The Boycott, Divest and Sanctions- BDS- call has some interesting positive spin-offs for local communities to consider _ 210714 The current round of genocide in Palestine has galvanised communities to take various actions. This is an opportune time to link our local issues of poverty, food insecurity unemployment and inequality with struggles waged elsewhere in the world. Supporting local small businesses, manufacturers, producers, innovators, artists, artisans, and farmers has many benefits. By supporting local you are supporting a family, individuals and workers who live in the local community or surrounds. They in turn spend their money in the local economy buying goods and services. This increases the demand for goods and services and local businesses expand, new operations are established as entrepreneurs plug the demand and create a competitive environment for consumers. Money circulates in the local community creating what economists call the multiplyer effect. In this way sustainable jobs are created and better livelihoods are created. Paying better than minimum wages also means workers can take better care of their families and this means more money is spent in the local economy. Local charities, NGO’s, CBO’s, etc also benefit because the social need is felt by everyone and also because it’s good business to support your community. The same economic logic applies to buying specific brands that are imported from unethical sources and as well as cheap imports that are dumped in the local market. Entrepreneurs will swiftly produce an alternative to these brands, goods and services. On the contrary chain stores and companies offering imported goods (some sourced from unethical suppliers whether it’s food, clothing, hardware, etc- well they are like mines. They extract our money and it goes to Switzerland, China, Israel or a tax haven. Either way no real local economic activity is created except for a few measly paying jobs. Sampie Terreblance notes in his book Lost in Transformation “The outcome of the use of globalisation to provide cheap consumer goods has resulted in the destruction of the manufacturing sector. The destruction of the manufacturing sector is at the root of the growing impoverishment of South Africans, leading, as it does to increasing structural unemployment. He further points to the complicity of the white corporate sector in this problem: “The white corporate sector should realise that the present crisis in South Africa is, like the great depression in the US, is not only an economic crisis, but also a serious moral and legal crisis”. And our crisis is overflowing in the streets by the poor and is mistakenly termed ‘service delivery protests’. Today 40% of the people in our country is food insecure! In some parts of the Cape Flats in Cape Town 80% of poor households are food insecure. Food security is defined by the UN as a household that have enough nutritious food to eat to live a healthy and productive life. Unemployment is at 34% depending what statistics you want to use. As consumers where and how we spend our money can bring about the change we want to see in our own community as well as elsewhere in the world. It’s a form of positive activism every consumer can be part of. Zionism and corporate globalisation is a threat to local communities and everywhere in the developing world. To combat this we must act local and think global.
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 11:09:30 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015