International Economic Issues

Chi's Week 10 Critique

2005-12-08T21:23:00.000-08:00

The recording for the podcast were converted and sent to Wess.

As this wiki is being done and put together as part of a Christian wikipedia (I forgot the name Ryan gave it), I wonder if it would be better to break it up into two wikis, poverty and human trafficking. There are substantial information in both parts and both are important topics that Christ Followers need to learn about and respond to.

Reading the Weight of the World seems to underline again that combating poverty involve more than just pouring in money but also a transformation in the social structure and mindset of that society. It requires social activists, an area which many Christians shy away from. We are taught to pray for and support the reigning power structure. Maybe we can't make this blanket statement as we have been.

Tabitha's Week 10 Critique

2005-12-07T21:39:00.000-08:00

The wiki has really taken shape and there are just a few minor things to add to the human trafficking section. I will add the story about my local church back in NYC and how they deal with people who are in the U.S. illegally.

A few years ago one of the members of my church developed a good relationship with the New York bureau of the Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS). Based on the need that the federal government saw in New York City as a “port city,” the INS decided to partner with my church. A few times a year, our church hosts an immigration fair. At this fair anyone whether or not they came to the U.S. legally or illegally, is invited to come and work on their INS application—no questions asked. This turns out to be a great way for people who are in the U.S. without the correct paperwork to expedite a process that could normally take up to a few years. They receive help with forms and can push through mountains of paperwork.

The people around the church get a service that they would not be able to get otherwise and the INS is able to help contain some of the illegal immigrant situation so that those people who are here can find decent jobs and receive healthcare. It’s a good collaborative effort.

Erica's Week 10 Critique/Wiki Update

2005-11-30T12:14:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!

You can disregard my e-mail message from yesterday about formating problems. I finally figured out how to fix it. In case anyone has the same problem, the only way I found that works is to cut the text, paste it in word and fix the formating and then to delete the headings before the text and reinsert them after the normal text is in.

Chi, I have made all of the changes I intended to. All of the resources are now listed (as far as I know) and I think all of the links should work. I added to the practices/structures section, and to examples of Christ followers from the research I had on one of my blogs. Let me know if you see anything that is missing or does not make sense. Please let me know when you are done making changes so I can check it one final time. Did you come across any stories you think would be good to read for our wiki? The only ones I found were concerning child slavery in Africa and it seemed that some of the articles you read suggested this was exaggerated. Let me know what you think. It would not be difficult to pull one of these up.

By the way, there is a lapel mic in the classroom that we should be able to use tomorrow.

Tabitha's Week 9 Critique

2005-11-29T21:19:00.000-08:00

Our wiki is taking shape pretty well. The introduction however should be changed to reflect the different direction that our research and thinking has taken since what we initially thought it would be. Our meeting helped clear up most of the issues I identified when perusing it and trying to make changes. My only question at this point is how we can handle the redemption part of the wiki. Can trafficking be redeemed? Perhaps the practice itself cannot be redeemed—unless we want to talk about trafficking people out of a dangerous situation for their safety. And that is certainly not a clear cut decision either. But the power structures and networking could possibly be redeemed. It amazes me to think the kind of ingenuity and influence that some traffickers have in evading the law.

If that power could be used in a positive way those same individuals and networks could accomplish so much. But in reality some people do not care that others are trampled under foot and do not want to help those who are. Unless there is some way that the trafficker can benefit from helping, then why should that person or persons give up a lucrative lifestyle? It is difficult to convince someone that they should do what is right if they do not see things the way you do. And yet as Christ-followers we must ask God for ways to do this—to impact those who have power and yet do nothing to help.

I find this the most challenging part of the wiki…and do not know how it can be done…short of praying that God has mercy on us.

Nate's Week 8 & 9 Critique

2005-11-29T08:38:00.000-08:00

First, Chi thank you for rearranging the wiki in the way we all discussed last week. It looks great. I made a few changes to our section on human trafficking including filling in some of the section on defining the social problem and then also creating links to other websites related to the topic. I still feel like our section on examples of Jesus followers needs more.

Let me take a minute to respond to the reading here. I found this weeks reading very engaging and interesting and felt that the final chapter had a lot to say that related to our topic. Storey's argues that those who argue for "globalization as Americanization" (p. 110 Inventing Popular Culture) falsely assume that it is possible to inject our dominant culture into a weaker culture and make some sort of replica. He disagrees that capitalism as a global system creates an homogenized world. This, he argues, reduces culture into a stew of material goods. You also assume with this model that consumers in these other culture are passive. Storey would argue that they are rather appropriating culture to their own and uses the example of hip-hop (a popular example these days).

