RED Campaign Debate on Easterly's Blog
Here's the initial post by Easterly:
And here's the response from Starbucks that he posted:
Can Starbucks Buy a “Saving Africa” Image for a Nickel?
And here's the response from Starbucks that he posted:
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Comments
"but this particular blog is a miss."
... if she's referring to that particular post, or the blog in general. if the latter, than seems like she might be indicative of the larger problems (aid laziness, western arrogance, colonialism, feel goodiness, red-washing, etc.) that easterly is trying to address.
I definitely hope that it is the former, but she did not do herself a favor by being unclear.
In theory, I'm all about doing business more ethically and using profitable companies to bring connection points between the wealthy and the poor. To me, that is the start of a more sustainable process than simply organizing fundraisers for certain causes where the hat is passed around.
But, at the same time, 'red-washing' and simply buying (especially cheaply) a reputation as an ethical company is a definite contradiction in terms.
The question raised for me, that is of interest, is what place is there, if any, for companies such as Starbucks to be involved?
and.. similar to greenwashing.. im not sure "red-washing" is a terrible thing. inefficient and morally questionable, yes. but also draws real awareness to issues and gets people who might never otherwise in the habit of contributing.
Personally, I switched to a RED card earlier this year when they first came out, but don't want that to be my (or anyone else's) excuse to not be any more knowledgeable or involved than that.
booyah!
(i kid.. i only do it cause it's cheap).
Sounds like a great program--I had actually hoped to do something similar when I was in college working to plant almond trees in East Asia. Instead, I got married that summer . . .