Isnt it ironical that these cocoa bean farmers, from Ivory coast which is the largest producer of Cocoa in the world, have never tasted chocolate. This is what is called alienation of labour i.e. alienation of the worker from the products of her/his labour. Just like migratory workers from U.P, Bihar and bengal, who come to Kerala and built large mansions for the upper class, yet live in temporary shacks made of tarpaulin or like the laborers who build 6 lane roads but many of them never getting to own a vehicle to have a ride on them, these people are alienated from the fruits of their labour. Now every now then when something like this is said, many throw in the words Law of demand and supply!, but lets get this clear, in the developing world capitalism is a good story only if you mange to reach the upper echelons. Most of us believe the we live in a world that is meritorious and competitive but I dont see any competition in the face of these farmers. We say that we live in free market economy and are enjoying its benefits. We are having an abundance in consumer products but most of them are being made in China, an autocratic and supposedly communist state. So much for the claim that we a purely free market. Most developed free market states are exporting or outsourcing production to autocratic China as they cant afford the labour costs in their own land . The point is that cliched narratives fed to us by our education system, the media and other institutions and that which we repeat to ourselves to get comfort are only that and nothing more and not in the least, what is happening out there. A free market economy is only good as long as their is state intervention to help those who are left behind, and giving them what is rightfully theirs because this is democracy and in a democracy everyone should be taken care off. In most of the developed world there was profuse state intervention before attaining the developed status and there still is. A free market economy without state intervention for redistribution of wealth creates a more polarized world. Most branded cloth products sold in the developed and developing economies are produced in sweat shops within slums of Bangladesh, Mumbai etc often employing children. These workers in the sweat shop dont have humane working conditions let alone them getting to wear the fancy branded clothing that they make. The same with leather products. State intervention through public policies like insurance, subsides, legal protection, reservations etc can substantially make this world a more equitable place. I hope next time time we eat a chocolate bar or wear fancy clothing or travel by a good road or visit a posh apartment building, remember these farmers in Africa who never tasted chocolate and the sweatshop workers in Bangladesh and the migrant worker who left his/her family and traveled to a distant land and now living in temporary shelters, probably doing all this to avoid dept and to make you and me good apartments and roads. But it shouldnt stop at this as we should do what is required for the less fortunate and give them what they rightfully deserve, within a democracy, by pressuring the state to create better policies for those who are disadvantaged .The middle and upper class that includes me are privileged, privileged to have chocolates, fancy apartments and ride a sedan. As I sit here and type these words from the comforts of my middle class life I am sure that, in my life, I have faced not even half the uncertainty that the migrant worker faced when he/she made that transition from his/her debt ridden rural life in her village to the turbulent life of a worker in a city.
Posted on: Wed, 14 Jan 2015 08:02:00 +0000
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