Human Trafficking

A lecture at the Council of Foreign Relations about Slavery in the Supply Chain, delivered by Mark Lagon, of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, U.S. Department of State, was published recently on the UChannel Podcast (also known as University Channel Podcast). The exploitation of people in various forms of labor is of all times and the differences in riches and the demands of economy and in some ways globalization actually encourage slavery and the trafficking of persons. Mark Lagon addresses this problem and talks of the influence of consumers and the industry. If consumers are not ready to buy tuna, when dolphins could have been hurt, the same can go for for example chocolate, when slavery was used somewhere down the supply chain.

In spite of there being laws, slavery exists still and what is needed is what Lagon calls 'good corporate citizenship' in addition to the rule of law. He gives examples from companies such as Gap, Lexus Nexus and Coca Cola and how they are involved in taking action against slavery. His choice of words is very policy-like, I would say; it is about 'monitoring systems' in the private sector and laws and NGO's doing their jobs, about hot-lines and more general examples of instruments that are in place. All is very well, but instruments that are in place are not necessarily being used, or being effective.

As a listener I felt the need for explicit talk. There was one example of Gap stopping a contract with a sweat shop in India, because of its involvement in child labor. The larger part of the podcast is dedicated to Lagon's answers to questions and though the questions are good, Lagon just doesn't manage to turn into an engaged and convincing speaker. Is that symptomatic for the fight against exploitation: a lot seems to be undertaken, but it doesn't sound engaged and convincing?

More UChannel:
The Arab-Israeli Conflict,
Civilization and the Hills,
New World Order,
The Invisible Hand,
The Second World.

Making Supply Chains Socially Responsible

The Stanford graduate school of business has a Center for Social Innovation, which publishes, among others, a podcast called Social Innovation Conversations. The center searches for social innovations that can help solve the major problems the world faces today, from poverty to environmental breakdown. The publications, hence also the podcast, are considered to be a means for spreading the various ideas and make them more fruitful.

In the podcast series, quite a number of lectures are carrying the caption: Making Supply Chains Socially Responsible. The latest of these features Willard Hay of Starbucks. Hay lays out the structure Starbucks is building under the name C.A.F.E. Practices, by which they attempt to purchase the best of coffee under the best conditions.

C.A.F.E. Practices is a program that covers the entire supply chain of Starbucks's coffee. The intent is to make sure workers and farmers can earn a good living as well as the middle men and the company and its employees. The program involves heavy auditing in order to make completely transparent where all coffee comes from and it is produced and sold properly. In addition the company engages in health care and education on the ground as well as agricultural advice. The aim is to make for a good and sustainable business. We can only hope it works as wonderful as Hay makes it sound.

The Social Innovation Conversations podcast is produced by The Conversations Network a non-profit organization that publishes podcasts from various lecture and conference realms that otherwise would not have had their audio content on line, let alone be syndicated. I learned of the Conversations Network when Doug Kaye was on the podcast expo and had himself interviewed on Shrinkrapradio.

My review of that Shrinkrap.
More Doug Kaye.

More Social Innovation Conversations:
Sustainable Health Care,
Waste Management,
Social Innovation Conversations - podcast review.

The Gospel's left turn: care about poverty - SOF

In Speaking of Faith, Krista Tippett took me to an experience I was not prepared for, yet which made perfect sense with what I know. The political color of Evangelists, in my mind, is of the far right. Is the ideology of narrow-minded traditionalist family values in league with ultra-nationalism and capitalism. No traces of what I recall from the gospel about tolerance, egalitarianism and care for the weak and the outcast. Krista Tippett interviewed Evangelical reverend Jim Wallis who emphasizes all the social issues: the fight against poverty, unequal chances and so on. For him, these issues follow straight from the Scripture.

You can be cynical about this and claim the Scripture can lead you anywhere, but there is also a reply. The highest values are the most abused. Where Jesus tried to teach us solidarity with our weaker neighbors, preachers of the faith have collaborated with the powers in charge. There have always been distortions of religion for evil purposes.

