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for the world there is already a Saint Christopher, because I
doubt God’s short list for the position would include this
particular Christopher. Although not entirely due to the way God
frowned upon my beloved Red Sox last fall, it didn’t help
His cause any. My proclivity toward sin is also not the reason
I feel uneasy whenever I see critics whose main occupation is
to decry our nations perceived slouch toward Gomorrah. They make
me cringe because the brand of morality they seek to impose is
more obnoxious to our country’s health than televising a
24-hour nipple network.
We
have a tough time avoiding their talking heads on the news networks
opining the lack of God in our schools, the filth of Howard Stern
or the seventh sign of the apocalypse that is Janet Jackson’s
right nipple. Although they have viewpoints not wholly without
merit, their shallow vision of traditional values never seems
to extend beyond the superficial appearances of morality. Listening
to William Bennett decry the dangers of rap music to our nation
is like hearing him complain that he doesn’t like the music
I’m playing in my car, as I drive us off a cliff. My taste
in music might in fact be awful, but it’s the least of our
problems.
If
I had my druthers, none of the 10-year-olds watching the Super
Bowl with their families would have seen Janet Jackson’s
nipple - and they wouldn’t have if she had accepted my invitation
to perform in my living room that night instead of in Houston,
but hindsight is 20-20. On the other end of the spectrum, those
trying to strike the words “under God” from the Pledge
of Allegiance need a hobby to keep them busy, like keeping their
ideas to themselves. However, the issue that should occupy the
attention of anyone concerned with the state of our country’s
core values never seems to make it onto the radar of those who
are most vocal about their own righteousness.
There
is a chilling willingness of individuals who work at the top of
corporate America to chase personal wealth and corporate profits
by disregarding human decency in America and utilizing a degrading
exploitation overseas. These corporate leaders are men and women
who carry on otherwise upstanding lives, attending fund-raisers
and charity events. The ability of our corporate leaders to disassociate
business decisions from any sense of societal conscience is more
disturbing than seeing the nipples of the entire Jackson family.
Well, except Michael that is, and come to think of it, LaToya
too. OK, bad example.
Wal-Mart
is the largest private employer in the United States. Its average
full-time employee must pay for housing, food, health care and
all of life’s daily expenses on about $40 per day. That
is roughly half of what major league baseball players receive
per day on the road just to eat. These highly valued employees
must wait two years before they are eligible to purchase health
care, and Wal-Mart’s premiums are so costly that only 38
percent of their employees purchase the coverage. Proving they
strive for preeminence in all areas, Wal-Mart has had more disability
discrimination suits filed against it than any other corporation.
A top attorney at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
told Business Week magazine: “ I have never seen this kind
of blatant disregard for the law.” Perhaps he just doesn’t
listen to Howard Stern.
Of
course Wal-Mart can’t afford to treat its overseas contract
workers quite as well as its U.S. employees. A National Labor
Committee member reports that, “In country after country,
factories that produce for Wal-Mart are the worst.” Their
giant superstores are veritable world’s fairs of human degradation.
In celebration of this debasement of the human condition Wal-Mart’s
chief executive officer received more than $21 million in 2002.
His average employee would make that sum after only 1,400 years
of full-time work, but with compound interest it probably only
would take 800 years.
It
is not only Wal-Mart whose business practices draw muted condemnation
from our nation’s moral warriors. Some Disney workers in
China have made as little as 9 cents per hour at the same time
that CEO Michael Eisner was paid more than $50 million. I would
do the math on how long that Chinese worker will toil to equal
Eisner’s salary, but let’s face it, I’m not
a writer because I have really strong math skills. A delegation
from the National Labor Committee in June 1999 reported that a
Honduran factory of Gap workers made $4 a day, which met one third
of the employees’ basic needs. The Gap’s CEO that
same year made more than $39 million. I haven’t been able
to confirm what percentage of his needs that met. These examples
don’t even touch on the fraud, accounting shenanigans and
tax avoidance that all border on the criminal.
Addressing
exploitation Wal-Mart’s CEO said, “It is an issue
of human greed among a few people.” The human greed among
these few people causes real damage not only to the lives of millions
of us, but also to our country’s sense of community and
ethical bearings. It should be a moral issue for those who currently
spend their time keeping naughty words off my radio stations.
Christopher
Burke is a freelance writer and a regular contributor to Raw Story.
All his articles published on Raw Story can be found at the Burke
archive page.
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