What's Justice Got to do With it?

Molly, 13 years old, wakes up at 5:00am. She spent the night on a cold floor with several other children. As soon as she awakens she is expected in the factory, weaving strings together for hours. She's been doing this job for about a year now. She's able to provide her family with almost $1.00 per day which should help them out a little since her aunt and uncle died and her parents had to take in her cousin, an expense they weren't counting on and can't really afford. She spends so much time on her weaving task that she's actually started to develop arthritis, even at her young age. Her supervisors treat her pretty well as long as she doesn't stop working or slow down. They have no patients if she, or one of the other kids, needs a break. One day, when her arthritis was really bothering her, she stopped for a few seconds and was struck in the head with a whip. When her face started to bleed the wound was cauterized with a lighter to prevent getting blood on the product. Molly is hoping that she won't have to live like this much longer but at this stage it isn't looking like she'll be able to escape it.

Though this story was made up it actually represents the lives of thousands across the globe who work in similar conditions in order to make products for large corporations. Corporations who could easily afford to pay a fair wage to all of their workers, as well as safe working conditions. Many choose not to do this because it would lessen their profit margin, slightly. Some corporations who are guilty of this do it to provide cheaper prices for their local customers, others still charge high prices knowing people will pay it based on name recognition.

The question becomes, what does this have to do with me? What it has to do with all of us is this: Our world has become very global with the internet, social media, the news. It is now possible to know what is happening around the world, in places that we have never visited. We are able to be informed of what is happening globally and how our choices impact those who live very far away, those who we have never even spoken to. If an earthquake hits Japan we in America will know about it within 20 minutes. If we google our favorite companies we will see any known history of sweat shop labor within seconds. Since it is now possible to be fully aware of our choices and the way they impact others I believe that we have a responsibility to do so.

I am speaking to everyone right now but especially my Christian brothers and sisters. Micah 6:8 tells us that the Lord requires us to love mercy, do justice and walk humbly with our God. It doesn't say to love justice or to avoid doing injustice but to DO justice. I believe that this calls us to something more than a passive agreement of justice. Doing justice calls us to learning what injustices we contribute to and working to change this. Giving our finances to people who we know will use them to do evil is the opposite of doing justice, when we choose this option we are doing injustice. Though we aren't the people who are enslaving our neighbors we are giving money to those who we know will use it for this purpose. The money that is currently in our possession was entrusted to us by God, entrusted to us do do good with, to do justice. It is then our responsibility to spend it wisely, to entrust it to those who we believe will also use it to do justice. We can't knowingly give it to those who will do evil and expect to escape guilt in the evil it is used for. Our money talks, and corporations listen. It isn't until we stop funding their injustice that they will stop doing injustice, it must stop profiting them in order for them to seek an ethical alternative.

This task of doing justice through our purchases can become quite overwhelming. Everywhere you turn there is another story of a corporation using its money for evil. When we create a boycott list it can seem like we are unable to shop anywhere without giving our money to produce sweat shop labor. I believe we need to look at it differently, instead of a boycott list we should keep a list of people we do want to support, when we have several ethical shopping ideas we will know exactly where to go for what we need/want.

Another problem that people run into is that the sweat shop produced items are often cheaper than items produced ethically. It is easier to live within our means if we promote unjust means of production. The problem here lies within our culture of excess. Very few people in my society are aware of the difference between a need and a want. We live in a society of instant gratification, if we see something we want we need to get it right away, so we can remain happy. If we can't decide between the red sweater or the blue sweater we should get both. We forget that a lot of our wants are exactly that, wants. If providing ourselves with everything we want, to keep us happy, results in keeping others in slavery we are causing unhappiness and very bad circumstances on other people. Their unhappiness and discontentment becomes, at least in part, our responsibility. If ethical living causes more expensive products our response needs to be that we purchase less things. My happiness is not worth sacrificing basic necessities for other people, people who God created and who God loves, people who Christ died for.

As I wrap this up I am not going to give you my boycott list, because I think that you need to do your own research but I am going to give a list of some of my favorite places to shop/companies to support.

For sports wear -Touch by Alyssa Milano, Alyssa Milano is a big time supporter of Unicef. As an ambassador she has travelled around the globe and seen first had what it looks like when people don't have their needs met. I also tweeted her to ask about her clothing line and got this response. "Some is (produced) US and some is import. We monitor all the factories like crazy! Very important to me."

For wine - Flip Flop wine, for every bottle purchased a pair of flip flops is donated to a child in need.

For shoes - Toms shoes, for every purchase a pair of shoes is donated to a child in need.

For some clothing, housewares, nick nacks- Ten Thousand Villages, purchased ethically from workers across the globe. Providing income to millions in need.

For coffee, chocolate - Anything with the 'Fair Trade' label. Farmers are paid a living wage, which is something that can not be said of most coffee/cocoa bean farmers.

Let us all be awakened to the truth about our lives and how much they are interconnected with those around us. I think we all know that not all companies do things ethically, let us not turn back to the ignorance we once new. When we do this people die and people suffer. We have a responsibility to live in the truth that we know!