people in this country don’t even realize the horrible conditions that the people who make our clothes have to face each day. Every time we see our clothes that are made in “China,” “El Salvador” or other parts of the world, we are ignorant about the conditions that the people that made them had to face. I had heard about it before, but really didn’t know how bad it was. I think that videos like this and more should be publish in order to create awareness in our society. The owners of companies like Nike should take conscience of how bad their employees are being treated. Finally, I really think that the student’s protests were really helpful and do think that our society should pay close attention to this issue.

Anonymous said...

TV24A

It is hypocritical of brand name companies to run their operations the way they do in foreign countries. This is because of the so-called Ethics they claim to have, which set up proper working principles. Comparing such ideals to the factories these companies have made in foreign countries one would think things should be the same, but the sad reality is that the owners ignore what they claim to stand for. How could developing countries ever flourish if these businesses don’t stop running sweatshops which completely ignore ethical values that they portray in the US? The people at the top of these businesses are receiving all the profits while people in third world countries give their lives to earning cents per hour. Jobs are lost here in America because money hungry corporations take their factories overseas to where they know labor is cheap.

Ken Zhen said...

All i can say is wow.. it costs Nike 7 cents to make a shirt that sells for $22. It is good profit for them but they are taking advantage of workers in countries that are poor or not developed. It is unfortunate that these people have to work in these conditions just to have a little to support their family. It's not even enough to support their family but it is their only option to make some money. This is borderline slavery towards these workers because the wages are so low and the factory owners don't even care about the worker's health conditions.
I'm not that surprised at these sweat shops because I've seen videos online of such as sweatshops. For example, there are sweatshops that consist of chinese 'workers' who are playing online games as their job. They are finding virtual items to sell online. It may sound fun but they have to sit in front of the computer for long hours without breaks in very poor conditions and they are paid very little.

Anonymous said...

Through the two videos it is almost impossible to not see the basis of equality and its difference from the United States and El Salvador. People are not treated right in their working community but they have no choice. The horrible part is that their job is to make clothing for a person like me and everyone else who lives in the U.S. It makes me horrible to find out that people in El Salvador are having their morals mean nothing. Everything that is happening in El Salvador is all about one thing, money. Business owners are money hungry and they will do anything they can to make money and save money, even if it means to enslave people to work and pay them little to nothing. The ethics of all of this is that people go where the money comes and that is not hypocritical but a well thought idea. People do lose jobs in the United States but if you think about what would life be like if people in El Salvador were not making our clothing. This would mean that the United States would make their own resources and I can guarantee that it would cost more money to make the items then in any other country. That in turn could cause in imbalance in the U.S economy and in the way people live. It may not be right how people are treated in El Salvador but it may need to happen for a reason. Everything happens for a reason, whether right or wrong, it still needs to happen. Maybe society needs to change on its own terms but there is one thing to understand and that is change happens everywhere, the question is, will that change be a negative or positive response to the people.

Anonymous said...

When I watched the videos, I couldn't believe how serious this situation was. I don't blame those managers of the sweatshop factories, they probably get paid just as little. I blame the greedy, inhumane, cruel corporations!As Americans I believe we should set a good example of equality and fairness to the rest of the world instead of being hypocrites to our own words. I was shocked when I saw the Bangladesh sweatshop workers crouching on the floor on the roof to eat their lunch because their work did not supply them with a cafeteria. I was also shocked when the lady said they were only 'allowed' to use the bathroom two times and that overtime was often not paid. It's just crazy the extent these corporations would go to just to make a profit. I feel like the corporations forget that these are still humans, not animals and they deserve to be treated with dignity and fariness. The videos made me feel almost guilty for not being aware of Globalization and for taking our life for granted. I'm so glad that we have minimum wage laws and etc. I was shocked that these people make less in a week than we do in 1 hour! (We make at least 7.15 an hour and they make around 5 or 6 dollars a week). Many of them work more than 106 hours a week. This makes me realize why America is so hated yet loved. Many people want to immigrate here, however, sometimes the actions that we take are foolish and unjustice.