While I agree that globalization cannot be that simple, it is dangerous to deny that it does have each of these effects at certain points. Is globalization always a bad thing that manipulates and controls other cultures? Certainly not, but it can and it has and it will. The reason the former arguments come up is that globalization has done these things. The vast majority of marketing of consumer goods, whether it is here or it is in another country, is based on the premise that a company is trying to convince you to buy something that is not necessary or to live a lifestyle above your means. When a nation of such power and wealth, as is the case of the United States, markets a lifestyle and "freedom" to third world countries, the people do have the right to reject what it is trying to sell. However, there are very few cases in which this works. North Korea is a rare exception, but that is because it controls the information that comes in to the country. If we look at China, another communist country, we can see how globalization has an influence on others. Yes, the culture in China is certainly not passive, but globalization gives people a false impression. For example, I taught recent immigrants from China. They all came from a province that was mostly blue collar and most had no more than a high school education, if that. They all wanted to come to the United States because of the impression they had been given of what life would be here. Most explained that life in general was better, but a life here came at a great expense - loss of family, loss of community, and low paying, high-risk jobs. The promise of a better life had lured many of them, some illegally, to come to the United States. Some were no doubt paying off large debts to those who had helped them come over. All were in debt of some kind and the majority in my class told me that they borrowed money from family. All of my students came to class Monday through Friday from 8-10am and then worked 10-12 hour days six days out of the week. What kind of life is that? The majority of them struggled with depression and loneliness and the class and their co-workers were all that they had. We served them as we thought Jesus might and fellowshipped with them knowing that they were doing what they had to do to survive here or face returning to the unknown in China.

Erica's Wiki update

2005-11-28T21:29:00.000-08:00

I added some of our resources under poverty. Chi, let me know if you want any of the articles you listed in your blogs included. Out of the 100 or so sources we found I only have about 20 listed. I will add text under the fair trade sites when I get a chance. I also noticed that we did not include a separate section on the examples of Christ followers. Perhaps I can include something from the post I did on that and we can list some of the resources we have that are faith-based. I will try to add to the middle sections tomorrow. See you all tomorrow at 10am.

Erica's Week 9 post

2005-11-27T22:07:00.000-08:00

Chi,

Thanks for the work you did this week. I intend to restructure the resources but was gone for the holiday weekend. I should get to that on Monday. I will also add to the practices and structures section and biblical sections if I can think of anything that needs to be added. I noticed you edited down the section on fair trade. That fits in better now so that it is just presented as one option out of many. Should I provide a link to some of the more specific information I researched about it though? Is there anything else we need to add?
What did all of you think of what I had for the final exhortation? Nate and Tabitha, did you have other points to add? Were you able to edit that?

Do we know when we are getting together to do the podcast?

Well, I realize this is not much of a critique, but it seems that at this point we need to focus on fine tuning and editing what we already have. The books we’ve been reading provide some background, but I cannot think of anything specific within them that would enhance our wiki.

I will post again tomorrow to let you know what specific changes I have made to the wiki before we meet Tuesday morning.

Chi's Week 9

2005-11-27T17:37:00.000-08:00

Gang, I reorg the wiki to the format we discussed: poverty before trafficking and combined the resources to the end.

Erica, I went through and revised poverty. The response section was reorganized to add how people can get involve through some of the example organizations. I have completed the Biblical basis, go ahead and add more, i couldn't remember if you said you wanted to add anything in this section. I have also created and started the Practices and Structures section. I have discussed general structures, go ahead and discuss specific structures like you mentioned. I didn't touch the resource section, I believe you were going to reorganize this. Here are the links that I used in the body of poverty section. It would be good for them to be included in the resource section.

povertymap.net.
Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers
World Bank
IMF
Millenium Project.
Make Poverty History
ONE
H2O Challenge
1000 wells project.
World Vision,
World Relief,
LifeWater
Living Water Int.

Thanks. I guess not much critique this week, just a lot of wiki work.

Tabitha's Week 8 Critique

2005-11-22T18:10:00.000-08:00

In looking at what Donna Hughes is doing through her listserv, it is commendable that she is serving to educate others and disseminating information. But according to Nate she sends multiple e-mails a day, which I can only imagine takes away from the impact of one well-written e-mail every week or so. When seeking to educate others, it is probably a better idea to give people bite-sized bits of information.

The issue is so large and deep that it could be overwhelming to people. Sometimes it is better to give people smaller chunks of information, to keep them interested and help them to engage in thinking about the issues. That’s the way I feel about the wiki. It should be to the point and give people just enough information to get them interested in investigating the issues themselves.

Too much information can turn people off…and there’s no way to be exhaustive in our research. So I propose turning the wiki into a snapshot of the issues that invites further study on the part of those surfing the web.

