As the truck sped off with a white plastic bag flapping on its grill, witnesses began grabbing whatever scattered food they could get their hands on. Boro Mitrovich, who was himself nearly struck, said he ran to help the man and had his bag disappear as well.

“One minute it was on the ground, the next minute it was gone,” Mitrovich told KPHO.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

In the King James Version of the Bible it uses the phrase “Without natural affection”. I think of this phrase occasionally when a news item illustrates the depths people can sink. These people stole groceries from a dying man as well as from someone who stopped to help.

Some may try to argue that hungry people will do whatever it takes in order to feed their families. And I can see this, sorta. But what are the odds that in Mesa, Arizona, at that place and time, there happened to be people this desperate? Beyond that, I have lived in neighborhoods predominately populated by poor people for most of my life. Please, people, give the poor of America some credit for moral integrity. Being poor is not some kind of character defect that entitles a person to commit crime.

A crime like this is a “theft of opportunity”. People who are predisposed to commit crime are always on the lookout for opportunities. When an opportunity presents itself these people act. An otherwise honest person, even if tempted, would be in the midst of assessing the situation and having a moral debate long after the thief had made off with the dying man’s groceries.

Are there worse people and crimes in the world? Of course. But these people represent something that needs to change in America.

In October of 2004 I was visiting a friend in Boston. During my visit I went with him to a doctor’s appointment. While at the appointment I happened to start a conversation with a young doctor who was wearing the ubiquitous yellow band of the Livestrong Foundation as well as a white band. I asked what the white band signified. The doctor responded that the white band was for a new push to eliminate poverty in Africa.

He continued by telling me that he had just returned from England where he and some others had met with “Sir Bob Geldorf” who was going to arrange world-wide concerts. The plan was to provoke the nations of the world to forgive the debt of African nations. The band, he pointed out, had the year 2005 on it because they would not be available to the public until the New Year. He stated that only a few hundred people currently wore them but that come 2005 there would be a couple million people wearing them.

I forgot about our conversation for a month or so and one night while lying in bed I recalled it. As I thought about the whole Africa situation and the proliferation of colored bands I wondered where someone gets “a couple million” bands. Some years ago I was involved in a project that required the manufacture of a part made of silicon rubber. What I learned in searching for someone to manufacture the part was that while you can find companies in the US that can make these things you can get them for about one-third the cost from Chinese manufacturers.

As I did more research I spoke to a manufacturer in the US who made some disturbing claims about his Chinese competitors. He then backed these claims up with facts from organizations like Amnesty International and the US State Department. In short order I received a lesson in Chinese economics. My low prices were made possible by sub-standard pay, forced labor, dangerous work conditions, long hours without breaks, frequent 7-day weeks, deductions from pay because of machinery that breaks during normal use. I was sickened.

I learned that the forced labor comes in a couple varieties. One is to pay low salaries and to charge for housing, food, clothing, etc. Of course the cost of these things is always more than the salary paid. The possibility of a worker changing jobs in the hope of making more money and paying off the debt to the old employer is nonexistent. Changing jobs requires permission of the government and that is never granted. Occasionally the government decided that more workers are needed here or there and so workers are “laid-off” and “hired” by a new company. The new company pays the debt to the old company and so the worker is still trapped.

Another method of forced labor is the assigning of prisoners to work in factories. Most of the prisoners have committed minor crimes and infractions that would not be a crime in any other nation on earth. Imagine being sentenced to 10 years for speeding – on a bicycle! Of course the real crime is questioning the way the government operates or offending a local petty tyrant.

So I sent emails to Sir Bob and a group of the supporters of his project. I received no replies.

On January 1st, 2005, the big announcement was made and the world was invited to purchase the white bracelets for a donation of £1. Once again I sent a batch of emails asking where all of the bracelets were being made. This time I just made a simple inquiry without the questions about Chinese sourcing.

I received two responses. One saying they got theirs from Oxfam and one from Oxfam saying that they got theirs from “Tat Shing Rubber Manufacturing Company”. I was also told that all of the bands were coming from Tat Shing. Tat Shing was one of the companies I was aware of with public accusations of forced labor.

So I followed with an email to all of the listed organizations supporting the “Make Poverty History” campaign. In It I stated my case and pleaded that they refuse to do business with any company in China. China does have some showcase businesses that pay well, have decent hours, great benefits, and hundreds of happy employees. These are fronts and frequently farm out business to the sweatshops. I pleaded with these charities to help “Make Slavery History”. I even suggested that an investment of about $100,000 would enable a production facility to begin operation in an African nation. That would help to solve a number of problems.

As of three weeks ago I have received 11,680 emails from people accusing me of everything from slander to racism. I am staggered by the number. A couple people sent my email address (which I established at Yahoo’s free email site) to their friends asking that they let me know what an evil person I am. They were then to pass my name on to their friends.