The same can be done with rationality, or secular world views, I think. Wallis also makes a point to remark Christianity has no monopoly on morality, neither has religion in general. Each religion and each philosophy, so I understand him, is a language with which to attain morality. As such it represents the noblest qualities in us and as such they are infinitely open for abuse such that the ideas, symbols, metaphors, traditions and rituals serve to suppress in stead of to support.

More Speaking of Faith:
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel,
Karen Armstrong,
Wangari Maathai,
Faith based diplomacy,
Rachel Naomi Remen (highly recommended).

Blog action Day - Poverty

Tomorrow will be Blog Action Day, which is held every year on October 15th. Bloggers from all over the world and from all walks of life will pay attention to one and the same subject. The subject tomorrow will be poverty.



I will be reposting a load of podcast reviews on relevant podcasts I have written in the past. In addition there will be a new review about the podcast EconTalk which had an episode with Karol Boudreaux about wildlife management in Africa. We will see how this relates to poverty.

My contribution last year: The environment in podcasts.

Sir Robert Borden - Veertien Achttien

Hoe heeft de Eerste Wereldoorlog te maken met het ontstaan van Canada als zelfstandige natie? Het wordt uitgelegd door Tom Tacken in de podcast Veertien Achttien in het hoofdstuk over Sir Robert Borden. Borden was de premier van Canada toen de oorlog uitbrak. Canada was toen nog onderdeel van het Britse imperium, al had het al wel de status van dominion, wat neerkwam op een zekere mate van onafhankelijkheid in de binnenlandse politiek. Voor het buitenlandse beleid zorgde immers de regering van het moederland.

Zo raakten alle kolonien en domeinen van de Britten in de oorlog betrokken, maar vooral de Canadezen, onder leiding van Borden, maakten haast om mee te doen. Net als zovelen dachten de Canadezen dat de oorlog met de kerst wel al voorbij zou zijn. Gelet op de opleidingscurve voor de soldaten en de reistijd per boot naar Europa, vreesden zij dat het voor hun jongens nog wel eens te laat zou kunnen zijn. Borden besloot daarom om de opleiding maar achterwege te laten, zo dat de Canadezen het eerste expeditieleger hadden dat in 1914 in Plymouth aankwam.

Met Canada's bijdrage aan de Grote Oorlog, kon van een ondergeschikte status geen sprake meer zijn. Zo baande Borden de weg voor de Canadese staat. Helaas maar zijdelings komt de scherpschutter Francis Pegahmagabow ter sprake. De lotgevallen van deze Canadese indiaan in en na de oorlog verdienen misschien een zelfstandige biografie. Verder was het weer een prima podcast van Tom Tacken.

Meer Veertien Achttien:
Carol I,
Herbert Hoover,
Otto Weddigen,
Helmut Von Moltke,
Joseph Gallieni.

Mary Shelley and Frankenstein - Philosopher's Zone

Philosopher's Zone is a radio show from ABC in Australia, which is also podcast. The show has may been in existence for quite some time, but the podcast started only recently. By now only four shows have been put in the feed. I chose to listen to a conversation of host Alan Saunders with professors Jane Goodall and Joan Kirkby about Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. (feed)

The film industry, needless to say, has trivialized the novel, but still even with what remains the allegory is standing. First of all, most prominently, it is horror tale about where technology can take us and this is where mostly interpretation stops. But the program explores more meanings in the tale. A more free exploration of the exploits of science, an exploration of humanity and of love and also questions of guilt and of masculinity and femininity are observed.

It is a pity that Goodall and Kirkby are not separately introduced so that it is hard to tell the two female voice apart. I myself, while listening, gradually forgot there were two speakers and thought there were some odd transitions, because of that. All in all, the show gives much food for thought and surely makes one want to read the novel again. It can also be listened to in podcast by Librivox. One reading has already been finished and a second version is in the making.