Chi's Week 8 Critique

2005-11-19T17:03:00.000-08:00

I can understand Pieterse argument and preference for the hybridization paradigm of globalization. But, I think this is more of an ideology but I don't think this is the trend where we are moving toward right now. The trend that I am seeing is a rise and insistent of nationalism, not to mix culture elements across cultures and places. Examples are the break up of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe into tribes or ethnic nations, genocide are more often, Shites and Suni in Iraq, etc... even Tibet situation. If we support this paradigm, we should be supporting China since they are mixing culture but there are many protest to preserve Tibet as its own nation. I don't think the trend is moving toward hybridization. Even in the US, the rise of so-and-so-American is an indication that we want to be recognize for our differences. Someone at church shared with me that 10 years ago, she didn't have to think what kind of American she was, today she has to decide whether she's Swiss-American, German-American or Swedish-American since these are all part of her heritage.

Nate, I agree with you observation that a developing country can be cripple if their main industry is pulled out under them because it could be more profitable in another country. This is why I believe that investing in infrastructure, social or otherwise, is important for the people in the countries. Unfortunately, this is the last thing to be considered. Some time it would only take a natural disaster to bring down a country like Pakistan. Take China even, its economy seems very strong but there is no public health or education program. It looks good on the outside but it's in a precarious state espcially with AIDs and the bird flu epidemic looming. People with money will get their hands on the cocktail and flu shots but these are only a small portion of the population. The country and their economy does not survive on these alone.

Erica's Week 8 Critique

2005-11-19T13:38:00.000-08:00

Here are some of my thoughts for the final exhortation of our wiki. It is just a rough draft, but I am coming to the conviction that even work to prevent international poverty must begin at the local level.

Tackling the international problem of poverty can be daunting, but as Jesus followers we cannot let the overwhelming nature of the task keep us from responding. In fact, it is not necessary that we all work to combat poverty in the same way, but rather that we intentionally work toward this goal together. Those who appear to experience the most success start with their own communities. They do not talk about the poor as an outside entity that must be dealt with. Rather, they respond in the way that Jesus did, by talking with the poor and working with others for solutions. Global organizations are indispensable and there are many who are doing amazing work to change legislation and develop communities, but before we can deal with the problem out there, we must deal with the problem in our own backyards. We must consider our own business practices, consumerism and other ways we may unknowingly participate in injustice. We may not be able to transform the world overnight, but we can strive to address our own greed, selfishness and love of comfort. If we work to change the attitudes of our friends, family members and local businesses, we will eventually affect change on a larger scale.

Chi, are you drawing similar conclusions about how we should advise others to get involved? How do your suggestions about changing infrastructures and providing health care fit in with what I've written? What does it look like to help those in other countries who are experiencing poverty without giving money? In what ways should the US get involved? A friend told me about Heifer International. It is a non-profit somewhat similar to micro-financing, but instead of giving a loan money is donated to buy livestock for people (usually women) who live in impoverished areas. The money this provides is multiplied because they have a continual source of daily they can consume and sell. We might want to add this to our resource section.

Tabitha's Week 7 Critique

2005-11-16T21:23:00.000-08:00

Nate, I completely agree that Christ-followers need to focus on maintaining human dignity and finding ways to view others without pity but with the compassion and love of Christ. Are there any ministries in the LA area that are doing that? I spoke with someone who works with homeless youth and he may have an idea of an organization we can investigate.

One of the challenges I anticipate though is gleaning information from these kinds of organizations since the work they do must be kept confidential. Perhaps if we can talk to organizations that deal with trafficked persons in Los Angeles, we can find out what is being done for trafficked persons. Procuring a T-visa or taking them out of dangerous situations are the actions we would take but there must be other things that we can recommend for Christ-followers.

Locally, perhaps the largest issue for Christ-followers is how to be educated in wanting to help. It is easy to identify a problem and want to do something about it but the best way to preserve dignity for people who fall victim to trafficking is to involve them in the solution—whatever that ends up being. Robert Linthicum, in his book Transforming Power, talks about the way that involving people who live the issue in the discussion and allowing them to be part of the solution is healing for them and eventually more transforming for the community or situation since no one understands their situation like they do.

Erica's Week 7 Critique

2005-11-13T15:11:00.000-08:00

Chi, that was an interesting question you posted about who we envision our audience to be for this wiki. I have to admit that I have been assuming we are writing to someone who is not poor. I guess from statistics I have heard I envision poor families working very hard just to put food on the table. I picture both parents (if there are two still together) working long hours to make ends meet or a father out working while a young mother single-handedly or perhaps with extended family cares for several children. While they very well might have internet access, I do not really see the poor having time to keep up with the world of wikis and blogs. But, I could be entirely wrong. It is a question I have been thinking about.

