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Greetings,
Working full speed on this now, one because I rely on self-employment to live as I can't get employment due to bad credit [medical bills mounted up], two, because I'm paying student loans and three, the economy just sucks.
But not only that, I started this small business [very, very small] to work with other women, in forming coops, I'm referring to women who can't get work either due to felony records [99% drug related and non-violent/economic crimes to feed children] or women who have left horrid abusive men [majority] and who can't get work because they may not have teeth, no kidding, or women divorced with children and who do work but don't make enough to live. Also, my major was political science/international studies with emphasis on human rights/women's human rights and global poverty/development with minor in independent studies with heavy focus on conflict, war and environmental degradation/resources.
Years of activism working on mostly women's rights issues, fighting violence, Systematic violence and Systematic poverty [deliberate] including sweatshop labor, etc [advocating against]. In that activism and in starting this small business [which just recently started] I spent several years researching and learning about Textiles, the global and domestic labor/machinery and women centered art/economy which is believe it or not, like agriculture, the CORE of community in more ways than you can imagine,
the attacks and literal genocide through the ages by Industrialists, Expansionists, including both capitalists and communists on those economies/women and how through the decades the tribal economies were pretty much stamped out and transferred over to industrial/division of labor, so forth,
women's economy/arts/crafts were a Huge part of this, why so many of the hand crafted/arts are lost today and why they are so highly valued, why the Fashion industry pays by piece meal women in the Middle East, to embroidery for example by hand because in modernized societies where that has been wiped out, what IS produced by machine is not as detailed or eloquent as hand done,
so,
for example, fashion designers [big time] will pay piece meal/slave cents literally for hand embroidered items by girls and women, for starvation wages [and they do it because of low status of women and because they ARE starving and need some kind of income, this is huge in North Africa btw and is the next big market for exploitation by the Textile industry/Fashion Industry conference two years ago], anyway they'll take these goods and then sell them for ten times the price of what they paid/
so forth. China and other countries that thrive on Labor camps [because Thats what they are] with the machine embroidery/sewing, etc., do it by quotas, they copy designs, so forth, mass produce via machine/slavery and those are the products that you see in All the stores, pretty much, not just Walmart,
even the stores that may not buy from those companies, the materials/fabrics, buttons, dyes, are all usually made via slave type of labor, including a huge percentage of Children.
But not all of them, there are coops worldwide, usually small, through small micro loans and so forth, usually women/with children in war torn countries, in impoverished countries, sometimes where there is a huge percentage of trafficking [sex slavery, etc] going on and they are wanting to form economies that combat that/make them to where women/families are empowered and not vulnerable, so forth, that also, rely on women hand made goods.
in the West, the rise of hand made good products started a boom with recycling and environmentalism but also for people who could not get work in the corporate world and needed alternative economies. Not just women either, youth, youth in coops, those in political activism that raise money for causes, so forth.
The recent legislation [one of several over the years] that may Seem that is well intended, actually are meant more to slam down on Alternative economies, because they are a threat to the Global Corporate scheme. They may not seem like a threat, in themselves and by themselves they are not,
but when they become popular and become in demand, when small time artists, sewers, craftsman, coops, etc., start to network, which they did, they form companies or networks in which to sell their goods. We know them as internet groups, Craigslist being one of them, where people can trade, sell and barter, companies like Etsy and Indie groups that sell via consignment online for a small percentage, so forth.
You see, alternative economies, got a tad bit, too good. They were getting noticed and they were becoming Very successful...corporations/I'm talking huge franchises and transnationals that depend on global trade/global slavery, government protections, so forth for big development,
they don't like the little guy encroaching on their environment. Let me give you an example, a very good one...
In Argentina, the government [leftists and the right wing, they were both guilty and they both screwed over the people for years], sold the country out, literally, to overseas development/factories, leaving numerous factories to close down, thousands and thousands were without jobs, anywhere.
A small women's textile group, got together and said, you know, lets just walk into the empty closed down shop and take it back and that's what they did--word got out, it caught on, and several other types of factories, the workers did just that. Of course, the Leftists and the Rightists didn't like it and cracked down via police, arrests, murders, you name it,
but the people really had nothing to lose, there was no factories, no work, just empty promises by government corrupt officials and free sandwiches given if they of course, voted for so and so. Sandwiches may quill hunger for a bit, but you can't survive on one sandwich.
