Mark Rickling:
> There's a certain argument, expressed often on this list, that there is
> something amiss with the claim that the American working class has grown fat
> off of the exploitation of the Global South, given the tiny percentage of
> trade with the Global South in total output. I've yet to see a convincing
> rebuttal to this critique.
It might help thought if moralization were set aside when thinking about exploitation. Collective guilt presents us with a difficulty in moral(ization) logic, but almost nobody balks at the idea that people may act economically in a collective manner, and possibly so as to exploit or take advantage of other people. As we know from analyses of racism and sexism, the exploiters or advantage-takers may do their thing unconsciously or even against their preferences.
"Grown fat" may be excessive, but if the U.S. population uses 30% of the world's resources and consumes 30% of its production, while comprising 5% of its population, something's going on, one would think.
-- Gordon