Greg's Fair Trade Thread

[Der Übermensch]

Greg wanted to start a fair trade thread.
But he's banned, so I did instead.
Discuss...

[ghostfacekillah]

This is Greg, btw.

I can't start threads yet.

[Der Übermensch]

You have to post with Untermensch in here I say!

[ghostfacekillah]

You have to post with Untermensch in here I say!

I don't know what that is. All I know is that I am the uberubermensch.

Anyway, fair trade. To be honest, I'm unsure where I stand (which is partially why I wanted to start the thread).

[Der Übermensch]

Obey damn you!

[c0mpt0n4ss]

Fair Trade always sounded like an admirable thing. However, I don't know of any fair trade items other than coffee, and I'm not a coffee man at all. Can it extend to just any kind of produce?

[griftadan]

wtf does fair trade mean?

[c0mpt0n4ss]

Well, I've only seen in the context of coffee. As I understand it, you pay a little more for it for the assurance that the farmer producing it making a decent living off of it. It stands to reason that it could be applied to other crops as well. But I'm probably missing something or leaving something out.

[Dave de Sylvia]

wtf does fair trade mean?
"more expensive"

[lunchforthesky]

It means that the person who picks the coffee beans is paid a livable wage for the work they are doing. Which often but not always reasults in higher prices.

[PerpetualBurn]

And then they sell it in all our shops on campus, except most of us students can't/really don't want to pay that much more for a chocolate bar.

[GreyHam]

yea thats the evil problem - stereotypically, its students who get involved with these things, and its students who just CANNOT afford it

**** paying more, the companies should just take a bigger cut from their profits if it means so much to them

[Dave de Sylvia]

And then they sell it in all our shops on campus, except most of us students can't/really don't want to pay that much more for a chocolate bar.
Yeah, but the rich man who employed the workers to pick the cocoa beans would have made a larger share of the profits had you not decided to buy something else!

[EinzingerIsGod]

I work at Barnes & Noble in the cafe which serves Starbucks coffee. Starbucks sells a fair trade blend to the best of my knowledge and a few of us asked our manager to order some but he said it wasn't available. He has since left and we now have a new manager and I will be starting as an assistant manager next week which means pretty soon I'll be doing the ordering so I'm going to see about ordering fair trade coffee for our store.

[lfantwister]

Fair trade just makes the people who can afford to buy the expensive stuff feel better about being able to afford to buy it

[EinzingerIsGod]

Fair trade just makes the people who can afford to buy the expensive stuff feel better about being able to afford to buy it

It also puts more money into the hands of the people who deserve it.

Obviously it's not a solution to the inequalities around the world but it's a start.

[samariah]

I've bought fair trade chocolate too. I eat more chocolate than I drink coffee so, idk.

[griftadan]

It also puts more money into the hands of the people who deserve it.

Obviously it's not a solution to the inequalities around the world but it's a start.

why do they deserve it, is the product any better?

[lfantwister]

why do they deserve it, is the product any better?
its not about the producers its about the consumers. That extra dollar is comforting money

[Iskandar]

why do they deserve it, is the product any better?Because a lot of people in this world are exploited.

Fair trade is better than the alternative, but it's still a band-aid solution. It won't solve the developing world's problems. It will alleviate them in the short run, though.

[griftadan]

farmers aren't exactly exploited, they're capital owners

[Dave de Sylvia]

It's more to redress the lopsided balance of trade created by western agricultural tariffs and subsidies. Obviously fighting regulations with more regulations is an idiot thing to do, but in the short term at least it's benefitting some people and giving incentives to improve standards.

[Iskandar]

farmers aren't exactly exploited, they're capital ownersWhen the workers who actually harvest your lettuce are getting a fraction of what the middlemen get, yeah, there's exploitation going on. There's really a general exploitation of poor nations by rich ones, always has been.

[griftadan]

It's more to redress the lopsided balance of trade created by western agricultural tariffs and subsidies. Obviously fighting regulations with more regulations is an idiot thing to do, but in the short term at least it's benefitting some people and giving incentives to improve standards.

agreed

[EinzingerIsGod]

When the workers who actually harvest your lettuce are getting a fraction of what the middlemen get, yeah, there's exploitation going on. There's really a general exploitation of poor nations by rich ones, always has been.

This.

++rep

[griftadan]

has it ever occurred to anyone that maybe the middlemen service is more valuable than simply the act of planting and harvesting crops?

[Iskandar]

has it ever occurred to anyone that maybe the middlemen service is more valuable than simply the act of planting and harvesting crops?Uh, that doesn't justify wages people can barely survive on.

[lfantwister]

Uh, that doesn't justify wages people can barely survive on.
Because clearly its up to you to determine what jobs do and do not merit varouis types of pay?

[Iskandar]

Because clearly its up to you to determine what jobs do and do not merit varouis types of pay?It's pretty obvious when someone's not being paid enough for their work, i.e. exploited.

[griftadan]

It's pretty obvious when someone's not being paid enough for their work, i.e. exploited.

i don't find it obvious at all. so yes it is up to you then?

[SoulSeekerz]

I work as a manager for a large travel resort. I get paid on commission. I set up and confirm appointments all day and am paid very well. Every time a client shows up for our travel seminar, I get $200 bux. So, I am a middle man err girl who is necessary and gets paid well when I do my job well.

[lfantwister]

congratulations

[SoulSeekerz]

congratulations
Not always, sometimes I have a bad week and only 1 person shows and I make only $200 bux. But it is still a challenge.

[italic zero]

are you melissa auf der maur

[SoulSeekerz]

are you melissa auf der maur

lol no I wish, but no.

[gregulus]

why is it up to a huge worldwide organization to control trade? the idea of that seems flawed. shouldn't the wages of the workers be left to the government and people of that country?

[Iskandar]

why is it up to a huge worldwide organization to control trade? the idea of that seems flawed. shouldn't the wages of the workers be left to the government and people of that country?What if that government is corrupt and inept?

[gregulus]

What if that government is corrupt and inept?
so it's the duty of a worldwide bureacracy to do what a country's government is unable to?

[Dave de Sylvia]

Yes, if it adversely affects world trade.