> What do they think of Phil Knight, those Oregon kiddies? A few months ago,
> I got a call from a reporter at the Portland alternaweekly who sincerely
> wanted to know why people hate him & Nike so much. I gave him about 4 or 5
> good reasons, and he seemed genuinely baffled. Afterwards, Oregonians told
> me that Knight & Nike a revered in the state. Is that true?
>
> Doug
>
I've lived in Oregon most of my life. A person's attitude toward Knight and Nike is basically a political litmus test. Advocates of capitalism and rugged individualism love him (he started his business selling shoes out of the back of a station wagon). The Oregonian (local Newhouse rag) celebrates him, but sometimes editorials are critical of the labor practices. Nevertheless, there are plenty of people around here--especially in the Willamette Valley, where most of the Oregon colleges are--who actively boycott Nike and protest at stores. I think it's a bit of an overgeneralization to say he is "revered" here.
One thing that bugs me about the protests against Nike and Knight: the problem is typically framed by the protesters as the greediness of Knight and Nike, their lack of humanism, etc. Rarely do people bring up the fact that we live in a capitalism system that rewards cooperations for doing business like Nike and would economically punish them for, say, paying a living wage to their workers. Nike is not an anomaly: it is a logical consequence of a capitalist economic system. Even to left-leaning types, this argument is a bit threatening. They'd rather demonize Knight (I guess it's an easy game to play).
Miles Jackson cqmv at odin.cc.pdx.edu