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| Born in: Mexico, Mexico, USA, Palestine, USA, Taiwan, USA, Malaysia |
So at our meeting in Vegas, Jim Puckett made the case that the world will be better if we all obey "international law", and that defamation of technicians, and closure of sustainable repair and reuse factories, is acceptable "collateral damage". Jim presents himself, again and again, as an authority on Basel Convention.
The use of international treaties to simultaneously protect the 6 billion people in "non-OECD" nations from ... bubble, bubble, toil and trouble... and the same time generate millions of well-intentioned dollars for a Seattle non-profit... This is not BAN.org's invention. Poverty Porn has been around for decades.
Since my days studying international development at Carleton College, and as both a volunteer and employee (cross-culture trainer) for Peace Corps Africa, we've been aware of the "poster child" syndrome. Here's a recent editorial on "Poverty Porn" by Nathaniel Whittemore at Co.Exist (and here's a film from an admittedly donation-based organization in Africa, MamaHope.org, which does at least give hope for a different message).
The use of international treaties to simultaneously protect the 6 billion people in "non-OECD" nations from ... bubble, bubble, toil and trouble... and the same time generate millions of well-intentioned dollars for a Seattle non-profit... This is not BAN.org's invention. Poverty Porn has been around for decades.
Since my days studying international development at Carleton College, and as both a volunteer and employee (cross-culture trainer) for Peace Corps Africa, we've been aware of the "poster child" syndrome. Here's a recent editorial on "Poverty Porn" by Nathaniel Whittemore at Co.Exist (and here's a film from an admittedly donation-based organization in Africa, MamaHope.org, which does at least give hope for a different message).
The Hollywood and not-for-profit-Guilt-Industrial-Complex are really nice people to hang around with, as Jim and Mike both were in Vegas. They are nicer people than I am. Calling them accidental racists or ayatollahs of #ewaste was a decent into frustration. If we are to turn them around, we need to first get their attention (which I've done) but then to find an alternative to the touchy word "racism".