I think that as Jesus followers we often attempt to do ministry to the poor instead of doing ministry with the poor. I have become aware of my own lack of connection to the needs in my own community. It is difficult to address the issue of poverty when I do not know first-hand what would be most helpful to those who are struggling. I am becoming convinced that while it is great and important to join activist organizations and movements that act on behalf of the poor, we must at the same time, be connected to real people in our community whose needs are personally important to us. Instead of standing around as outsiders and deciding how we can help the poor we need to come alongside as humble listeners willing to learn and grow. There is a lot we have to learn concerning the inequities in our society, our comfort and our consumerism. In terms of the wiki section that talks about how we should respond, I think we need to begin by being more involved in our communities while at the same time becoming more involved in legislation issues that may help. I think our more global pursuits must flow out of what we are already doing at an individual and local level.

One more thing…our group would like to meet this coming Tuesday (11/15) at 9a.m. to work together on our wiki before class. Will that time work for you? Please let us know on the group blog either way so we can reschedule if necessary.

Week 7 Critique

2005-11-13T13:39:00.000-08:00

So we can localize the issue. Isn't it interesting how many times we only take an issue seriously when it has adverse effects on us? It's a part of our sinful/human nature that makes us so complacent sometimes. I am struggling right now with how I am not taking this project seriously. The issue is very serious, but I feel like our blog and wiki are drops in the ocean when it comes to dealing with the enormity of the issues. I ask myself this other question- who in our class will respond to the issues we bring up? Will they care or are we all subject to having our niche issues? I know that I haven't agreed with the conclusions of other groups and I can't assume that they won't have problems with our findings. Our topic, every topic in this class, could easily evolve into a life-long ministerial pursuit ala Mother Teresa... Okay, I have done my venting for the day.

It was easier to make connections this week with the readings we had to do. I really feel like this book would be good to sit down and really read through at some point. Its scope reminds me of another book on the social and biological development of mankind - it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1998 - Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond. Diamond also looks at how these factors eventually led to the dominance of the now established developed countries. It's a very interesting read even though it clearly takes God out of the picture. (although I would argue that no author/historian can ever truly do tha).

Chi's Week 7 Critique

2005-11-11T12:51:00.000-08:00

Erica, I think we should attack and encourage Christ followers to attack poverty at the level that God allows us to have influence over whether it's individual, national or international.

And regarding fair trade (as in the fair trade movement), I continues to be skeptical since I believe it creates a false buble of economy. I am thinking of the organic produce. Fair trade movement is similar in that it wants people buy items with fair trade labels, just like organic produce. The organic labeling did a lot to save small farmers and it is now multi-billions industry. However, because it is now big money, competitions increase and big companies are beginning to enter the market. Some are upset at big companies coming into the market but you can't prevent competitions, it's call protectionism. I think what before was a buble and people are upset because that is about to be burst by reality of competition. It's too early to tell how small farmers will fair through time with organic produce. So, if fair trade really wants to help, it needs to help, prepare, and educate producers to compete in real market competition and not just becoming a store front. BTW, the bag I saw here was at 10000 villages, reputable in the fair trade movement. So, if that was an example of a vendor taking advantage of the movement, what's stopping others? Anyways, I think fair trade works in that it will help a number of producers in the short run but I don't think it is the big solution that it is touted to be.

Week 6 Critique

2005-11-11T12:12:00.000-08:00

Tabitha, in recent years I have been unpleasantly surprised by the UN ineffectiveness in many areas - that and it itself is a corrupt institution. As the authors of Global Tranformations point out, there are these basic rights that most countries agree upon at the macro level, but virtually no way to enforce them on the micro level. What do you do when a sovereign country begins to secretly commit genocidal acts against some of its own people? The immediate response is to expose their acts - to shed light on them. Yet, what if the country ignores the outside condemnation, dismissing it as irrelevant? Economic Sanctions? Something else? I think Iraq is a perfect example of the deepness of corruption in the system set up to enforce and correct human rights violations. Here there was a dictator who was systematically killing certain people groups in the country, yet the steps taken to address this were severly flawed. The United States and other countries clearly had ulterior motives beyond the ceasing of the genocide. Yet, the government (and the U.S. media) sold its citizens and much of the world on various reasons beyond the human rights violations for overthrowing the Iraqi government. It was only when U.S. citizens and others were convinced that they would be harmed, did the tide of support turn in the governments favor. This is a sad comment. Systematic genocide of people groups seems to never be enough of an incentive to seriously address a problem. Again, the economic sanctions enforced against Iraq were a joke. Remember the U.N. fiasco with "Food for Arms" - the Iraqi government and U.N. turned it into a money-making syphon with behind the scenes paybacks and gifts. Set up to be a means to get food and supplies to the poor of Iraq, it ended up lining the pockets of the rich. Disgusting.

