April 2010

The recent West Virginia mine tragedy is a reminder of how much we owe countless people who risk their lives for our benefit. The agents who infiltrated the religious militia are another example. Of course without those who engage in human intelligence our lives would be far more precarious and uncertain. We tend to glorify spies and they often are quite well compensated for their efforts, but miners are just plain ordinary hard working folks who risk their lives for comparatively small salaries. The fruit of their labor is not heralded. We don’t much give thought to coal and other ores mined out from within the Earth, don’t acknowledge our need and where we would be without them. Even with the mining precious metals and gems we might make a fuss when a movie on the subject comes out or talk about blood diamonds at Christmas time, and then our attention recedes and our list of priorities shifts. But for those brave people who work the mines in West Virginia and elsewhere the dangers persist. To them in particular we ought to give our admiration and our thanks.

We all encounter death and many of us interface with hospitals, hospices or others who handle end of life matters. Here we are in the throes of loosing someone we love and faced with a system that makes one question whether it is more profit than people friendly. My sister is now on hospice. It is not the first time I deal with such an organization, or would it be more accurate to say business. There was the hospice which was there when my father died and the dealings I have had with the hospice of friends’ parents. Each time I’ve been so aware of confronting a well oiled machinery. They come very quickly and set things in place very fast. And if one has ever seen the bills Medicare pays for these services, one is astounded, for they easily are several thousands dollars a month. Some of the services are needed, some less so. A cardiologist was ordered for my father when none was called for, a dietician was called in for my sister when to me his services were not necessary. And along with the grief of losing someone and the heartache of making sure they have everything they need that their passing will be as painless and fearless as possible, there is the realization that hospice services are now an industry, money making businesses throughout the country. I may be sad because of my impending loss, but I’m still aware of greater issues, that there are those still concerned about the role of government in healthcare. I, for one, am concerned about private concerns placing profits first and driving up costs for everyone. And to think that what I am witnessing is a very small piece of a large pie scares me.

In Sialkot, Pakistan, the largest employers are from the sporting goods industry. It is where they manufacture some of the best hand made footballs which will be used in Europe and the United States. Because of pressure from these Western nations no child labor is involved. Some children, however, do work and may be a primary or important bread winner for their family. Since they cannot be employed by the sporting goods industry, they end up in bricks factories, a harder and more dangerous work. Some wonder if in order to assuage the conscience of well off Westerners, some children are paying the price. It’s an old argument. The fact remains that whether in the carpet industry, with harvesting coffee or cocoa fair trade practices are now in place making sure that the products where no child labor was involved can be easily identified. It’s unfair and immoral that children should have to work, it’s wrong that parents feel the need to push their children to work, it’s even worse that some have to work in dangerous and difficult conditions. But our adding our complicity to these practices won’t change the reality. The fight against child labor looks like it will not only be long and arduous, it will likely be won industry by industry, country by country, if need be individual employer by individual employer. Our relenting on our values and our goal will only delay the end of child labor practices. The answer lies in tackling the brick and other dangerous industries and establishing mechanism for those children to go to school and learn a trade. A tall order, but a necessary one.