The yes men fix the world

Just watched the movie "The yes men fix the world" and it's definitely one of the best movies I've watched. Here, take a look. Those guys are hilarious and they, hopefully, managed to make some people change their view of the world.

Now for the hard part: What are you doing to help people in need and/or the environment?

I'll start. I'm not doing anything extreme, I'm not even spending money to help the environment, I'd rather say I'm saving money doing it. The things I'm doing is small everyday things, like taking the bike or buss (preferably bike) instead of a moped when I need to go somewhere, I recycle and so on. However my computer interest is hurting the environment, some poor African miners and some Asian factory workers more then I'm helping it, because let's face it, the Earth weren't built to have 6 000 000 000-ish people living like we in the industrialized countries are.

Yeah, a lot of the raw materials used in electronics come from human-rights violating mines in impoverished nations all around the world. The fact that we are discussing this online proves we are guilty of voting (with our money) that we approve of the circumstances. Ignorance on the matter is not an excuse and doesn't make anything any better.
How do I sleep at night? I'm a pessimist and can always imagine a worse fate for those people...at least they have jobs! Right?
Meh. The powerful nations of the world can't just go around overthrowing governments that they don't approve of...oh wait, America can and does. I guess these corrupt and weak governments are on some sort of 'Next to Invade' list. They'll just have to wait their turn.
As for the environment, good luck. The Industrial Revolution in America and Europe has punched the environment in the face every day until today. However, we did sort of learn what not to do. As third-world countries become industrialized and develop a modern economy, perhaps the countries with more experience should say 'Hey guys, look at the dumb*ss things we did! Don't do it like that!' That way we aren't punching the environment in the face, chest, belly, back, and arms all at once...
We just have to pay attention to what's going on around us and help out in whatever way we feel like helping...or, we can just allow me to become Supreme Overlord of Planet Earth and I'll take care of everything. I might even reconsider carpet bombing America if you all vote for me!:D

Keep this in mind: Right now, Old Men and Oil Companies are in control.

In other words, life goes on.

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Originally Posted by mDust

'Hey guys, look at the dumb*ss things we did! Don't do it like that!' That way we aren't punching the environment in the face, chest, belly, back, and arms all at once...

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I wish that'd work but unfortunately

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Originally Posted by Albert Einstein

Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the first.

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So...yeah, we've tried and it hasn't worked so far but we might as well keep trying.

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Originally Posted by Diamon

...but we might as well keep trying.

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At some point the game has to be called...we can't play forever. Besides, it's so much easier and more fun to distract ourselves from reality with movies, games, sports, and the internet! Maybe that's what those poor slaves working 20 hours a day in the mines need...the internet! Maybe then their situation wouldn't seem so bad! They could lol with their friends and family for a couple hours a night! Or maybe even shoot off an email to their boss or government concerning human rights violations and environmental issues. That's called 'two birds with one stone' gentlemen. When they ask who solved the worlds' problems, tell them mDust did...

But if their salary increases and they get a better life who will then make our cheap electronics?

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But if their salary increases and they get a better life who will then make our cheap electronics?

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The robots we build in the future based on the technology built on the backs of hard labour? There's always a scale, with one end gradually pulling the other end up. Think of the conditions a few decades ago for the same people. The advancements made at one end trickle down into minor improvements across the planet. This is progress, this is how the world works; there will always be people at the bottom, working away for the people at the top. However, the people at the top are also pushing everything forward, and drag the people at the bottom up with them.

A classic example I can think of is how common mobile phones are in Africa now; people living in the poorest areas have access to each other, markets, medical help, etc. That they didn't have before, and this is ultimately because of the rate of progress for mobile phones. If we had never done this, then mobile phones would not have been able to improve their lifestyle.

At the end of the day, this technology is progress, and progress is always fatal for some. If you feel bad about it, then the best thing to do is keep it in mind; donate old technology to charities, support anything that promotes a better standard of living for people, and boycott any companies that knowingly allow such things to happen.

-Dave

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Originally Posted by DaveW

A classic example I can think of is how common mobile phones are in Africa now; people living in the poorest areas have access to each other, markets, medical help, etc. That they didn't have before, and this is ultimately because of the rate of progress for mobile phones. If we had never done this, then mobile phones would not have been able to improve their lifestyle.
-Dave

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Exactly. What these people need next is access to global communication via computers and internet. When violence, abuses, and corruption come to light and are publicly documented in a timely manner, something can be done about it. There are tons of things that we don't do simply because we don't know about it. If the world knew about all the terrible things that regularly happen in these places then there would be a much better chance for corrective action. Ushahidi and Wikileaks type sites empower the people, and I think, will change the entire world for the better.

All the more reason to keep the internet as anonymous as possible. Using Tor, proxies and encryption people witnessing corruption etc is just a few clicks away from spreading it to millions of people with little risk of anyone finding out who uploaded it.

@DaveW Please take the time to watch the movie I linked in the first post and say what you think of it.

I watched the video and have more than a few issues with it.

1) The government should not be involved in things it doesn't need to be.
2) The focus of government should be to legislate and to enforce legislature.

The health care bill will ultimately destroy private insurance companies. While I want health care for all, there is simple legislation that would solve the issue in a way that the government doesn't have to collect and distribute money (taxes). This isn't a failure in health care, but a failure in legislation.

The government changed the laws regarding what kinds of loans banks could give out. The purpose was to let more people qualify for a mortgage, and more people did. The problem came when the banks got greedy and gave out too many of these loans to people that obviously would struggle to repay. When it all blew up in the banks faces the free market would have meant that those banks would go out of business (like they should for being idiots) and that the responsible banks would take their place or that new banks would replace them. The government decided to step in and bail out the banks, destroying both the idea of a free market and of any risk/reward system. It wall all reward as the government decided that it would not allow the banks to pay the price for their mistakes. Of course, the government it to blame for changing a law they knew to serve a very good purpose. All this said, the economy would not have collapsed. Almost all economists agree that the bank bailout had no effect on the economy except to cost us all in taxes.

One of the headlines on the paper read, "Maximum wage legislation passed." Really? People think that is a good idea? As I see it, I have a job right now because somebody was able to start a business that filled a need. I am grateful for my job and I don't care if for every hour I work someone else gets a few dollars. They are the one who started the business that gave me the job. When I'm older I hope to make as much money as I can. Don't we all? Don't we all wish that money was no longer an issue in our lives? Let people make as much as they can. People don't get rich by being selfish, they get rich by providing something of value to people who are grateful and happy for it.

Katrina is not solely to blame on oil companies destroying the wetlands. In fact, if we are going to talk about the destruction of nature then let's blame the government for this one. In the 1950s the government decided that the wandering Mississippi was no longer allowed to wander. It was flooding too often and was costing them. A system of levies was developed to keep the location of the river from ever changing again. The levies have been growing taller ever since. Take a look at Louisiana on google maps. What do you see? The Mississippi protrudes into the Gulf of Mexico a very long way. Why? Because naturally the river would be changing course often and making new deltas, which deposit sediment and maintain a shoreline. Without the changing course of the river the delta just moves farther and farther out to sea while the tides eat away and destroy the shoreline moving it closer and closer to New Orleans. Look it up on google maps. It's pretty obvious. Also, you can look at a map of where the river used to be at different points in time by going here: http://www.radicalcartography.net/?fisk

One thing that I do agree with in the video is that companies should be responsible for their mistakes abroad. It really is a tragedy that companies don't value those people. I wish there were a way for them to sue.