Tabitha's Week 6 - Critique

2005-11-07T18:17:00.000-08:00

As far as localizing the issue is concerned, I think we should look for any cases that have been made public here in LA regarding human trafficking. I know historically LA has publicly dealt with this issue but so much of the human trafficking industry is below the radar today. Perhaps we can look for news articles that document recent cases and then look for precedent that was set in this area. For example here¡¯s a story that talks about the industry in the US

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051029/ap_on_re_us/trafficking_in_america

It is a good example of what is being done here in the US and locally in LA. And one of the critiques of the issue here is that there is too much of a focus on sex trafficking rather than on all forms of human trafficking. I agree with you Nate, let’s focus on some of the local cases, organizations, and people that are impacted by the industry and see what we come up with. I think the challenge will be to figure out what has been done economically in this area and how Christ-followers can impact human trafficking in light of that.

Week 6 Critique B

2005-11-06T18:34:00.000-08:00

Chi,

The information that you listed on CAFTA seems very relevant and timely. Perhaps we should include that on the wiki. It seems like Global Transformations is only going to provide some background information on the state of our current economic system. I do not see a lot of content to add to the wiki either. Even next week's chapters on trade are more general and do not really spell out effects on other countries the way I was hoping. In order to finish the wiki in time, we will probably have to do some additional research along with our weekly reading. Will you post your earlier list of biblical support from one of your first blogs and I'll see if I can do some more work on that this week. Are any of you coming to any clarity on what our final exhortation should be? Should we keep it general including poverty and human trafficking or address the two specifically?

Chi's Week 6 Critique / Comment

2005-11-05T11:44:00.000-08:00

Erica, I had the same thought as you while I was working on the wiki. We can discuss what we want to include. There are some good workshops held for the 40th anniversary during class time next week so I might be late to class.

As for this week’s critique, there isn’t much to say since the reading wasn’t really relevant to our topic.

However, a topic outside of our reading related to fair trade is CAFTA, the free trade policy that Bush is pushing and people are rioting against in South America right now. CAFTA barely passed through Congress in June this year. Proponents of the policy claim that it put Latin America countries on the same playing field as the US. Opponents of the policy claim that it is a setback for Latin American workers and kill jobs for Americans. I think it's along the line of the free trade versus fair trade debate.

These are some of the points on CAFTA found in Wikipedia:

Services: all public services are to be open to private investment.
Investment: governments promise to grant ironclad guarantees to foreign investment.
Government procurement: All government purchases must be open to transnational bids.
Market access: governments pledge to reduce and eventually to eliminate tariffs and other measures that protect domestic products.
Agriculture: duty-free import and elimination of subsidies on agricultural products.
Intellectual property rights: privatization of and monopoly over technological know-how.
Antidumping rules, subsidies and countervailing rights: governments commit to phase out protectionist barriers in all sectors.
Competition policy: the dismantling of national monopolies.
Dispute resolution: the right of transnationals to sue countries in private international courts.
Environmental protection: the enforcement of environmental laws and improvement of the environment.
Labor standards: the enforcment of the International Labour Organization's core labor standards.
Transparency: the reduction of government corruption.
Test-Data Exclusivity for pharmaceutical corporations

Wiki Update

2005-11-04T08:15:00.000-08:00

Wow, Chi! You did a ton of work on the wiki, thanks. I think it looks much more organized. I will think more about this in my critique, but I am wondering if we actually need to be that specific about Fair Trade. Perhaps we should list it as one possibility and highlight the pros and cons we've found along with the other ways to get involved, but I don't know that we need to fill out complete subsections for it. We are already doing double the work of most groups having two in-depth foci. I just don't want us to run out of time. What do you think? Nate, are you still up for adding to the wiki this weekend? I will do it next week.

Week 5 Critique

2005-10-31T06:17:00.000-08:00

Since we have decided to focus more locally, I believe we should investigate some local organizations as well as national organizations. Tabitha, I agree that IJM is a great model for what Christ-followers can do. It goes above and beyond what many are currently doing to fight human trafficking and sexual exploitation of women and children. Who should be exposed - the traffickers? Yes, of course. But IJM and others are looking at the money flow and trying to expose different groups along the way. For people to get it and want to do something about it, the problem must be localized. Otherwise people will just see it as a problem of "those people" and not their own. This happens even with Christians. It is too easy to look at some of the global issues facing the poor and dismiss it to focus locally. So...let's localize the problem. Let's show that human trafficking surrounds us here in our comfortable suburbs. On November 9, there will be a conference in Los Angeles on human trafficking (see my resource list). We should try to go as I am sure there will be a wealth of information made available. Lastly, there are a couple of local organizations that we should contact as we continue to research human trafficking. They are listed on my week 3 resource list. One is the Little Tokyo Service Center in downtown Los Angeles (http://www.ltsc.org/). The other is the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking of Los Angeles (http://www.castla.org/).

Chi's Critique

2005-10-31T01:29:00.000-08:00

I like how Erica broke up the Christ follower's response into the different levels. This is a good way to organize the wiki.