Anyway they Took the Production back--there was a documentary on this called Take It Back. Now I haven't checked to see what has transpired since,
I know, for a while they succeeded, I'm sure however, with the help of other nations including the US, the military was brought in, I wouldn't doubt for one minute...but I use this example to show you,
how, while many here may not be working or may be homeless or about to be, how this entire global economy works [and not just imperial USA] via the elites/so forth, against you, against the common masses, so to speak. Most of you are already are aware of this,
but now its going to get worse because you see the thing with selling things on Craigs and at Flea Markets and maybe even in a back alley, or street, there are Already laws on the books forbidding much of these types of economies,
but there was beginning to be some lenience and leeway because of the increase and popularity of Indie type of businesses and women centered economies and coops, etc., and the majority of them, yes were in Textiles, meaning,
clothes, children's stuffed toys, household items, so forth. Targeting children's items was easy, because yes, unfortunately it is necessity, however,
it is how its being done that reaches far beyond just keeping lead away from children. Because the CPSIA law [voted by every single Congressperson and Representative, except for ONE, that I've been told], is far too broad and even includes books,
where it can be a real problem, is that Anything not tested, is after Feb 10, contraband. That means, if you lets say, are homeless, and you find garments by a trash can, many do, it is an alternative economy and you resew them and try to sell them,
you can't. Oh, you can, but now you'll be at risk for selling illegal contraband with fines and jail time. See where this is heading...
those in the retail [small] business say, this law is meant to go after big corporations, not after grandma on the corner.
Ok, that may be true--but lets look at the big picture, the economy works in a trickle down/trickle up, it is said that wealth trickles down, to a small extent that is true, however, what many don't realize is that laws and regulations trickle down far more than wealth. The big man with lawyers and lobbyists and government interests including special interest groups and banks, can find loopholes, the means to afford, they can raise prices [at the cost on consumer's backs and workers], they can lower/slash wages,
you name it, they'll do All in their power to protect their profits and stocks. So, lets say, little folks here are selling garments/children's items and maybe even just resale goods from their homes, consumers including those that Used to be able to afford Gap, etc., can't no longer,
they seek out the man on the street. Do you think for one minute that the big companies are just going to say, sure, not a problem, let them sell, etc.? OF course not,
That is where laws such as the CPSIA lead law will really show its teeth, first it will be Craigslist being warned, allow sales of untested children's items [and that can be very wide in definition] we'll prosecute you and boom,
no longer can you sell there, they aren't going to risk it. Etsy, Indie sites, the corner flea market, you name it, any who could be at risk of going to jail, are now, going to turn the most smallest retailer away. They aren't going to take that risk,
cities will use these laws to enforce to push out undesirables, so forth. Or to use the law to see who is making money off the grid, so forth. There is just so much potential for abuse here that its not even funny,
a good intended law, that has been drafted so broad and so open to interpretation that it will take lawyers and they are already jumping on it. It will benefit the rich,
sure, it will hurt the middle class, the left may say, great, but it will also hurt those at the very bottom, more than the middle class. And these laws cannot be enforced overseas, only in America,
we'll still be getting lead contaminated products, there will still be children forced to stir up poisonous dyes in Morocco, still be girls trafficked all over the world/men/women too, forced and chained to sewing machines and working with hazardous materials and those goods,
will still be on our store shelves.
But more people will be losing jobs as retailers close up shop, more needing services that are already stretched thin, and what few jobs there are, will be more discriminatory with housing, against the undesirables and the poor, to make way for the new poor because thats how class prejudice works in our society.
Therefore, I will be continuing posting on this law and keeping it up on my blog, Modotti Manifesto, and also the effects on working class, working poor, on stay at home mothers who depend on self-employment due to having to stay home/many with sick parents to care for or children with special needs, programs have been slashed and more are being slashed,
just yesterday, the State I'm in, slashed daycare assistance, thats going to force even more women to stay at home...they won't be able to turn to sewing or reselling or they can, but they'll be at high risk for prosecution,
see what I mean.
Anyway, thought I'd keep you updated, also, just to say, these types of laws are very intertwined too with laws against living in RVs and squatter laws and the whole shebang,
its Hoovervilles in America all over again, a deliberate warfare against the poor and mass labor pool, why, whether one is homeless or poor or struggling right on that edge living check to check, or maybe Just above that,
all these matters are of importance because all it takes is one job layoff or one shop to go under or one law and it Does effect us, if not today, tomorrow.
