You Are The Evil One

Post date

01 Feb 2012

Summary

This is the financial crisis explained from a chicken pissed of people who still believe that big corporations or banks are evil.

Filed under

Last weekend shopping with a friend in the supermarket I had a revelation right in front of the meat section about how hard is being a fair person. The following dinner was such a bloody discussion about the stupid belief of people in fairytales, unicorns or that politicians and banks are the most evil forces of this world.

Our fight just started because of some stupid chicken breast. While I was looking at the prices around the butcher's section, my friend came proudly with a frozen bag and slapped my face with the brilliant deduction of the day: This costs 1.60€ and what you are looking at costs 2.40€

Although I do not make a fixed amount of money every month, I would say my friend makes more than I do. We both do some regular donations but do not agree on our goals. My friend's small Jiminy Cricket is at ease donating money for nature and wild animal life, something which I find rather stupid considering that chicken choice.

Before converting into a flexitarian I was a vegan concerned about animal rights because of an overdose of PETA's videos. Yeah, I know, it is a real shame but meat is not easy to give up and it is not always like that. Oh really? You might well believe also that your chicken gets a massage in the belly every morning and some classical music during the evening. Now get serious and make your numbers. Most chickens that people buy comes from a place where 10 to 20 chickens are manufactured per square meter. If you have 1,500 chickens in 100 squared meters would you notice if one get sick? or when half of them are dead? You just load all of them on antibiotics everyday just in case those bastards die on you and ruin your production quota.

How much more do you think it actually costs to raise one chicken outdoors? think about fresh air, some space to run, maybe green grass, sunlight and real food instead of compound feed. Say maybe, that you need 1 squared meter for each one. Also the cost of living of the local farmer. How is he supposed to sell that? 10 times more? No matter how you look at it, raising an animal with some decent life costs more. Do you really think it is the difference between 1.60€ and 2.40€? Well, that day I was looking at the real local, natural farming edition, and that my friend, was 10.20€ bucks, same quantity. That is the real cost of supporting a local farmer, demanding some dignity for the life of that chicken, avoiding the environment and human health impact of a meat factory and dreaming for future generations with effective antibiotics. Hardly any of my donations goes for animal life hence I am very evil, some vegan friend hate me for being so cruel eating animals and many others shame on me because I am the dumbass who throws away money after being brainwashed from yellow journalism.

So what is the lesson from that little chicken? That nobody cares, because all that matters is getting the best price. A bio egg costs 40 cents more, and that is also the price margin according which many people decide if you are an idiot.

Leaving poor chickens aside, the fashion industry is another great example. Some months ago another friend of mine was so proud because she bought some jeans for 5€. Yes, I know, so sad there is so much injustice in the world, and I am sure she slept just fine that night without thinking about a 6 years old child sewing the button with bleeding fingers. Who can believe that is the real cost of a pair of jeans? This time we need a factory, material, machines... and the minimum wage for the worker to carry a decent life. In a wonderful world the worker could get 30% of the sale, being realistic 10%, but in the real one, I do not believe it is more than 1%.

Is there any BIO or FairTrade equivalent for the fashion industry? Clearly those jeans should cost more than 5€. What is the real value of clothing?. Maybe you should buy from a trustworthy brand claiming that they produce locally, not in exploited countries, but there are a lot of ways to cheat on that. You do everything abroad with slave labor force, sew one button locally and put Made At Home Sweet Home because Made in China is not cool. In the fashion industry it is more fashion to write Made in Italy, that is exactly the reason for Italy having the largest Chinese concentration in Europe 1

It seems that injustice in the world is because of greedy people. You know, those politicians and those bankers. Oh yeah, that last group is the worst of all evil. You can see that everywhere, on TV, on Internet... because the world financial crisis is a direct result of their evilness. Most people give freely their money to those bankers. As far as the politics goes, most people promote them. I say promote and no vote because either they vote the big parties financed by the banks they hate, or just do not vote, which is exactly the same thing, because the smaller parties, the ones less manipulated and with people who actually want to do something, have a hell of life to get votes enough.

Personally I am not that much scared of the greedy banks. I am more concerned about normal people. Sometimes I believe that people who feel smart getting the lowest price without thinking on the meaning of that price might not be that much better. Would they do anything different having the power? Many people still believe that a fair job is a stable 8 hour life-long one, not very stressing and a style of life based on products produced by slave labor force.

Are banks and corporations really evil? How many people financing a house or a car actually pays a higher interest to an ethical bank instead to one giving lower prices because of their higher profits financing weapons and slave force/polluting companies? Since when in this world is giving people exactly what they want a crime?

Most people price demands do not allow local production by people with a similar quality of life. They also demand better work conditions and more environmental protection. How are they surprised when labor is outsourced to a place you can enslave and pollute? Even most amazing is when they hate foreign policies when the most crucial thing we must do right now is exporting our social and environmental values to them so everybody can compete under a more fair game.

And the most intriguing questions of all: Why on Earth did I place a picture of Gandhi on this post if I wrote most of the time about chickens? Indeed, this post originated from a dead chicken! Well, the reason is because for Gandhi the final responsibility of the solution went something like this:

Be yourself the change you want to see in the world

Please, before complaining again about how unfair life is, make of yourself an example. This is not all or nothing. You can be ethical one week a month, or you can buy the happy chicken for your kids while you eat the factory version. Think twice about what you buy. Do your research and an effort to become a more responsible consumer. Deciding the right thing or choosing fair products is never easy. Support local artisans, farmers and people trying to make a decent life by producing something on their own. Be yourself that change.

The Digital Lumberjack

Hacking Code When Life Goes Digital