Week 5 Analysis

2005-10-31T00:09:00.000-08:00

This week we decided to begin to focus more locally. By this I mean we will do a couple of case studies involving either organizations or individuals involved or effected by human trafficking. There are a couple of organizations that work with trafficked people in Los Angeles. There are also plenty of cases of trafficked people in Los Angeles. The most common form of human trafficking of women and children for sexual exploitation here in Los Angeles is manifest in the massage parlors that are fronts for brothels. These massage parlors are everywhere and are constantly raided by the police who arrest the owners, the "johns", and the women who work there. It is in this process that the nature of the job of the women who work there comes to light. What has happened to many of them is that they are brought here illegally or at least owing a great amount of money to those who brought them. These women are promised a great job working at a restaurant or for a family here in the U.S. Yet when they arrive their passport and other documentation is held ransom until they repay the debt they owe. This debt is not interest free however, and in truth for many is impossible to pay off. Even if they do pay it off, it requires years of work as a prostitute before they are freed. This is rare. What is far more common is that these women will either kill themselves, be killed by their bosses, or be arrested. In the third scenario the women are typically deported back to their country of origin. What I find really sad about this is that these women end up back where they started having spent a lot of money, having been repeatedly subjected to rape and abuse, and given up so much only to find themselves back where they started. This is not justice for these women. Sending them back is just another form of abuse. Truthfully, many of these women will go back and find that they are rejected by their families if it comes out that they were involved in prostitution. There must be another solution. The U.S. does grant visas to women in these situations. But they do not do a good job in advertising this fact. There are also organizations both international, national and local that work with these women to find them legal help and protection. So what is the Christ followers role in this? How are we to be Christ to these women?

Tabitha's Week 5 Critique

2005-10-30T22:27:00.000-08:00

Chi, I like the way you’ve laid the foundation on fair trade as a way to deal with poverty and are exploring how it’s being done well and what the drawbacks are of the system. It is a great jumping off point to look at how Christ-followers can take the idea of fair trade and make it a more just response to poverty and understand economically what it can do. The criticisms you identified are important for our wiki because they lend credibility to our research of the entire breadth of the issue—and give us specific areas to which we can respond.

Erica, the examples of organizations and churches who are impacting poverty in their communities are powerful and one or two should also be included in our wiki as case studies. They can also help us locate ministries in our area that are employing similar initiatives that we can study. It would be great to focus on LA and what is going on here. Maybe we can explore how poverty is being addressed here in LA and what Christ-followers can do in this context, since it is a city with large international populations.

Perhaps we can link the poverty and trafficking situations in LA through investigating how the economic situation here contributes to them.

Erica's Week 5 Critique

2005-10-30T16:30:00.000-08:00

Chi, I thought it was interesting to read about the critiques of fair trade that you found. I must admit that I haven’t come across the same literature which is skeptical of Fair Trade, but at first glance I did find some of the criticisms you mentioned problematic or at least, one-sided. For instance, you pointed out that setting a fixed price does not allow for the natural process of supply and demand to fluctuate. However, from what I read about the chocolate and coffee industries we are talking about $0.80 per pound and a little over a dollar respectively. The problem that I see with letting supply and demand go unchecked is that many of these farmers are receiving less for the product that it takes to produce it. The principle may be the same of US subsidies, but the difference is that in foreign countries fair trade does not make them lucrative but merely able to make ends meet on a consistent basis.
Secondly, the argument of the poor against the poor seems like a way to rationalize our lack of involvement so that we do not have to change our own practices. The fact that not everybody benefits from fair trade does not mean it should be abolished, it simply means that Fair Trade must be more widely supported so that more of the poor can benefit from stable wages. Whether or not Fair Trade exists, the poor are in competition with each other because they are not making enough to support their families.
Lastly, I agree that sound economic principles should be the foundation for supporting or rejecting Fair Trade. However, I do think there is a solid case that has been made on the websites of Global Exchange and Fair Trade Federation for Fair Trade from economic principles. To imply that the extent of poverty in other countries is not severe, and that child slavery is not as rampant as it is portrayed to be seems again to be a way of allowing Americans to excuse themselves from doing anything about the problem. And though I cannot say for sure, I highly suspect that the Fair Trade purse you found cost more not because of the amount that was given to the person who made it but because the seller is exploiting the concept of Fair Trade to make a profit.

Now, I do not mean to say that Fair Trade is without flaws. I just think it is one viable response. It seems to me to be a way to stand up against corruption since farmers are paid a consistent and reasonable wage rather than being taken advantage of when the market allows for wealthy countries to make a greater profit. Christ followers cannot simply think in terms of what benefits a capitalist economy. We have a responsibility to be concerned about the poor and to acknowledge that our economic system puts many at a disadvantage. I think education and community development may also be helpful, but I want to be careful not to rule out other ways of addressing poverty.

