Jane Sternbach
2/12/12
Response to Maquilapoilis
It’s
hard to think of any positives of globalization after watching Maquilapolis.
Although some parts of the documentary were pieced together weirdly and
obviously for dramatic effect, the main point came across loud and clear:
people and lands are being exploited all across the world (especially Tijuana,
Mexico) to fuel American greed.
Something
that struck me about this movie was how it exposed the hidden costs of
globalization. When we learn about globalization and the industrial revolution
in school, they are generally revered as advancements or positive additions to
human life. But this movie made it clear that just because these things are
bettering the lives of some Americans, the lives of people all around the world
are paying the price for it. I had never really thought about how everything I buy or am told that I want
to buy is made in a factory somewhere, at the expense of the factory workers’
lives and environment. There are some that are obvious, like clothes and shoes,
but I never thought about the all-encompassing nature of this phenomenon. I
never stopped to think where or how the bags that urine is collected in
hospitals come are produced, I took for granted that such things exist. Now that
I have started to think about it there is almost nothing in my life that I can
think of that I can say with certainty that it was produced in a humane and/or
sustainable fashion, and even less that were also produced locally. It’s clear
that transparency about this system of production is non-existent to fuel
capitalism. If we are led to believe that the things we buy just exist because
they exist, we won’t question where they came from, who made them, the
conditions those people work in, the effects on the environment, and if we
don’t question we’ll buy it and be happy that it’s available to us at such a
low cost.
A
devil’s advocate would say that at least these maquiladoras were able to have
jobs. On the one hand, there is some truth to that. Although they are not paid
enough to live high standard of life, they are not starving and they seemed to
have clothes on their back and a shelter to live in, which might not be the
case for some people who are not fortunate enough to work in one of the
factories. Therefore, it could be said that these American companies are giving
these women opportunities, when they would have had none otherwise. However, it
is just part of the system to keep the government from being able to provide
other options so the citizens of these countries have no choice but to work in
these factories to be able to feed their children. Then the factories don’t pay
enough so that those children are stuck in poverty and primed to be the next
generation of cheap labor. It is a vicious cycle that perpetuates inequality.
It
is also shocking that this system, which could be called capitalism or
globalization, can be so unconcerned with sustaining itself. It’s clear that
people cannot live under the conditions laid out in the movie without rebelling
or dying from exposure to toxic chemicals and waste. In addition, if all the
land and air and natural resources of an area are wasted and polluted, it is no
longer going to be profitable. So, what happens when these companies run out of
people and land to exploit? Wouldn’t it be better for profits to fix these
problems now, than when it’s already too late?
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