So, knowing that there are people who might read this blog, that do not read Doug and Molly's - I thought I would repost their latest musing, as well as link it - because the analogy is to heavy not to share, and certainly heavy enough to be embedded in your memory. do it.

know that they lived in Honduras for two years, and currently are moving to the Dominican Republic.

what a bunch of bananas!
since we have been back in the states, quite a few folks have engaged me in conversations regarding issues of international trade and ethics.
last week, in ohio, i ate a bannana. it wasn't what a real banana should taste like...but that isn't the point here. before i ate it, i looked at the label, chiquita. under the brand name was written: honduras.
yesterday, down in columbia, south carolina, i saw a bunch of bananas on the counter. chiquita. honduras.
if you don't know about the atrocities that chiquita participates in, google chiquita (i just did, and of the first ten hits, at least four were in regards to human rights violations, abuses, terrrorist funding, etc.).
but here's what i actually wanted to say: i've been to where these companies grow (also see: dole and/or united fruit company) along the northcoast of honduras. and the only decent analogy i can come up with, is to imagine if the billion-person-populated china decided it needed more consistent supplies of rice...and the best place in the world to grow rice was manhattan. then imagine that after crippling our economy by leveling all of new york city for their rice patties, they exported every last grain. imagine that instead of working the fields themselves, they "hired" the homeless and lower classes to work ridiculous hours for almost no compensation (but they don't have much of a choice since there is now nothing but rice patties as far as the eye can see). and imagine that no one except a hand full of corrupt government officials receives any of the money from this billion dollar enterprise...not the good people of harlem, the bronx, greater new york city, the state, or the nation. and that all of it, along with the rice, is shipped back to china where the citizens that enjoy rice casually consume it on a regular basis. every once in a while it will make some news in china...but you know what, they really like rice, and there aren't many options...

okay, i'm back.
where did all of this come on this otherwise peaceful morning in south carolina?
(that was supposed to be a hypothetical question, but as i finished typing it i recalled sitting at a bar last night with a brother-in-law who asks, "so is all the money down there [d.r.] from corruption or what?" and i began to answer, but there was some replay of college football on the television behind the bar that distracted the conversation...that we never returned to)
or maybe it's the latest news from the gap that woke me up this morning.

if i would have been able to continue the conversation at the bar last night, i would have said something like, "yeah. i i've actually heard quite a bit about our having factories down there [d.r.] for clothing and shoe retailers. while i don't know enough to speak on, i look forward to learning as much as i can. and i'll let you know what i find."

peace