Tabitha's Week 4 Critique

2005-10-23T23:48:00.000-07:00

It is difficult to pin down large concepts like poverty and human trafficking. Yes, corruption is a major factor in both issues, as we have discovered this week in our analyses. But what is puzzling is how Christ-followers can do something about that. Even in countries like the U.S. where citizens have legal rights and recourse against those who mistreat others, corruption still exists. And it often exists at a level that the law cannot change. But in countries where citizens do not have the same kinds of rights or opportunities, it becomes almost impossible to hold corrupt officials accountable.

Christians around the world, and even in the U.S., have also often chosen not to get involved in politics or advocated for living separately from the political system, which is where the corruption often takes place. How can we do something about corruption? This is where I think we should focus in the wiki...

Few have devised solutions to this problem. Perhaps the best way I’ve heard of influencing corrupt officials to do what is right is by giving them enough information/evidence to indict those involved, like IJM (International Justice Mission) does. IJM often does all the work and delivers the information to someone in power and asks them to do the right thing. This does two things—it shows the official that the group is serious and will not just disappear after compiling all that information and it shows the official that they actually have a choice to uphold the law. IJM also publicly commends the official if they do the right thing and allows the person to “take the credit” for all the work. This way the person is publicly recognized and it creates a positive relationship for future partnership. They also have people praying for the situations as they arise!

This model is powerful because it gives Christ-followers the responsibility of working hard but working in a positive way to not only do what is right but to encourage a redemptive act in the careers of powerful individuals who may or may not have been complicit in the corruption themselves.

Erica's Week 4 Critique

2005-10-23T15:46:00.000-07:00

Chi, I think you made some helpful points about the downsides of debt relief and the connection between corruption and poverty. I am not sure though what Christ-followers can do when it comes to corruption. Certainly we can attempt to set a different example and pass laws in our country that treat the poor fairly, but the problem of corruption is so deeply rooted in our spiritual fallenness. I do not see a quick fix. Debt relief and fair trade seem more tangible. It is harder to know how to combat corruption which is in large part a spiritual problem. Did you read any literature that talked about practical steps to fight corruption? I am curious to hear more about the negative aspects of fair trade. I didn’t encounter that perspective in my research this far.

Secondly, I think we need to focus in on our wiki. I agree that we should acknowledge all of these issues related to poverty, but we have not yet done much work on the examples of Christ-followers or the practices and structures. I think what you included this week about corruption could be included in our practices and structures section. Corruption is certainly one of the practices that gives rise to poverty. Next week, I will try to do more research on Christ-followers examples. What else do you think we need to focus on?

Tabitha and Nate, I am not sure what channel it is going to be on, but I heard about a new weekly drama on human trafficking. I guess it is centered on the experience of a few girls who are trafficked to the U.S. I thought this was interesting because it supports your observation that this is becoming a more talked about issue. I don’t know how accurate the show’s portrayal will be, but I am glad there is a growing awareness of the problem.

Chi's Week 4 Critique

2005-10-22T19:10:00.000-07:00

Erica –
I like the list actions that Christ followers can take. These actions seems to be actions that involve changing personal purchasing habits to support agricultural producers in under-develop countries through fair trade and pressuring large manufacturers to practice fair wages. These are good practical actions and should be included in the wiki.

In addition to these actions, I think we need to look into actions Christ followers can take in the area of international trade policies. The under-develop countries can only export raw materials to richer countries, there are large tariffs if the poorer countries try export processed materials to developed countries, and that is where there are getting scourged. The developed countries employ and claim that these policies to protect their own. Americans, and perhaps the Christ follower, may loose their own livelihood to bring about fair international trade. I think we need to address the issues in this area along with any appropriate actions.

I think there are effects of fair trade which is not good and we also need to include the current criticisms of fair trade in our wiki as well.

Tabitha –
I am struggling with how to treat the ‘voluntary’ cases where people purposely pay money and essentially traffic themselves to either the US or Europe for the purpose of improving their lives. There seems to be two sides of the coins. It is obviously bad if they are taken advantage of and do end up in indenture servant hood situations. But, then we are happy (and we should be) for those who were not taken advantage of and achieved ‘the American’ dream.

I guess I’m thinking of my own involvement in human trafficking; my dad paid for me to get on a boat and escape from Vietnam as a kid. Having made it alive through the trip, my life is very different from what it would be if he didn’t and while there were other issues besides economic motivations for my dad to have done this, at the most basic level, it is still human trafficking. I am not sure what I should or would do as a Christ follower in these situations? For instance, if I am in similar situation now, maybe in N. Korea, would I be able to tell someone to pay money to escape but stay put? I most likely won’t but is that a correct response for a Christ follower?

