The bit about this system flagging a “single person” more than 900 times at over 130 stores without any awareness of it as bunk data is just staggering.
I upvoted this only so that more people might see this went from wholesome to scummy side hustle. Maybe next year we won’t hear about these people at all anymore. 🤞
Damn - Why does everything have to become a hustle or business opportunity? Why couldn't a wholesome accidental friendship just stay that way?
God I hate the influence hustle culture has had on the internet.
Because capitalism is an economic system that squeezes every last cent out of people for the sake of "efficiency".
Not everyone is affected equally (woo, human biases) but it hits every group eventually. Sadly people often find need to obtain money somewhere to justify their own existence. The usual sources tend to grind you down to a sad shadow if your former self, so people often look for alternatives.
It’s not in order to justify our existence, but to merely be able to exist. There are zero guarantees of having our basic needs met; we need money to even have a chance.
Yes, but in order to be able to exist, one needs to justify their existence in a capitalist system. If you do not, you're considered dead weight and not worth having. My wording was intentional.
One doesn’t need to “make money in order to justify ones existence”.
Rather, one must justify one’s existence in order to make money.
And while I won’t argue the rather merciless nature of that system, I would add the perspective that this isn’t a trait unique to capitalism, but rather any system of finite resources.
I think you confuse yourself with your own wording. Monetary value is justification in a capitalist system. It is how everyone is judged. If you can not make that money, you are considered a burden, no matter how much non-monetary value you may provide.
The system doesn't really care how you do it. That is the realm of human bias.
Yes, but there is intentional scarcity in a capitalist system.
We have more than enough technological development to solve most scarcity issues in the world... the problem is theyre not economically viable. Which is to say, they're not profitable enough. You don't (immediately) get more out of it than you put in. All you get is the safety and well being of the people in the system. Which is not the primary concern in a capitalist system.
I think social media has enabled anyone to make a quick buck if you’re put in a position to do so. These two capitalized on their popularity on social media, and people, for one reason or another, will pay to be a part of it.
I’ll take a wholesome hustle over a corporation pushing hustle culture any day. It’s become clear that most Americans require a second income, so at least they’ve found a market to inspire others.
Because tree falling in forest doesn’t make a sound or something like that. You ever only hear about the ones that are promoted for clicks on the internet. I’m sure the are hundredths of grandpas that texted the wrong person, became friends and never bragged about it on Instagram.
In 2023, Hinton announced on Thanksgiving that he and Dench had gone from “family” to business partners, launching an alkaline black water called BlackMP.
I like it in small amounts in sushi, plus in a few other dishes (like my “undead raising” lamen. It gets wasabi, black pepper, red pepper and ginger. If whatever you have ends killing you, don’t worry - the mix will make your body move again!)
Now the question is, has anyone here actually had wasabi?
But here’s the rub: That tangy paste served up at nearly all sushi bars — even the ones in Japan — is almost certainly an impostor. Far more common than the real thing is a convincing fraud, usually made of ordinary white horseradish, dyed green.
Japan doesn’t even produce enough to fulfill their own demand, I’m almost certain all Wasabi I’ve ever had was fake.
So these children are driven to work due to poverty right? So isn’t the answer to try to address that rather than to say “stop using cocoa harvested by child labor?” Like I’m totally pro-non-child-labor-cocoa, but wouldn’t the kids just get other jobs then?
their parents also work harvesting cocoa. The reason they are poor despite being working a lot is that they are not paid enough for their work… by Mars (or Nestle, Mondelez, etc)
That is why I’m buying chocolate made in Africa, rather than chocolate made from beans from Africa. That way the value is generated there and not here.
It’s not about child abuse, it’s about not making enough money so they need their children to help out. If they get a fair salary, they don’t need to exploit their kids for labor.
Yes, and this is a vestige of the destabilization of African nations by white colonial powers to have and sell enslaved people. What boggles my mind is that paying a living wage to workers would increase the price of Mars chocolate slightly if at all (corporate profits could eat the difference) but the people with the power to make those decisions are like “nope! We could get even more profits by paying less for raw materials!” so they seek and/or create even more disenfranchised workers. Doesn’t get more disenfranchised than a 5 year old that has to go to work to help the family make ends meet, but I’m sure the corporate overlords are cooking something up as we speak.
John Oliver did a great show on chocolate around Halloween time. It showed just how much child labor goes into producing chocolate for the world, when almost no one really spends any time thinking about where it comes from.
The CNN clip in that video, is even better: the reporter gives the guys a bar of chocolate, and they go all “ohh, it tastes so great!”. Then he asks them if they’ll give any to the children, to which the guy answer “they can have the wrappers”… at which point the reporter produces out a second bar saying “don’t worry, give them this”… still, I don’t recall the kids getting any.
I enjoyed the part with the other journalist where he was on the phone with someone who hung up when the reporter pointed out that kids could stop working if their parents made more money. Insane that he was defending that practice.
I especially liked that they raised point like the fact that despite the fact that men earn more on average and make up more of the top CEO/Board Members spots, that those things don’t help the bottom segment of boys who are left behind in school and left unsupported.
Their program to try and pull those teens back into post secondary is helpful and I’d be excited to see their long term impacts
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