Unknown said...

by Gabi Peic
XZ24C

Replicas....
Another example of human torture. A year ago I was doing a small research on Louis Vuitton Speedy Bag replicas. Probably one of the top seller all over the world, mostly in America, on the streets of New York City. Here are some info for all of you who like to buy designers’ replicas.
The most of counterfeit Louis Vuitton bags are made in Thailand and neighborhood countries. They are made by children in the middle of nowhere. Children do not have choice, they are “slaves” of people who are reselling them. Once when the bags are done, they are transported in schools where they wait to be picked up by a messenger. The reason why messenger choose schools is because it is a neutral place, no one can get the there. The bags switch many places on the way to USA, and every time it happens, their prices doubles. The beginning price is somewhere around one dollar.
Ladies, please do not support individuals who make these bags. I know these bags are very attractive and inexpensive, but as you already know they are not durable because the material they are made from is very cheap. Furthermore, they ship them to the Unites States without being reported to the custom. No one pays the taxes on these bags. Even though, the bag bought from L. Vuitton store is sell for $600 (Speedy Bag), it is durable. It will last for decades.(Google it!) It does not fade and it does not come apart; whereas the bag bought in Chinatown crumbles within days.

Anonymous said...

Before I watched the video, I knew that these big companies are setting their factories on the undeveloped places. However, I don’t know they pay them a low wages and not let them know the true value of the products they produce. It’s so unethical for these companies to do so. They use the people there cheaply and produce high price products to customers for making profit. They had ignored the right of human being. I understand why the students of the universities deciding not to buy the Nike’s shoes. The Nike should increase the wages of workers and tell them the right they have. I was also surprised that the people in El Salvador who don’t understand the right they should have as workers. The main reason I think is they really need that money to survive. They use their whole life on working in factories and have no time to study the world. How can they acquire the knowledge of labor right? There’s no way for to. Even though they know about the labor right, they still can not do nothing and just adapt the fact because the government there doesn’t regulate and provide law to protect these labors.

I can not imaged that this is the way how the big companies create the products for us. It’s so impressed for me at the beginning of the second video. He said the workers there will work until the 5 o’ clock in the morning and then sleep for an hour or half and start work again.” I think the companies are killing them. They seem don’t want to let the labor stop. They see the labor there as machines. The Globalization have create another suffer way for some human in the earth. These two videos let me realize that some luxury stuff we enjoy now is coming from the suffering of people in undeveloped places.

Unknown said...

I agree with Nuzzy when she says that when you pick a certain article of clothing from the rack and you see that it was made in your country, you feel a sort of pride to be wearing something that originates from your homeland. However, this video exposes the darker side of buying clothing imported from another country. The idea that they are selling this shirt for a significant amount when it only took 7 cents of labor to make it, is ridiculous. The way that corporations benefit at the expense of others is disgusting. While it's easy to sit here and preach about how wrong this is, I think it would be much more affective to get out there and refuse to buy clothing from companies that support this type of labor. Recently, many companies have been exposed for this vice, which is something that all customers should take in consideration. When you read, "Made in El Salvador/Bangladesh", it would be best to think twice before purchasing it.

Anonymous said...

The longer shift I ever worked was seventeen hours when I was living in California. I was working with a charitable organization called Fred Jordan Mission and we had a huge Thanksgiving Feast for needy people. I worked from midnight to five in the afternoon. It was exhausting. There's no way i could do that six days a week. Having done it once it seems impossible to do it so often, but there are people in other parts of the country who have no choice, but to work exceedingly long shifts under incredibly harsh conditions. its unbelievable that they are able to do so, both physically and mentally. Its all done in the name of money. The power of the dollar. Big business is truly willing to do anything, and I mean anything, to maximize profit. Disgusting.

angelgr89 said...