Tabitha's Week 3 Critique

2005-10-17T00:15:00.000-07:00

I agree that transformation in a nation must occur within that nation, rather than from an external force. If not then the changes will be short-lived at best. Perhaps if we turn our thoughts to a specific nation or nations, we can look at that context and what Christ-followers there can do to prevent and eradicate trafficking or poverty…and how Christ-followers around the world can support those efforts.

Global governments must still confront how they are complicit in issues like trafficking because no country operates on its own. Each one is dependent on the others for trade and economic well-being. Understanding that the practices of each do impact the others because of the spread of globalization, our response should also incorporate that. Maybe we can recognize the multi-dimensional nature of issues like trafficking and poverty and suggest ways for Christ-followers to get involved both on local and international levels.

My suggestion for the wiki is to choose specific nations and then look at one slice of the problem from within and without. Perhaps that may serve as a good resource for other Christ-followers looking for holistic approaches to ministry.

Chi's Week 3 Critique

2005-10-16T19:44:00.000-07:00

Hey Tabitha,

It would take a tremendous effort and cost for a nation in which human-trafficking in ingrained to commit and eventually root out the problem but that had happened at least once in our history! We were successful at ending human trafficking at a national level and that was done by the US ending the practice of slavery. It took the US many years and many lives were lost in the Civil War to finally end slavery so it wasn’t exactly a walk in the park. I think the argument from the South against ending slavery at the time was that it would destroy the South’s economy because the cotton industry which heavily dependent on slaves for labor would be destroyed. Ending slavery was very costly and so how did it happened? I’m not an expert in US history but I think it was brought about because there were internal forces inside the country that came against it and worked toward change. I don’t think it was brought about through external pressure from outside.

So, thinking about the situations today, I think that changes ultimately happen when citizen of a country recognize and own the problem to eradicate it. I think what would ultimately bring changes is the recognition of another human being as a valued creation and the boldness from within to bring change not pressure from the outside. I don’t want to make it sound like the problem is out there because we have human trafficking problem in the US too and outside pressure won’t force the government to do more but it’s us. So, anyways, I said all that not discounting the exhortation for us to support social-responsible companies; I think we should. Just adding my thoughts though I’m not sure if that’s what we’re supposed to do with our critiques. Hmm yes, I think your analysis should go into the wiki..

Week 3 Critique

2005-10-15T12:25:00.000-07:00

Looking over your analyses this week, it looks like we are beginning to focus in on more specific topics and are coming up with some helpful questions to lead our further research. Tabitha, I thought that most of your analysis this week was very helpful and should go to the wiki. Perhaps the first three paragraphs could go under the first section of describing the social problem. The last two could go under section four: the task of the Christ-follower. Chi, I think we should put your summary of the causes of poverty from wikipedia there in the problem section and your paragraph on the World Bank might also be useful as it connects to fair trade and debt relief. I also thought the paragraph on greed was helpful. I guess that is part of the social problem too, but it is also closely related to practices and structures. As for my analysis, perhaps we can use the paragraph on inequality. It is very basic, but it will provide a start as we define why we have chosen to address unfair trade as a major concern contributing to poverty. Nate, not to leave you out…I just haven’t seen your analysis yet.

One thing we might need to consider concerning our outline is how we are going to handle these two issues we are focusing on. Do we want an introduction paragraph on International Economic concerns and then an explanation of why we chose trafficking and unfair trade to focus on? Are we going to treat them as two separate wiki projects or somehow merge them together section by section?

Chi's Comment

2005-10-11T12:03:00.000-07:00

I think Asha Forum is a good resource. Found this on their declaration and I believe it's important to give Biblical reasons for our involvements and responsibilities as Christ followers. I think we should consider including similar section on our wiki.

WE BELIEVE:

* Children are loved deeply by God, are uniquely created in God's image and are full members of the human race (Ps 139:14-16, I Sam 3; II Kings 5:2-3).
* God expects adults to train, nurture and protect children, especially those orphaned and oppressed (Deut 6:6-7; Prov 22:6; Eph 6:4; II Tim 3:14-15; Prov 31:8-9; James 1:27).
* Sexual intimacy is God's gift for expression of physical, emotional and spiritual intimacy and joy, and ultimately procreation within a monogamous marriage relationship of an adult woman and an adult man (Gen 2:23-25; Ex 20: 14, 17; Song of Solomon 4; Prov 5:15-19; I Cor 7:4-5; Ex 20:14; I Cor 6:15-20).
* Any sexual activity that involves children is destructive spiritually, emotionally, socially and physically to all involved and is to be strongly opposed (Prov 24:11-12, 29:7; Is 58:6, Matt 18:6).
* God fervently condemns, with warning of great punishment, causing any harm to, or not helping a child (Luke17:2).