More later,
Solidarity,
Modotti
Working full speed on this now, one because I rely on self-employment to live as I can't get employment due to bad credit [medical bills mounted up], two, because I'm paying student loans and three, the economy just sucks.
But not only that, I started this small business [very, very small] to work with other women, in forming coops, I'm referring to women who can't get work either due to felony records [99% drug related and non-violent/economic crimes to feed children] or women who have left horrid abusive men [majority] and who can't get work because they may not have teeth, no kidding, or women divorced with children and who do work but don't make enough to live. Also, my major was political science/international studies with emphasis on human rights/women's human rights and global poverty/development with minor in independent studies with heavy focus on conflict, war and environmental degradation/resources.
Years of activism working on mostly women's rights issues, fighting violence, Systematic violence and Systematic poverty [deliberate] including sweatshop labor, etc [advocating against]. In that activism and in starting this small business [which just recently started] I spent several years researching and learning about Textiles, the global and domestic labor/machinery and women centered art/economy which is believe it or not, like agriculture, the CORE of community in more ways than you can imagine,
the attacks and literal genocide through the ages by Industrialists, Expansionists, including both capitalists and communists on those economies/women and how through the decades the tribal economies were pretty much stamped out and transferred over to industrial/division of labor, so forth,
women's economy/arts/crafts were a Huge part of this, why so many of the hand crafted/arts are lost today and why they are so highly valued, why the Fashion industry pays by piece meal women in the Middle East, to embroidery for example by hand because in modernized societies where that has been wiped out, what IS produced by machine is not as detailed or eloquent as hand done,
so,
for example, fashion designers [big time] will pay piece meal/slave cents literally for hand embroidered items by girls and women, for starvation wages [and they do it because of low status of women and because they ARE starving and need some kind of income, this is huge in North Africa btw and is the next big market for exploitation by the Textile industry/Fashion Industry conference two years ago], anyway they'll take these goods and then sell them for ten times the price of what they paid/
so forth. China and other countries that thrive on Labor camps [because Thats what they are] with the machine embroidery/sewing, etc., do it by quotas, they copy designs, so forth, mass produce via machine/slavery and those are the products that you see in All the stores, pretty much, not just Walmart,
even the stores that may not buy from those companies, the materials/fabrics, buttons, dyes, are all usually made via slave type of labor, including a huge percentage of Children.
But not all of them, there are coops worldwide, usually small, through small micro loans and so forth, usually women/with children in war torn countries, in impoverished countries, sometimes where there is a huge percentage of trafficking [sex slavery, etc] going on and they are wanting to form economies that combat that/make them to where women/families are empowered and not vulnerable, so forth, that also, rely on women hand made goods.
in the West, the rise of hand made good products started a boom with recycling and environmentalism but also for people who could not get work in the corporate world and needed alternative economies. Not just women either, youth, youth in coops, those in political activism that raise money for causes, so forth.
The recent legislation [one of several over the years] that may Seem that is well intended, actually are meant more to slam down on Alternative economies, because they are a threat to the Global Corporate scheme. They may not seem like a threat, in themselves and by themselves they are not,
but when they become popular and become in demand, when small time artists, sewers, craftsman, coops, etc., start to network, which they did, they form companies or networks in which to sell their goods. We know them as internet groups, Craigslist being one of them, where people can trade, sell and barter, companies like Etsy and Indie groups that sell via consignment online for a small percentage, so forth.
You see, alternative economies, got a tad bit, too good. They were getting noticed and they were becoming Very successful...corporations/I'm talking huge franchises and transnationals that depend on global trade/global slavery, government protections, so forth for big development,
they don't like the little guy encroaching on their environment. Let me give you an example, a very good one...
In Argentina, the government [leftists and the right wing, they were both guilty and they both screwed over the people for years], sold the country out, literally, to overseas development/factories, leaving numerous factories to close down, thousands and thousands were without jobs, anywhere.
A small women's textile group, got together and said, you know, lets just walk into the empty closed down shop and take it back and that's what they did--word got out, it caught on, and several other types of factories, the workers did just that. Of course, the Leftists and the Rightists didn't like it and cracked down via police, arrests, murders, you name it,
but the people really had nothing to lose, there was no factories, no work, just empty promises by government corrupt officials and free sandwiches given if they of course, voted for so and so. Sandwiches may quill hunger for a bit, but you can't survive on one sandwich.
