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Is time really running out for the health of our earth? Can we really make a difference by changing our lifestyle to one that is more earth friendly? The answer to both questions is yes. Yes, our planet really only has a limited amount of resources or the ability to self-regulate against all the toxins we keep making. Yes, the health of our earth is declining. We see this in the quality of our water, the death of more and more species of animals and plants, the growth of the hole in the ozone, the damage from acid rain, the explosion of commercial industry and urban growth. But, fortunately, we can make a difference. Yes, you can. You can help save our precious Earth by even just changing one behavior at a time. Here are some things you can try:
The Race to the Bottom! The Race to the Bottom is "globalization that leads to a pillage of the planet and it's people" (Breecher; 1994:33). It is the lowering of standards of living, of treating people like expendable commodities, the exploitation of environment without regard to consequences, economic growth that socially accepts people on the ability to consume; the more the better, and the nation-states handicap that does not accept diverse people and views but represses their voices for those of greater power. The Race to the Bottom is a degradation of life world wide, the decrease of beneficial jobs in the search for investment and unlimited wealth. The Race must be stopped in order for the people of the world to heal and keep the world in working order for the future generations. Breecher and Costello offer many solutions to stop the Race to the Bottom. One solution is the Lilliput Strategy which "assumes that multiple threads of grassroots action, linking up around the world, are needed to control global pillage" (Breecher:1994:117). Another solution is for large corporations to have global rules detailing their corporate and workers headquarters to keep human and environmental rights up to a higher standard. Other solutions may be to give financial aid to poorer countries to keep labor rights for their workers, trade policies, and laws regulating corporate behavior and investment agreements. The global can be linked to the local by grassroot organizations that act on a small scale but with the whole world in mind. It is when "broad human interests' are 'being served best' when human cooperation is 'able to transcend national boundaries" while starting out within local, but important, starting boundaries (Breecher:1994:184). Linking local movements that decrease energy consumption, limits corporation growth, increases worker's rights, develops community and education and increases caring for the earth and all human's well-being is a great social movement that builds with time and involvement. The push for small groups to make laws regulating harmful practices within society or pushing for reforms that encourage and promote human, animal and environmental interests can only positively effect all who share the planet. Grassroot organizations, public interest, community organizations, sweat equity, and development of cooperative banking are all ways to convert local solutions to global solutions. Many corporations became powerful through the use of exploitive labor, monopolistic practices, fierce competitiveness, a history of wealthy entrepreneurs, and the ability to escape laws and regulations through loopholes in governmental policies. This power was not gained overnight but was achieved in many nations by many different methods in historic time. Huge and not so huge, exploitative corporations are at least partly to blame for America's deindustrialization. The competition for maximum profit at any cost has lead to numerous unfair situations. Labor laws often protected the corporation, not the individual, other means of cutting costs often greatly affected the worker who was the soul of the corporations success. By using the worker at low or no benefits, poor wages, and long hours the corporation benefited by saving money and aggravation, in other words, the workers were merely a commodity to be utilized and depleted until another more productive means came along. The closing of factories, the layoff of faithful workers, the relocation of businesses and the cutting of pay and benefits has led to mass deindustrialization of once job rich areas. By cutting costs and corners the corporations of America can emulate more thoroughly with overseas competition and increase profit and survival for the future. * Personal Essay from: Global Village or Global Pillage by Jeremy Brecher and Tim Costello, 1994, South End Press, Massachusetts
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