Tuesday, December 16, 2008
“I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. Corporations have been enthroned, an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money-power of the country will endeavor to prolong it's reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until the wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed” (Abraham Lincoln)
I can sum up my feelings on this one in one simple edict – Corporations are bastards because they actually believe that ‘globalisation’ should only work for them.
Corporations love globalisation (read ‘exploiting poorer nations’) as it allows them to bypass those tricky parts of national laws like Occupational Health and Safety, Minimum Wages, Union Representation and Environmental Responsibility, and manufacture sh*tty plastic goods for absolute rock-bottom costs. Megalopolis crap-merchant Wal-Mart have a very simple policy when it comes to this ideology: if it’s made in America, it doesn’t make it to Wal-Mart shelves. They serve as nothing more than a retail outlet for mass-producing Chinese factories.
However, when the consumer tries to use globalisation and the so-called ‘global economy’ to their own advantages, Corporations cry bloody murder, and try to grind it to a halt.
Case in point: Line 6. Line 6 are well known for making musical equipment, and perhaps their most revolutionary item was the famous Pod range, and its associated spin-offs. To buy a Pod Pro unit in Australia, it carried the RRP of $1600-$1950, depending on the unit. However, for me to buy one new from the US, and ship it over to Australia cost me $450. That’s even taking into account the paltry exchange rate. The question is, why would ANYONE buy locally when globalisation provides such a cost saving? Well, they wouldn’t, and everyone is happy.
Until something goes wrong.
And here’s the kicker… when something goes wrong, Line 6 Australia don’t want to know about you. They can’t help, because even though it was bought new from a licensed retail outlet, and even though it has a receipt, it wasn’t bought in Australia.
So f*cking what? It wasn’t built in Australia either, you dumbsh*ts. It was built in the same forced-labour sweatshop in Mexico as the ones which ARE sold in Australia. What’s the difference? But things get really strange when even the Line 6 in the US say they can’t help, because it was sent out of the United States. Again, they were shipped into the US from Mexico, so what’s the difference?
The difference is when consumers begin to use globalisation to benefit themselves through competitive pricing, the bastard Corporations don’t get to rely on the income from grossly inflated pricing structures used in the consumer’s native country to multiply their obscene profits. Line 6 Australia won’t be able to charge me $1900 for the exact same item from the exact same Mexican sweatshop which I bought myself for $450. Boo hoo.
The simple solution? Buy another item in Australia, switch it with the dud, and take it back for a refund. The unit now gets sent back to Line 6 for repair anyway. Way to go, corporations! I can, and I will, because f*ck you.
The truth is, behind all the hype about the global economy and the wondrous benefits of globalisation, it’s simply not meant for you and me. It’s meant for national Corporations to increase profit margins through the exploitation of poorer nations into mass producing sh*tty products at such a low price that dumbsh*t consumers will overlook the notable lack in quality. Anyone who sees it as more than this is quite simply kidding themselves…
