POSITIVE & NEGATIVE MILESTONES

by Michael Douglas Carlin

Humans are amazing creatures. The development of the computer is but a single milestone in the evolution of human thinking and accomplishment. With every milestone come positive practical applications that move humanity to a new level. Negative milestones are also attained. Humans also created computer viruses.

Now every computer system, out of necessity, comes standard with anti-virus software.

The average human, faced with a situation of whether to acquire something wanted or needed with a questionable origin is easily swayed by the temptation of a bargain. Additional questionable origins might include items made in sweatshops with slave labor, in countries that abuse civil rights or in countries that allow businesses that contaminate the environment and counterfeit products.

This is the dilemma that America finds herself in today. Our need for cheap goods is greater than our conscience to protect the rights of foreigners, Mother Earth or copyright holders. Encouraging theft by purchasing stolen goods might not be good in a local community, as that theft begins to escalate and spill onto those who benefitted from it. Bargains today from sweatshops, human rights violators, polluters and counterfeiters may not be such a good deal in the long run. The consequences are coming home to roost. Offshoring all semi-skilled and non-skilled jobs has cost America an enormous amount of wealth. Offshoring all manufacturing has left America vulnerable to the whims of manufacturing countries that supply products without any recourse if there are defects or toxins. Offshoring has left America vulnerable at the highest national security levels.

I was managing a studio in Valencia during the 1992 riots in Los Angeles. One of the stages had a low budget film shoot, and many of the crew had taken up residency on the stage. The shoot was for a few weeks and any form of legal action to stop the squatting would have taken much longer than that. So, it became easier to wait for the shoot to end than to pursue kicking the crew off the stage. When the riots broke out, I had already agreed to purchase a film for a friend that was out of town making a movie. I had around ten thousand dollars in cash for the purchase. I circled Studio Film and Tape for 45 minutes before parking, running in, and getting a receipt for the cash. I witnessed Fredericks of Hollywood burning in the background, and I also saw rioting and looting. I got out of Hollywood as soon as I could.

The entire film crew that was living on the stage disappeared during the riots. When they returned, it was with vanloads of electronics that they had looted from inner city electronics stores. They had seen people on television looting and decided to join this profitable venture. Obviously, there are clear laws against theft and purchasing stolen goods. I wasn't shocked to see people who were working on a low budget feature rush off to steal. What did shock me was that ordinary citizens in Valencia lined up to purchase stolen goods and take advantage of a good deal in violation of the law. What were the odds that they were going to get caught? Probably pretty slim. I don't think many of the looters were captured and prosecuted either. I know some, who got on the local news and bragged about their newly acquired stuff, were eventually arrested and publicly prosecuted to make a statement, but there were simply too many participants to prosecute them all.

It is important to examine why it is illegal to steal. If that type of behavior were allowed, it would eventually mean the breakdown of our entire system. Pretty soon, even the people who purchased stolen goods would come back to an empty home, as all of their stuff became the target of the latest theft and bargain on the streets. It would be very difficult for businesses to remain afloat, as they coped with increasing losses due to theft. They would choose to invest their capital elsewhere to avert the risk of theft. We clearly need the laws that curb this type of behavior, and, more importantly, citizens need to respect these laws and fear them.

The problem today is that citizens and companies do not respect the laws and circumvent them. When the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) cites businesses that pollute, instead of complying, they simply offshore their operation. The damage to the Earth continues, America loses jobs, and consumers support bad behavior. This is also true of companies that enable governments to abuse human rights by offshoring their manufacturing for cheap labor. If these laws are continually circumvented, then humanity could hang in the balance, as this leads to the breakdown of society.

I was in the inner city the other day. I had a meeting down there and found myself eating at an El Pollo Loco. After a few minutes, the meeting was interrupted by a man selling DVDs. He had all of the latest movies that are in the theaters. He was selling these DVDs for $5.00 each. Clearly, this is another type of theft that is going on in America today. We all see the FBI warnings on the movies, but few cases are prosecuted, and the penalties are so much less severe than drug trafficking that there is a major incentive for criminals to carry out this type of crime rather than sell drugs.

The counterfeiting is not just happening with our motion picture industry. Any product that you can think of today is very possibly being knocked off. The International Chamber of Commerce estimates that this counterfeiting is costing businesses $600 billion a year.

What can be done about it? Not much is being done. Unfortunately, law enforcement budgets are being squeezed to the point that they can afford to go after only the low-lying fruit. A case that has all of the elements in place has a possibility of prosecution. Most of the criminal activity is going unchecked.

Offshoring pollution isn't the answer. Offshoring human rights violations isn't the answer. Offshoring piracy and counterfeiting isn't the answer. Offshoring manufacturing isn't the answer. Controlling our supply chain from the energy we need all the way through to the finished products is the answer. Renewable energy is the foundation for a clean and productive America. Controlling our supply chain isn't a luxury; it is a necessity as we protect our nation's security interests.

When all of things are equal, free trade is a tremendous thing. All things are not equal, and our unfair trade is causing pollution, human rights violations and counterfeiting. Humanity may hang in the balance, but legislation to save humanity may be just around the corner. Riotous behavior cannot be supported, and it cannot be tolerated. The behavior that we as Americans support is the behavior that will continue.

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© 2014 Michael Douglas Carlin. All Rights Reserved.