Anyway they Took the Production back--there was a documentary on this called Take It Back. Now I haven't checked to see what has transpired since,
I know, for a while they succeeded, I'm sure however, with the help of other nations including the US, the military was brought in, I wouldn't doubt for one minute...but I use this example to show you,
how, while many here may not be working or may be homeless or about to be, how this entire global economy works [and not just imperial USA] via the elites/so forth, against you, against the common masses, so to speak. Most of you are already are aware of this,
but now its going to get worse because you see the thing with selling things on Craigs and at Flea Markets and maybe even in a back alley, or street, there are Already laws on the books forbidding much of these types of economies,
but there was beginning to be some lenience and leeway because of the increase and popularity of Indie type of businesses and women centered economies and coops, etc., and the majority of them, yes were in Textiles, meaning,
clothes, children's stuffed toys, household items, so forth. Targeting children's items was easy, because yes, unfortunately it is necessity, however,
it is how its being done that reaches far beyond just keeping lead away from children. Because the CPSIA law [voted by every single Congressperson and Representative, except for ONE, that I've been told], is far too broad and even includes books,
where it can be a real problem, is that Anything not tested, is after Feb 10, contraband. That means, if you lets say, are homeless, and you find garments by a trash can, many do, it is an alternative economy and you resew them and try to sell them,
you can't. Oh, you can, but now you'll be at risk for selling illegal contraband with fines and jail time. See where this is heading...
those in the retail [small] business say, this law is meant to go after big corporations, not after grandma on the corner.
Ok, that may be true--but lets look at the big picture, the economy works in a trickle down/trickle up, it is said that wealth trickles down, to a small extent that is true, however, what many don't realize is that laws and regulations trickle down far more than wealth. The big man with lawyers and lobbyists and government interests including special interest groups and banks, can find loopholes, the means to afford, they can raise prices [at the cost on consumer's backs and workers], they can lower/slash wages,
you name it, they'll do All in their power to protect their profits and stocks. So, lets say, little folks here are selling garments/children's items and maybe even just resale goods from their homes, consumers including those that Used to be able to afford Gap, etc., can't no longer,
they seek out the man on the street. Do you think for one minute that the big companies are just going to say, sure, not a problem, let them sell, etc.? OF course not,
That is where laws such as the CPSIA lead law will really show its teeth, first it will be Craigslist being warned, allow sales of untested children's items [and that can be very wide in definition] we'll prosecute you and boom,
no longer can you sell there, they aren't going to risk it. Etsy, Indie sites, the corner flea market, you name it, any who could be at risk of going to jail, are now, going to turn the most smallest retailer away. They aren't going to take that risk,
cities will use these laws to enforce to push out undesirables, so forth. Or to use the law to see who is making money off the grid, so forth. There is just so much potential for abuse here that its not even funny,
a good intended law, that has been drafted so broad and so open to interpretation that it will take lawyers and they are already jumping on it. It will benefit the rich,
sure, it will hurt the middle class, the left may say, great, but it will also hurt those at the very bottom, more than the middle class. And these laws cannot be enforced overseas, only in America,
we'll still be getting lead contaminated products, there will still be children forced to stir up poisonous dyes in Morocco, still be girls trafficked all over the world/men/women too, forced and chained to sewing machines and working with hazardous materials and those goods,
will still be on our store shelves.
But more people will be losing jobs as retailers close up shop, more needing services that are already stretched thin, and what few jobs there are, will be more discriminatory with housing, against the undesirables and the poor, to make way for the new poor because thats how class prejudice works in our society.
Therefore, I will be continuing posting on this law and keeping it up on my blog, Modotti Manifesto, and also the effects on working class, working poor, on stay at home mothers who depend on self-employment due to having to stay home/many with sick parents to care for or children with special needs, programs have been slashed and more are being slashed,
just yesterday, the State I'm in, slashed daycare assistance, thats going to force even more women to stay at home...they won't be able to turn to sewing or reselling or they can, but they'll be at high risk for prosecution,
see what I mean.
Anyway, thought I'd keep you updated, also, just to say, these types of laws are very intertwined too with laws against living in RVs and squatter laws and the whole shebang,
its Hoovervilles in America all over again, a deliberate warfare against the poor and mass labor pool, why, whether one is homeless or poor or struggling right on that edge living check to check, or maybe Just above that,
all these matters are of importance because all it takes is one job layoff or one shop to go under or one law and it Does effect us, if not today, tomorrow.
More later,
Solidarity,
Modotti
posted by:
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Denver
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