GIF is starting on the 15th of September. It will be the first GIF of the year, and the first ever GIF for the Class of 2011-2013 to Li Po Chun United World College this year. We are presenting on "fair trade vs free trade" I decided to look at how developing nations view fair and free trade. Something that was stuck in my mind was how free trade was not possible for many developing countries like Pakistan. I am not exactly sure why I was so convinced but I think it had something to do with reading newspapers of terrible working conditions, employees firing workers because they asked for higher pay, and hidden production going on in the name of 'fair' trade to get more revenue from goods. I had planned to include this in the presentation to give a completely different view to the idea of 'fair' trade, and how ethical it is. In Pakistan's case, it did not seem ethical at all to me, and instead seemed to make matters much worse. However, in GIF, one needs to include both sides of an argument, and that is the beauty of it. Even if sometimes we as human beings becomes biased, which I think is our natural instinct, experiences like GIF help us to mantain an open view towards issues, and to try not to lean towards one argument. Thus, while reasearching, I came across this website: http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/producers/dried_fruit/mountain_fruits_pakistan/default.aspx It is the example of a company in Pakistan called Mountain Fruits (Pvt) Ltd. and how fair trade has been very successful in Pakistan and for the labour. I am often too critical, and I know I will not take this information to be completely true immediately. I will try to find out more about this and whether it is wholly true . I guess that is something that TOK teaches me: to constantly question knowledge in search for the truth. However, it provides an alternative view. It gives me hope. For myself, for Pakistan, for Pakistan's future. I can see fair trade working, or at least some sort of improvement in the working conditions for workers. However, I do not know the answer yet. There is a dilemma attached to this issue. It's like the dilemma with giving money to beggars. If I don't give money to the children beggars, in the short term they might just die on the roads with no money to buy food with. However, if I don't give money to the children beggars, they might die, and in the long run their parents might get convinced that beggary will not work and that they need to work, and not use their children to beg and earn money for them.
Is it unethical? Does reason wipe out ethics? It makes me think... For now, I will continue to research, and hopefully somewhere along the line, I will get answers..
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