(Source: carrieabigstick)
Squirrel Watch 2012
“Neoliberal democracy. Instead of citizens, it produces consumers. Instead of communities, it produces shopping malls. The net result is an atomized society of disengaged individuals who feel demoralized and socially powerless.
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In sum, neoliberalism is the immediate and foremost enemy of genuine participatory democracy, not just in the United States but across the planet, and will be for the foreseeable future.
Noam Chomsky
(Source: antisocial-socialist)
Fire Exits Blocked in Gap Sweatshop Fire, 28 Workers Killed
12/17/2010: Earlier this week, a fire at a Bangladesh sweatshop making clothes for the Gap, Walmart, JCPenney and other companies killed 28 workers. Why such a high death toll for a single factory fire? Perhaps it’s because the workers were trapped on high stories of a cramped, unsafe factory. Perhaps it’s because some of the fire exists were blocked. Perhaps it’s because a third of the available exits were locked, keeping workers in the factory. How many workers will die before Gap, Inc. stops sourcing from sweatshops?
Abuses Cited at Apparel Plant That Supplied U.S. Retailers
2/6/2001: Workers at a factory in American Samoa that made apparel for the JCPenney Company and other retailers were often beaten and were provided food so inadequate that some were “walking skeletons,” a Labor Department investigation has found.
Responsible Shopper Profile: JCPenney
• JCPenney continues to source garments from factories worldwide that are accused of violating international labor rights, despite a company policy of carefully selecting vendors that respect labor laws.
• JCPenney has been criticized for its lax sourcing policies regarding gold, the mining of which is harmful to the environment and workers.
• The NAACP gave JCPenny a “D+” grade for the company’s commitment to African Americans and people of color.
• JCPenney has been accused of selling jewlery with unsafe levels of lead.
“ All property should be held in common and should be distributed to each according to his needs as the occasion required. Any prince, count or lord who did not want to do this, after first being warned about it should be beheaded or hanged. ”
Thomas Müntzer
(Source: violentminority)
