This week we read "The Reluctant Entrepreneur", which brought up the point why some people in developing countries do not invest in micro finance loans. The article pointed out that the main reason poor people are "reluctant entrepreneurs" because of their complacent culture. This idea is much different from most western cultural philosophies, which instill that people should do what they can to improve their lives and attaining all of the success they can. Unfortunately, in the article we learned that most people are unwilling to take the loans because they are fine with living their day-to-day lives by only just getting by with what they need. I found this very difficult to understand because these people have the opportunity to grow and achieve greater things but do not because they are so risk averse.
The other article we read was "The Parable of the Black Sheep", which described the author's point-of-view on how to achieve great things from the most difficult and trying times of our lives. The author seemed arrogant throughout the entire article but also explained the need for the recognition of the individual. I found the idea the author brought up, which stated "the best things come from the most negative points of your life." I found this to be very true because it seems that we learn more from failures than we do from successes. I feel like this idea also goes hand-in-hand with the authors need for us to have self-awareness because we tend to learn more about ourselves as well as others in times of need, as opposed to when everything is manageable in our personal day-to-day routines.
While the second article was more engaging to read; I found that I am definitely learning more and more abut myself and my understanding of fair trade throughout the entirety of this course and these different articles.
In this weeks reading, "The Education of a Patient Capitalist", we discover some of the real thoughts of a woman trying to make a difference in both the business and philanthropic worlds using her innate skills of changing the way social entrepreneurship is run. This article was so interesting to hear Jacqueline's opinions on other people's "charitable" acts or at least their attempts at it.
One idea from the article that I found intriguing was the fact that Jacqueline recognized that certain charitable outcomes of well-off people did not reflect the same meaning as they should. Most of the time people donate to certain organizations to feel good rather than do good. This causes a lot of issues because then the organizations make decisions based of the input of their funders rather than those they are trying to help. I found this point very revealing about the culture we live in today because it seems as though many people get caught up in a certain charity because their favorite actor or actress supports it, as opposed to wanting to help fund a cause to change of certain individuals whom they feel close about. It seems as though our culture likes to disguise altruistic acts with alternative motives.
Another aspect of the article that caught my attention was the fact that Jacqueline was able to connect these different giving people to their respective causes based on the fact of how they wanted to donate. She became a centralized hub for the philanthropic community, exercising her efforts to network different people to charities where their money and acts would be most appreciated. This effort that she made was very encouraging because Jacqueline used her network to change the flaws she saw in charity. I loved how she took it upon herself to alter some people minds in how they give charity so it would become more fulfilling for them.
This article was a nice perspective on the idea of social entrepreneurship and how powerful it can be.
This recent article about the injustices in the tea industry were so interesting and showed some of the flaws within Fair Trade.
The first point about the article I found interesting is how Sarah lived in the the Indian culture to get a full understanding about what kinds of systems work and what do not in the Colonial culture. It was very eye-opening that Sarah would be so forthcoming to put herself in that type of situation in order for her to get a better knowledge of the inner workings of the tea crops. This type of action is very inspiring to me that some one would do something like this just for the good of it.
Another point in the article that challenged me was the notion that croppers were using fair trade as a loophole. This idea was very interesting because it displayed a moment where fair trade was not the best option at hand. Although this idea is upsetting, we also need to understand that fair trade is a fairly new idea and still needs to work out its kinks for it to be as successful as its fans want it to be. Even though most of us want fair trade to be the only option, we also need to understand that sometimes our help inly creates harm.
Despite the challenges I found with fair trade in this article, I still think it was very interesting to learn about the tea industry and hopefully we can somewhat regulate fair trade within it to create equality for all.
This week's reading titled "Game-playing: Rethinking Power and Empowerment" by Anne Hutchen's was a very thought provoking reading that not only explained different types of power, but also reminded me of the many videos and readings we have talked about in class during the course of the semester. Hutchen's explained throughout the article that there were positive types of power as well as negative types, which remain relevant when discussing the topic of Fair Trade.
The positive types of power we were asked to read about are known as "power with" and "power to". The first positive power is known as "power with", which is described as power to achieve something with others that one could not do alone. The second positive power is "power to", which is described as the power to do something whether or not you are in a group. Both of these powers are great examples of why fair trade is becoming a success with the initiatives brought out by "power to" one can can spread the awareness of fair trade and inspire others to utilize "power with" among their friends,classmates, and colleagues in order continue the fight against poor and selfish business practices that are still going on in the world today.
Another point explained in the Hutchen's excerpt was the notion of the negative power within our society known as "power over". This deficient power is defined as the power of a group/institution or individual to carry out their will despite the resistance. This ultimately means "power over" is aimed at getting people to act against their own will. Unfortunately, people in our society like to use this power to get their way, eventually corrupting the innocent. At certain moments I am sure all of us have felt taken advantage of at one point or another, but fair trade supporters want to make known of this exploitation.
With the understanding of these different powers, I hope our class can come together and spread the idea of fair trade amongst our friends to make them a little more socially conscious and improve a life one day at a time.
The article "Harnessing Entrepreneurial Energy" was a very uplifting perspective to read about. I found it interesting to see a for-profit company try and make a difference in the world.
