Everyday Social Justice

Over the last few years, I’ve had a growing conviction about the impact of Western capitalism/consumer habits on the Third World. Christ-followers need only recall such passages as Micah 6.8, James 1.27, Galatians 2.9-10, and a myriad of snapshots from the life of Jesus to be reminded of the Christian imperative to care for the poor, the outcast, the marginalized, and the helpless.

And yet, here in the United States of America, Christians are rarely concerned with their nation's trade practices that keep people in the Third World trapped in poverty. Many Christ-followers aren’t even aware of the American (as well as European) corporations who set up production plants in other countries for the sole purpose of manipulating their poor labour laws to keep costs down and profit margins up. Yes, it’s true – the cost of living in Third World countries is much lower and therefore people often don’t require as much income to make a living.

However, in many of those countries, there is no such thing as minimum wage or labour unions or other such protections against employee exploitation. This leaves Western companies wide open to escape the labour laws in their own countries and manipulate the poor in others. As I research and discover some of these things, the protests at various WTO summits begin to make sense.

When I bring these things up in conversation with other Christ-followers, often the response is one of smug ignorance. “How am I supposed to know about these things? I don’t have the time to figure out which companies are guilty or which companies I should boycott.” I think I understand that overwhelming feeling. Having said that, I’m convinced that it’s no excuse for those who claim to be God’s people. We have a responsibility, as representatives of the God of Creation, to hold big corporations and our government accountable for their policies and actions.

The fact is, if every Christ-follower (and non-Christian with the same social justice concerns) in the U.S. and Europe worked together to get educated and then base their daily/weekly consumer habits and lifestyles on their educated consciences, it would go a long way in the fight against poverty. Big Western corporations would be forced to adjust their international trade and manufacturing policies and begin treating the people that work for them in other countries with fairness.

I still feel pretty ignorant about a lot of this stuff, but as I learn, I hope to adjust my own consumer habits and inform people around me as well. For starters, here’s a great article about the chocolate industry. Also, needless to say, I haven’t bought Nike in a while.

Other Fair Trade and social justice resources (this barely scratches the surface):
Fair Trade USA
Make Trade Fair
Fair Trade Informational Articles
Fair Trade Links
Make Poverty History

Categories: justice