To me, this shifting of responsibility seems like a complicit endorsement of poor labor practices. Perhaps their good will donations are just a way to appease critics—no one wants to pick on companies that give away large sums of money to good causes. But small amounts of good can distort the larger problems that superstores like H&M propagate. In his book Supercapitalism, Robert Reich, a professor at UC Berkeley, takes a swipe at CSR, arguing that it diverts attention away from real policy changes that would truly address global problems—such as establishing fair wages, cutting down on consumption, or ensuring human rights. And it seems to give us a very American way of solving a problem—just throw money at it. Remember when George Bush told us if we love our country and wanted to fight terrorism, we should go out and shop? To me, the ridiculousness of this statement is just as silly as thinking that buying a T-shirt is a personal contribution to solving HIV.
All that said, companies certainly don’t owe it to anyone to be philanthropic. After all, it’s not the job of corporations to give away money; their job is to make it. Even if it’s for PR purposes, companies voluntarily giving away funds can raise awareness of an issue, bring in more money than would have otherwise been possible, and create change. Product Red has donated over fifty-seven million dollars to the Global Fund so far and continues to bring in more and more corporate sponsors. Although it’s had some backlash—a site called buylesscrap contends that shopping is not a solution to human suffering, and that we should donate directly to organizations—most people don’t just donate at will. They might however, buy a shirt from H&M.
PREVIOUS PAGE
