No Logo

The most interesting aspect of Naomi Klein’s article is the distinction between the physical existence of a corporation and its meta-physical existence. To be clear, the physical existence of a corporation would be the factory itself. The meta-physical existence of a corporation is the brand or logo. The reason I use the term meta-physical is because companies today exist mostly on paper. Since they do not have a manufacturing base their existence would disappear if the economic system breaks down. As opposed to the existence of companies 50+ years ago; they would still exist and produce as long as they had workers despite the state of economy.

There is a deep philosophical discussion that can be had about this type of existence. Metaphorically it would be like asking: would it matter if my current body was replaced with another body? I’d still have my brain therefore my consciousness, thoughts, and opinions. However my body will be someone else’s and would have a completely different outward appearance so am I really the same person? I feel that yes I would be the same person and the same goes for corporations. (Although corporations are technically existing without a body...) Sadly she did not expand on this topic because it was more of an informative piece about outsourcing.

There is technically nothing wrong with outsourcing. Since headquarters of companies are all that matter. The problem is not us outsourcing, it’s why we outsource. Outsourcing makes no sense really… especially if the system is fair, why would we produce goods thousands of miles away? The reason is the cheap labor it provides. However this has a HEAVY cost that we don’t even consider. There is a reason why companies here made a 100% margin profit while operating in the U.S. as opposed to a 400% margin profit while operating in China. The countries we go to for our contracts have almost no wealth in the western sense of the word and even less human rights. The people who make our shoes are also the people who have to choose between life in a factory and starvation. Granted, capitalism is vicious at the core and only benefits the smart. However this is really no different from slavery. Wage slavery would be the proper term. Really, what is the difference between having black guy pick cotton and paying for his survival and having an Asian guy make cotton shirts and pay him money so he can pay for his survival?

To me this is the most outrageous aspect of outsourcing. The fact that this is not a mainstream issue makes me wonder how corrupt the news network really is. Although it wouldn't be surprise me if complicated matters like this simply fly over those people's heads. Finding a good informative unbiased news article is like looking for needle in a haystack.