The Most Beautiful Kind of Empowerment
Kalle Lasn, editor of Adbusters Magazine, and moving force behind Black Spot Sneakers, was talking about the power of the people to have a business climate to their liking when he spoke the above words about empowerment.
Lasn is very much about empowerment, especially for those who labour under the "abusive, anti-labor, anti-union sweatshop manufacturing practices " used by Nike. He really has a problem, big-time, with Nike CEO Phil Knight. Knight, once quoted as saying his biggest fear is that some day one of his grandchildren might ask, "What's a Nike?" is regarded by Lasn as too small-minded and personal-riches-centred to care about the welfare of others. Knight's current worth exceeds $5 billion, leading Lasn to wonder how rich an individual needs to be before they gain a broader concern for their fellow man.
Lasn also has a great deal of trouble with what he calls "America's Suicidal Consumer Binge", having penned a book about why we need to take a better look at this societal trend, and begin work to reverse it. I'm with Lasn on that one. Buy, buy, buy. Spend, spend, spend. That's the litany to which most people look for some feeling of fulfillment, some sense of filling up the empty holes gaping through the fabric of their souls. There are so few with an understanding of how concern for others can fill you up; how giving can really, truly be receiving. How will we get the message out to our young people, especially? With "role models" like Brittney Spears and self-declared pimp 50 Cent, how we will ever help them to understand that everyone is special and worthwhile, not just those with bling bling?
Maybe the solution to this overwhelming quandary will come one little step at a time. Maybe, if you haven't before been an active fighter on these front lines, you could begin your participation with the purchase of a pair of "Black Spot Sneakers", the shoe designed to kick megacorporate ass. No animal died to make these shoes, and no person slaved in a sweatshop to get them to your feet. Black Spot "Unswooshers" are made with eco-friendly touches like recycled tire soles. How could your little twinkle toes not feel good sporting a pair of these?
Lasn is very much about empowerment, especially for those who labour under the "abusive, anti-labor, anti-union sweatshop manufacturing practices " used by Nike. He really has a problem, big-time, with Nike CEO Phil Knight. Knight, once quoted as saying his biggest fear is that some day one of his grandchildren might ask, "What's a Nike?" is regarded by Lasn as too small-minded and personal-riches-centred to care about the welfare of others. Knight's current worth exceeds $5 billion, leading Lasn to wonder how rich an individual needs to be before they gain a broader concern for their fellow man.
Lasn also has a great deal of trouble with what he calls "America's Suicidal Consumer Binge", having penned a book about why we need to take a better look at this societal trend, and begin work to reverse it. I'm with Lasn on that one. Buy, buy, buy. Spend, spend, spend. That's the litany to which most people look for some feeling of fulfillment, some sense of filling up the empty holes gaping through the fabric of their souls. There are so few with an understanding of how concern for others can fill you up; how giving can really, truly be receiving. How will we get the message out to our young people, especially? With "role models" like Brittney Spears and self-declared pimp 50 Cent, how we will ever help them to understand that everyone is special and worthwhile, not just those with bling bling?
Maybe the solution to this overwhelming quandary will come one little step at a time. Maybe, if you haven't before been an active fighter on these front lines, you could begin your participation with the purchase of a pair of "Black Spot Sneakers", the shoe designed to kick megacorporate ass. No animal died to make these shoes, and no person slaved in a sweatshop to get them to your feet. Black Spot "Unswooshers" are made with eco-friendly touches like recycled tire soles. How could your little twinkle toes not feel good sporting a pair of these?
1 Comments:
:)) Adbusters is easily one of my favourite magazines. Love reading it and I buy the new issue as soon as it comes out.
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