Posts from — March 2012
A heroic story of how Democracy was lost and found
In December in Wukan, China, corrupted officials were driven out of town. It is a heart-warming and hopeful story of how democracy was lost and found again, through a revolution by members of this small fishing village. In replacement of the old corrupted officials, a ““Civilized election, fair competition” and “Obeying the law” was held yesterday. As New York Times reported,
“More than 6,000 of the town’s 8,000 eligible voters trooped to a makeshift election center at the village school and chose a new village council to replace the old one, disbanded amid allegations of land fraud. They filled out pink ballots in rows of plywood booths that ensured their choices would remain secret, then dropped them in big steel boxes sealed with tamper-proof stickers. Officials tallied the votes in the schoolyard as residents looked on.
It is encouraging to see such a united effort to restore democracy, the rule of law, and fair elections. Sure enough, as the title of the New York Times article suggests, this will probably NOT change how China as a nation conduct it’s affairs. However, the acknowledgement of this democratic reward is the first step to advance into a more democratic nation.
The villagers tallying up the votes
March 3, 2012 No Comments
Getting paid to get sick
I was browsing through a news channel, and this disheartening title caught my eye. This may seem like a distant reality to us living in a wealthy nation. The big pharmaceutical companies in North America are outsourcing testing to India. It has become a hub for medical testing due to the cheap labour, and lack f regulations. For locals earning an average 50 cents a day, the business is lucrative, since it pays around $12 for referring to another volunteer. In the clip,
Self-confident and well-groomed with gelled hair and tight-fitting designer jeans, Nadia said he is paid about $12 for every recruit he brings to the three Indian research labs with whom he works. In a region of western Indian where the average worker earns 50 cents a day, that’s good money.
Someone’s got to do the dirty, undesirable work for us to enjoy our level of technological and medical advancement. Why not poor people in a far far away land? Right? Such are the evils that keeps the wheels of capitalism turning.
“People keep falling sick,” he said. “There are many instances where there are swellings in the limbs, loss of eyesight. Several deaths have occurred … It becomes a question of human rights — a big one at that.” Ultimately, the outsourcing of this “dirty work” passes the buck of human testing to another country. Unlike Western countries where there is an audit of each death during a clinical trial, there is none of that in India. While Western countries boast of humanitarian efforts here and there, the exploitation of workers under poverty is generating human suffering and pain. But, it’s ok, no one will know, no records will show, unless more people are brought to awareness on the issue.
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March 3, 2012 No Comments