When I saw the Video of the Nike Corporation paying extremely low wages to women in El Salvador I thought of one name, Michael Jordan. It is well known that Jordan is one of the richest and most wealthy athletes of our generation. He has a huge connection with the Nike Company. I find it sad that one of my idols growing up as a kid does not stand up for the injustice that is occurring in "3rd world" countries. It’s not totally his fault that Nike is providing harsh working conditions to its employees but Jordan does have a big voice that many people will listen to and rally around. Unfortunately that same voice is the one that says things such as "republicans by shoes too". I don’t have any vendetta against republicans but the way Jordan portrayed that statement makes me believe his life revolves around making money just like the Nike Corporation.

EunJi Kim said...

Before I watched these two videos, I heard about the people who work really hard for earn 1 dollar. At that time, I heard it inattentively. However, after I watched videos I looked back on my position and realized me that how I am comfortable and lucky.

The big companies hire the workers from El Salvador, Bangladesh or any other periphery country and they paid them unbelievable minimum wages. Maybe it is because they want to make their own benefits more. Through this kind of situation, I could feel the big company’s egoistic mind. It is really disgusting. I wish they can realize their selfishness.

Anonymous said...

Claumery Cabrera,

When I watched the video on sweat shops it surprised me a bit to see the conditions that these people are working under. I think that this system can work both ways it has its negative and positive effects. A positive is that it’s creating jobs for others that are in impoverished countries. However they are being way under paid for the things that they do. On the other side these big time companies are making money off of the people who buy their clothing at a higher price and each time that prices keep fluctuating up. I can relate to this story because when my mom first came here in the 80s she use to wok in a factory making jeans. She would have to. Turn the jeans outside in and fold them. She got paid 20 cents for every jean that was folded. From what she told me the conditions weren't that great. She had to ear Very quickly and her pay was around $160. That’s 800 jeans. To know that your own mom was under such a condition kind of hit home for me.

Anonymous said...

Caroline Camilo
TV24A

Until this point I didn't know what people in third world countries and all over had to do in order to recieve a pay. To know that people now a days go shopping just for the fun of it and not for necessity, not thinking that the clothes they buy and wear are made by hard working teenagers and women who work about 20 hours a day to be able to maintain their families. It is sad and disappointing that people take advantage of what they have not knowing the value of it.

Watching these videos made me realize that I should appreciate more of my surroundings and what I have because for people to even get a portion of what I have, must go through hours and hours of labor without eating most of the time. It also made me feel kind of bad and guilty because I can consider myself one of those people that shop and shop and doesn't take the time to realize who did this work, how long they took, what they had to go through, etc. I think people should make a difference in the world and make a change. I think enough talking has been done, more action should be taken in to place. I believe one day starvation, inequality, and poverty will all come to an end.

Rickey_li1234 said...

This post makes me feel real sorry for these people who work in sweat shops. These people are forced to work long hours for low wages. We Americans complain about it everyday that sweat shops are horrible, however most American clothing or manufacturing companies use this type of cheap labor to further enhance their wealth. I think that we take things for granted to a whole new extent. People complain that they don't have the best brands of clothing or that its not my worth the money to get. Also, we always complain about working for the minimum wage, which is like $7.25 an hour. Yet we see in this post that people that make the clothes or things we buy make it for less than 10% of our minimum wage. This is a horrible act, that people do to make a profit.
However, i don't think it should be band. There should be some new restrictions or new policies that aid or help the workers. It shouldn't be banned in an instance because it can make the current workers situations worst. They can all be fired and made unemployed then who will be able to make ends meet then. I think that the govt should have some type of restriction, but not enough to make the business lay off hundreds of workers.

melissachen said...

