Ironic? Cynical? True? Banksy never fails to make you think...making money off of anti-capitalism - priceless. It is hypocritical for many of us who who advocate for fairness, a living wage, environmental protection, and support for those less fortunate in our society to drive carbon fueled cars, to buy expensive coffees at Starbucks, to need the next technological gadget. I am one of those people. We all live within this society and are subject to the influence of media, consumerism and peer pressure. I am committed to making my next vehicle an electric based vehicle, I am committed to taking public transportation whenever possible, I am trying to buy local and support sustainability without our community...but it is difficult given the pressures of mortgages, family, education, health costs and everything else that keeps us all enslaved to our work lives. We are all working just to maintain... The western world thrives due to competition created by the capitalist system. The problem is that our governments have been subverted by the captialist victors. One of the roles of government is to regulate companies to ensure that the public interest is protected. That includes breaking up monopolies. That includes ensuring that workers are not exploited. That includes making sure that companies do not destroy our environment in search of more profit. When companies control that agenda, the system becomes fundamentally broken. That is where we live, right now. Looking at Banksys picture, I am also reminded that when businesses start, they are usually driven by the vision of a person or small group of people. This can include ethical purchasing, workers sharing in the wealth and other laudable goals. I am sure that Starbucks started out that way. The problem is when companies get so big that their vision becomes corrupted by the legal requirement of all companies to maximize profit. Small and medium size companies are often able to reflect the ethics of their ownership. Large and public companies need to be regulated by an outside body, like the government, to ensure that the social good is maintained. De-regulation, bailouts and trickledown economic policies are all driven by corporate greed - and the sad part is that a large part of the North American population buys into this rhetoric. Fox news says it - so it must be true...yikes. When will every-day people start realizing that they cannot simply go about their normal lives without caring about the bigger picture? If good people stepped up for election and people actually voted, we could actually take back our democratic system. Right now, deocracy is on life support... What did Banksys pciture make you think about? instagram/p/xMcBbUqlcR/?modal=true
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 18:00:25 +0000
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