One fact that I pinpointed from the article was how if most farmers had some help in their finances like from a micro-loan then their chances in being a successful and having an opportunity to have a better life not only for themselves but their families as well. This part really struck me because it showed how just a little support can help various people out in exponential ways. Instead of struggling to make enough food for families to have at least food on the table, these micro-loans are also allowing for the children of these farmers to have a better life and an ability to better themselves in school.
Another point that was very interesting in the article was the idea of what happens when farmers aren't successful when their fair trade endeavors fail. The author spoke about how most people have a tough time competing with the drug trade and when they don't have any other options, most likely seek it out as an easier way to make money and support their families. This was very upsetting to me because all of these farmers just want a better life and when the right way doesn't make them any money they are pressured to succumb to illegal practices in order to have their next meal on the table.
Companies like Root Capital are very inspiring in some ways when it comes to finding a different need and trying to fix it. I found this article quite insightful and look forward to talking about it more in class.
"A Brilliant Idea" brought up many points about Fair Trade that were once again extremely interesting and very eye-opening.
The forst point in the article was the statistic which informed us that 40% of the world only lives off of less than $2 per day. Thinking about this point seemed so surreal to me when most some staple items like milk and bread cost even more than that just by themselves. It seems so unfathomable how ridiculous our culture can get; even I fall victim to the "first world problems" when some I so "desperately" need to survive becomes unavailable at the moment I need it. I truly give credit to the people in these developing countries who are trying to make a better life for themselves even when it seems like the system is setting them up to fail and fall back into the unfair customs that they have to once again endure.
The other point in the article that kinda surprised me was the idea of climate change and how it can be effected by Fair Trade. Most of the time when we think of Fair Trade we only think about the good that comes from it, but this article brought up the point that somewhat challenged me. It just seems so hard to try to do good, but then realize that your efforts could also be harming the people or the product that they are depending on. I feel like we almost need to come up with ways to help lessen the transportation emissions, but then I'm worried that it will cause another problem in the future and eventually bring us back full-cirlce to more problems surrounding by such good and innocent intentions to help out other people who truly need it.
I found it interesting that there are more products than I could have imagined that need to be apart of a fair trade initiative. This week we learned about Coltan, which is a natural mineral in the Democratic of Republic of Congo. This natural mineral is what the circuits in all of our electronics, especially cellphones, are made of.
This first video I watched was "Blood Coltan". This was a more serious and eye-opening documentary that listed a lot of crazy facts that were very heart-breaking. One fact discussed in the movie was the idea that a fairly decently-sized "small" container filled with Coltan would give a person $10, but it would take them days to collect such an amount. This was not the only thing that surprised me but also the scene when the Congo military was taking some people's Coltan in order for them to pass the checkpoint. It is awful to think that a country that is trying to maintain a front of togetherness among guerilla's who want to tear them apart are influencing even the most "responsible" people. This part of the movie definitely shocked me and made me question how much the government actually wants to fix the problems within their country.
On-the-other-hand when I watched the TED Talk by Mr. Mbubi I thought it was really interesting the conflicting feelings that he had with his cellphone. The Coltan problem was one of the many reasons that he had left his country and sought asylum in Britain. While this phone brings him so much sadness, it also gives him so much happiness as it does for us. Mbubi explained that his phone is a way for his sons to keep in contact with his parents, as well as get to know them when they are currently not able to see them at the present moment. His point that the evolution of technology although has caused so much strife and bloodshed in many countries, it has also connected and brought together many families, friends, and people around the world. This Talk definitely made me think about the initiatives we need to take in order to add cellphones and Coltan into the fair trade initiative and hopefully we can have a future with more consideration of others who make our products and what they give up in order for us to succeed.
Hi! My name is Alex McDonald and I am also a student in Professor Combellick's Fair trade and Entrepreneurship class. This was the first time I had seen "The Dark Side of Chocolate" and it really opened up my eyes on the importance of Fair Trade and the horrible practices that go into making our favorite everyday products.
One scene that really stuck with me was when Miki interviewed the two boys who had escaped a cocoa farm in the Ivory Coast. They told Miki of the struggled they went through and the other children they left behind in order to not have to go back to such an unhappy place.
The fear of recalling all of the hardship they went through while on the farm was so heartbreaking. It did not seem fair that they were tricked into coming to these cocoa farms and then spoke of the beatings and punishments they went through if they were too slow. I also found this part unsettling because only two of the many children at the farm were able to escape and I did not even want to fathom the punishment the others who were not as successful as the other two had to endure.
Another part of the film that I found interesting was when Miki was interviewing one of the traffickers and seeking the information he knew on the Ivory Coast cocoa farms. The one statement that really stuck with me was the fact that everyone on the border has something to do with trafficking between the border.
The fact that it takes multiple people to smuggle one child to the Ivory Coast is so heartbreaking because it just seems horrible that some people have to survive by sending innocent children to such an awful place. It doesn't seem right that most people in a country have to look the other way when they know something is wrong. It also makes me upset that I can not just directly go to these cocoa farms and take all the children out of there. No one deserves to something so low like the conditions that those children work in.
This movie really exhausted a lot of emotions out of me and I look forward to discussing it more in class.
Tue Nov 19, 2013 9:20 am
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