Watching the videos, my parents have always told me about these conditions and that is why they're proud to be living in the U.S. My parents have been familiar with these conditions because of my ancestors. These workers did not have college educations and like my father, he couldn't afford to finish High School. Here, children are limited in the amount of hours of work. Children are sent off to work at very young ages and this might even be at their own faults. If all parents in these countries would stop sending off cheap child labor, these corporations might find other options in continuing their businesses

Most of us are very familiar with the counterfeit merchandises being sold in many places. Like Gabi have mentioned, LV bags, specifically the Speedy has been replicated for many years. Though I am not supporting counterfeit materials, LV still insist on raising the value and price of their goods. These counterfeit items do not seem to "knock" the LV business. Looking at labor in a different eye, people who support counterfeit materials are helping these poor families survive. In these countries, if you do not take the opportunity to make a cent, someone else will. It almost seems inevitable for these countries to make a change and offer better working conditions to these families.

yaroslav said...

I was actually very aware of this situation. It is pretty sad to see people especially young children and women taken advantage in that way and what even worse their own country is not doing anything about it just because it a huge chuck of those countries’ economies. Look at China for example one of the world richest nation just because of it sweatshops. I believe in part we are all a little responsible for this because we all buy clothing from big companies like Nike, Adidas, and we always want to find the best price and quality and that the way those companies accomplish this by paying their workers couple of dollars a day which makes them huge profits and in return make us happy because we got quality product for a decent price. This is also really sad because it pushes all the small companies out of business and keep the monopoly in big companies hands .

Unknown said...

Whenever I go shopping I am looking for the cheapest but the best quality things that I could possibly find. In most of the case those kinds of things are either outlet or made in a developing countries. However I usually never ask the moral of question behind this purchase of merchandise from those explicator companies. The reason is that in a way I don’t consider them as “the big bad wolf” of our modern society they are just opportunist.

To tell the truth those opportunist are just people with ambition and desire for wealth that every one of us are sharing. If you ask the question: who want to be rich? Every one of us will say “me”. Therefore those opportunists are just using the circumstance of those developing countries to enrich themselves. I don’t understand what is so bad about it. I am not horrible or anything but I just think that people are just too ignorant of our actual society to be able to judge what is going on in other societies.

Do you know that everyone of us is similar to those workers of developing countries? We are slaves of our modern society. Let’s take give the example of Pharmaceutical firms. People are buying medications thinking that they are paying a just price for their medication; however that medication price goes up every few month. Why is that? Are those pills fabrication process become harder? No, those pharmaceutical companies are just maximizing profit while their product is still within the market’s demand. Therefore could we consider ourselves like those workers as being exploited by pharmaceutical companies? However why aren’t we taking actions against those exploitations practices? There is many other example of this in our everyday life. Therefore I believe that it will be better to actually correct our self before criticizing others.

Anonymous said...

It is so surprising to know that when we are enjoying shopping and using fancy stuff, there were so many people suffering from the impact of industrialization.
The development of globalization on one hand does bring a high climate to our economy, but on the other hand, it increases the unequal distribution of wealth and discrimination.
A lot of immigrates are forced to work in factories since they have a lower level of technique and knowledge. And this group of people does not have a clear understanding on their labor right. Suppression from the employers creates separation between their families. Under this cycle, the next generation is going to suffer in a lack of education and generates social disorder.
Next time when we are shopping in a department store, we might have to stop for a second, to think about how much impact has been created in a purchase.

JeffreyLam said...

TV24A
Sweatshops are not only limited to those two countries in fact, they exist here in America as well. They most definitely exist here in New York. I live in queens and on a really humid summer day, I walked past what seemed to be a broken down small warehouse that was really a steaming sweatshop. The door was wide open for the public to see. I walk past that building many times and that door is usually shut closed. I guess the door needed to be open because of the heat. There are no windows in the place just that one door. Walking past the door you can feel the hot air that was coming out of the place. And inside were dozen of workers sewing clothes together. Sweatshops need to end especially here in the United States where we do have laws against this laboring. Many of the workers are immigrants who do not know any English and cannot find a job anywhere else. I guess in a sense the workers here and in the workers in other sweatshops are the same. They are less privileged people who need to just slave for hours and hours a day just to survive. They all probably have family at home who are dependent on their few cents a day to get food. Sweatshops are going to be hard to end as long as there are big corporations who can abuse the less fortunate. A good start would be here in America. We already have laws against this, but they just need to be enforced more. Maybe then after the eradication of sweatshops in America, other countries will follow.

