Channel Five announces movie on Slave Grown Chocolate Issues Beyond Palo Alto, posted by Walter_E_Wallis, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Oct 29, 2010 at 6:33 pm Walter_E_Wallis is a member (registered user) of Palo Alto Online
Five or six years ago Palo Alto was considering sanctions against non Fair Trade Coffee [which see].
At that time I wrote them asking that they also consider the even then notorious practice of slave grown chocolate for their condemnation. Nothing was said or done. Now that even Frisco gets it, will the Hamilton Avenue hotshots finally come out gains slavery?
Posted by Anon, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Oct 30, 2010 at 7:52 am
I'm afraid that I can't put my money where my mouth is, because I don't eat much chocolate, any more than I buy diamonds. Politically, this is a difficult issue that has been going on for a long time. The Ivory Coast is at the center of the international chocolate industry. As everyone knows, it has been a distressed country for some time. Most of the chocolate is grown on small farms, and most of the farmers are small producers and poor -- even as they continue to use child slave labor. Would it help these children if the world boycotted Ivory Coast chocolate? Probably, the best approach is to get a coalition of chocolate companies and famous chefs together to put pressure on the local chocolate traders to only buy from producers that can be certified slave-free. A lot of small farmers will probably be forced out of the business through this approach, though, including the farmers who don't use forced labor, but, don't have the money to get "certified".
Posted by Walter_E_Wallis, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Oct 30, 2010 at 8:17 am Walter_E_Wallis is a member (registered user) of Palo Alto Online
So it is only whites owning slaves that is objectionable?
Posted by Identity Politics, a resident of Stanford, on Oct 30, 2010 at 9:00 am
Walter,
It is called identity politics. It works for blacks, whites, women, old folks, gays, any group with enough political clout to get an ear from someone who can impact money or government. The idea is that anything that helps a group that some individual can identify with provides that group power and is therefore a good thing for the individual.
Identity politics not only perpetuates racism and sexism, it fundamentally attacks fairness and the blind rule of law. It also cohorts with victimhood and dependence on government. It divides our cities, states and the country. In my opinion, it's level of success is a measure of government corruption.
Posted by Anon, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Oct 30, 2010 at 9:35 am
Slavery is just as wrong for poor black farmers as it is for white plantation owners. The point is to find a strategy to make things better. What is your strategy that will actually make things better?
Posted by Walter_E_Wallis, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Oct 31, 2010 at 7:18 am Walter_E_Wallis is a member (registered user) of Palo Alto Online
I suggest the same strategy we applied to Apartheid.
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