Well, this past week the media got wind of the working conditions of the Tat Shing workers. Oxfam and others have posted rather indignant replies to the media criticism. This is what they said:

“Oxfam is committed to ethical purchasing as part of our work to overcome poverty and suffering. All members of the Make Poverty History coalition are working hard to ensure that the white bands we distribute are produced as ethically as possible.

Like the rest of the Make Poverty History coalition, Oxfam was concerned about the ethical audits that have come back on the Chinese factories lined up to supply white bands. After receiving the reports we agreed formal action plans to address the concerns raised which have been carried out.

We can reassure people wanting to support the campaign, that the one million white bands on sale in Oxfam shops and through Oxfam’s online stores have been sourced in line with our ethical purchasing policy. We are confident that all these bands are having a positive impact both on the workers in the factories where the bands are being produced who are benefiting from improved conditions and also in building public support for the Make Poverty History campaign.

We will continue to focus all our efforts on the fight to overcome poverty and injustice, and to ensure that our own supply chains are consistent with that aim.”

They just don’t get it. Or they don’t want to get it. Day after day corporations large and small in America and western nations trip over themselves to get “a piece of the Chinese market”. Like Oxfam and “Sir Bob they have all manner of goods manufactured in China because of the low prices. But low prices at what cost?

They can argue that they only do business with businesses that are, as Oxfam says, “in line with our ethical purchasing policy”. But that is good old-fashioned nonsense. For every factory that is “in line with our ethical purchasing policy” there are dozens, if not hundreds, that make that one showcase possible by providing low-cost goods. Low-cost if you exclude the human cost.

There are no easy answers to this problem. I cannot fault someone who shops at Wal-Mart or purchases a wristband made in China. As much as I try I cannot completely avoid products made in China. It is a sad fact that the working people of the United States and many other nations have few choices when it comes to consumer goods. A shirt that costs $12 at Wal-Mart costs $30+ when made in North America. North American goods are generally of a better quality too. So, essentially, the working people of North America are helping to oppress the workers of China. A terrible situation.

But one answer is for organizations like Oxfam and all of the Live8 Concert promoters to make bold statements about the tragedy of slave labor in China. They have the world’s attention – use it! Their current press statements essentially say that we didn’t care where we got our wristbands, in spite of the fact that the Chinese situation is very well known, and after the fact we did an “ethical audit” and are now, after the money has been paid and the product delivered, hoping that things change in China.

The people flooding my email mostly tell me that I am a racist who wants to make trouble for charities trying to help Africans. They will all get a copy of this essay. My hope is that they will see that we can help Africans without hurting Chinese.

From time to time I have heard reporters making passing reference to Edwards’ growing up in poverty. And the more I learn about him the more I can see that there is no standard in current or past American life that he can use to support this claim. This is simply his lying to the people who he is trying to get to support him (You and Me).

The worst that can be said about John Edwards’ childhood is that his family was middle-class. They had many things that real poor people only dreamed about. In spinning this tale of financial woe Edwards is insulting his father who worked in a textile mill and was a supervisor. He is also insulting poor people. We, and I am poor, understand that you do not need to be poor to understand our situation or to have legitimate answers to some of the problems facing the poor. And finally, Edwards is insulting voters in general. Telling stories that are not true and thinking that the electorate is too stupid to find out the truth is arrogant and the height of Demagoguery.
Edwards cast this arrogance in stone during an interview with Chris Matthews. This is the important part:

MATTHEWS: What‘s it feel like? I‘ve never been poor. You have. I‘m not talking about the haircuts and all the nonsense. I‘m talking about your own personal experience as a human being. You know what it is like to be poor. Tell the people watching right now who have not been what it is like.

EDWARDS: Well, you go into a restaurant with your family and you sit down, and everybody—especially when you‘re young—that is the only time I was poor, Chris. And you sit down, and then you start to order something, and your father says, we have to leave, because we can‘t pay for this. And you get up and leave, and it is humiliating. It feels humiliating when you are young. And it is particularly humiliating to see your mother and father have to go through that.

So we do not want anybody to be treated without dignity and respect in this country, which is what is part of what motivates me to this cause.

This is not being poor. You went to a restaurant and found the prices were higher than expected. What does this have to do with “dignity and respect”? What does it have to do with poverty? Nothing! It is just more political BS from the Ruling Class who think the electorate are gullible saps.

Poverty is having a slice of bread with butter for breakfast. Poverty is taking the same thing to school for lunch. Poverty is then going home and having oatmeal, just plain oatmeal, and a glass of powdered milk. Imagine this Mr. Edwards. Day after day, week after week. I could go on but for those who have been poor (or still are) these are not things we use to make points or to generate support for political campaigns. This is a painful reality.

And, by the way, “dignity and respect” have little to do with income or being able to eat in restaurants. Part of it has to do with honesty and not pretending that a situation was better or worse than it was.