Kyra Gaunt, Ph.D. said...

Just saw the preview of a feature film that will be released in Feb 2009. The End of Poverty? (Think Again) is the title. It was AMAZING and I wish I knew ahead of time to invite both courses for extra credit. It was so perfect for our ethnographic eye to see. Poor people told their own stories about the imposition of labor for little or no money due to American corporate control of natural resources from gold, silver to even WATER!! Bechtel owned WATER in Bolivia until the local people organized and through them out of the country.
Check out the trailer at http://www.theendofpoverty.com/

Hyunwook said...

After watching these videos I have a question why UN or society groups don't help these pool people. And why I didn't know that when I bought nick clothes. Furthermore, Nike should cut the price of shoes and clothes’ prices or increase labor's circumstance. I feel so sorry to labors. I was just happy when I bought Nike shoes without knowing they were working in the hell.

Anonymous said...

I work in a retail store that gets their merchandise from overseas. I always look at the places that the merchandise originates from. Most of the boxes come from China, Bangladesh, and even Madagascar. In my mind I always think of a zebra, tiger, hippopotamus and a giraffe sewing clothes together because of the Disney movie “Madagascar”. Most of the clothing is damaged before it even reaches the store because many of the children who make it are not older than ten years old. I once opened a box of sweaters and there was blood on all of them. This scared me because the child who was bleeding rather profusely was not allowed to leave his sewing machine. I am very shocked by the video but I will not attempt to do anything about it. I feel that I am also at fault because I am getting paid by the stores that have these clothing items imported.

Anonymous said...

I work in a retail store that gets their merchandise from overseas. I always look at the places that the merchandise originates from. Most of the boxes come from China, Bangladesh, and even Madagascar. In my mind I always think of a zebra, tiger, hippopotamus and a giraffe sewing clothes together because of the Disney movie “Madagascar”. Most of the clothing is damaged before it even reaches the store because many of the children who make it are not older than ten years old. I once opened a box of sweaters and there was blood on all of them. This scared me because the child who was bleeding rather profusely was not allowed to leave his sewing machine. I am very shocked by the video but I will not attempt to do anything about it. I feel that I am also at fault because I am getting paid by the stores that have these clothing items imported.

Kyra Gaunt, Ph.D. said...

Dereck. Thanks for sharing your experience and your feelings. I want to caution you from assuming children made the clothes that reach your store or that you can assume the source of the blood. Unless you have evidence of your suspicion it's best to state JUST THE FACTS.

Regarding your feeling bad. Feeling bad will not affect things one way or another and often leaves you/us disempowered and inactive in the matter. If it really matters to you, consider doing more research on the trail of the labor in that company. AND keep your job unless you want to find another. No one is at fault. Responsibility is not about blame, shame, guilt, fault, or regret. It starts with the willingness to consider being cause in the matter. To respond creatively with the resources and in the place where you are. Perhaps you could be like the students in the video and organize Baruch students to explore how students are supporting such labor. Awareness is a form of activism.

All of your comments have revealed a deep concern for your relationship to others in the world. That insight and awareness is something to be proud of. Don't undermine it with guilt or shame.

Remember this extract from the poem
"Our Deepest Fear"
by Marianne Williamson from A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Ashley Vargas said...

I like the images that were posted on this blog. They strongly relate to some of the ideas mentioned in the chapter. There was a discussion on jobs in India vs. America. Jobs were lost in America but there was a surge in hiring in India. The wages in India are lower. But IBM said there was a surging demand for technology services. The words, "core," "semiperiphery," and "periphery" were new to me. I found them to be less offensive terms then "first world," "second world," and "third world." To me, those words separate nations to the point where no one is responsible because it's just another world.

The blog was a better read then the chapter. The chapter felt long. Perhaps I only feel that way because I was tired.