Apr 09
12
Vote no to ACTA
In factories, all over the world’s largest economy, little
replicators punch out Iphqnes, Blackbarries, Soni Laptops and anything else you
want as you long as you require 50 or more or 100 or more or one container or
more.
These “replicated” devices look the same as the real product
but have subtle differences. Usually at the software or firmware level, and the
replicator shops have kindly re-badged them so there is no confusion between
the original “real” McCoy, and the clone. E.g.: iPhone and iPHQNE,
Do we as people of Planet earth care?
Shit no dude! As long as we can get the latest “Toy” for cheaper than everyone
else – we don’t.
But in actual fact every time you buy a “bargain” from an
overseas manufacturer, it has a direct invisible effect on you and your family,
your neighbours, and Mrs. Mecklovitz down the street.
Huh!? But everyone does it?
Yes – everyone does it.
The cost to our economy of being able to buy a clone is far
higher than the few dollars saved on a purchase by the consumer.
The cost to our economy is jobs, income from exports, increasing
balance of payments deficits, social welfare /Unemployment insurance, divorces,
household separations, juvenile crime increase, suicide and almost every other
“bad statistic” you can read about in the Newspapers.
However you won’t find the Newspapers telling you about this
problem. The media Barons shareholders and close associates caused this
problem.
By moving their “Manufacturing operations” to offshore
countries to save on labour costs – they stole your jobs, whilst insuring that
their profit margins increased with the lower labour costs.
The Big Business companies that for fifty years have been
moving operations offshore and rotating their manufacturing orders to suit wage
scales.
Imagine a large war-room scenario (e.g.: Wargames) where the
top brass are all looking up at a big screen – Mexican Pesos are down – Good –
Order an extra 5,000 PC’s from Mexico please,
Taiwan Dollar just went up 4% – OK – cancel that order of
5,000,000 ipod headphones.
There’s fighting and demonstrations in the streets in Beijing,
Good open that new DVD plant up there – and so on ad nauseum.
But this is where the chicken cut off its own head. It
underestimated the capacity of the “cheap labour” to learn, to adapt. When you give a proud self sustaining Bantu
tribesman of the Serengeti plains a fishing pole with a lifetime of hooks – he
says thank-you and continues to catch fish with his spear.
When you teach an entire nation of people that have lived
under an oppressive regime for most of their lives that the way to make more profit
is to move manufacturing plant from the West to the East and pay minimum wage –
you are throwing yourself on the spit, covering yourself in barbeque sauce and
lighting the match.
Why does big business behave like this ? Because
shareholders expect a return, executives expect bonuses and both shareholders
and executives are usually in it for the short term (3-5 years) return “get
rich quick” – the capitalist impossible dream.
In this manner, big industry has trained their competition in
the very factories that they set-up so they could extract more profit margin
from you, the consumer; and so it has been since industrialization and the
subsequent two world wars.
As the United States
culture was introduced to nations across the world by American soldiers
integrating into the nations of invaded countries, it was followed by Hollywood
Films espousing the desirability of consumerism and developed a “me to”
replicating behaviorism”.
ACTA has been designed to prevent “replicated” goods from
crossing national borders. What took Hollywood
a generation in each country to market and sell, the Whitehouse is attempting
to fix overnight by creating a behemoth with unlimited estoppel powers that
ostensibly has only one role. Prevent emerging nations from becoming bigger
than [sic: the] US.
American capitalism and the twenties consumerism created the
Great Depression in the thirties, which history has shown was a land grab by
the banks.
It has repeated again now, facilitated by clone
manufacturers, but on a scale never before seen or imaginable.
Replicas are cool. Replicas are cheap. Replicas are
F*&^$% up your future.
P2P is the excuse for ACTA.
China,
Vietnam, Cambodia,
The Philippines, Brazil
and Spain are
the real targets of ACTA, but just as any war, the civilian casualties (P2P
file shares) will be high.
Big corporations are paying the lobbyists to make it happen.
If you love your home, and your family and Mrs. Mecklovitz
down the street, don’t allow this to happen.
Homework – Things you can do to make a difference.
Pick a Manufacturer – Any Manufacturer whose products you
have purchased in the past.
Google them to see if they have operations in China,
Vietnam, Brazil,
Philippines.
Email their CEO telling him/her that you wont be buying
their products until they close those plants and open one in your home town.
Tell them that you believe that you should buy local, but
only if they manufacture local and tell them that because of their actions – in
taking jobs overseas, you see no difference in you buying replicated fake
products built by their ex-employees in China or Vietnam.
What happens if you do nothing ?
Imagine a world where 1.3 billion people get pissed off
because their output is stopped at the border by ACTA Corp.
If 1.3 billion start to starve – what will their real
options be?
There is a theory in the real war-rooms around the world. It’s
called the total annihilation option. If we have lost everything and our people
are leaderless, foodless and waterless, fire all missiles.
And all because you bought that I95 on EBay and saved $500.
So vote no to ACTA, but buy locally made – whenever and as
often as you can. And whenever you buy anything anywhere – first ask the
storekeeper a question.
Excuse me, but was this made here?