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The Brazilian farm workers exploited to harvest an everyday ingredient (www.bbc.com)

submitted 7 months ago by recreationalplacebos@midwest.social to c/news@beehaw.org

8 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Carnauba wax is a product you may not have heard of, but you have almost certainly consumed it - it is added to sweets to stop them melting, to pills to make them easier to swallow and as a thickener in lipstick and mascara.

Workers in Brazil's poor north-eastern state of Piauí rely on harvesting wax from carnauba palm trees to earn a living. But the power is in the hands of big business who, authorities say, are turning a blind eye to exploitation.

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[–] jarfil@beehaw.org 2 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

another industry that can’t seem to survive without unpaid externalities

I call BS on that.

Look at what the guy is saying:

the boss, Edmilson da Silva Montes, has turned up. He is angry he has been caught.

"[...] The costs of producing this wax are more than what I receive."

Gislene hands him a fine of $30,000 (£23,700) [...]

Edmilson is adamant he is doing his best, despite this being the third time he has been caught.

If the industry truly couldn't survive without slave labor, then the owner wouldn't keep doing it... after getting fined 2 times already!

What's more likely, is the industry being highly profitable, to the point that a $30K fine is just the cost of doing business. Just another greedy b* wanting to make as much as he can squeeze out.

[–] acockworkorange@mander.xyz 0 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

I’m not pitying the industry, that’s how you read it. Any industry or business that can’t survive without unpaid externalities should die.

Clearly the fine is smaller than working within the boundaries of the law. If they’d all switch to working legally, it’s likely the clients of carnaúba wax would switch to a different product.

Likewise, mankind would move away from oil if all externalities were accounted and paid for.

[–] jarfil@beehaw.org 0 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

I didn't read it that way. What I'm saying is this article doesn't show whether the industry can or can not survive without unpaid externalities, it only shows that the fines are way too low to be a deterrent. It also seems like there is room to spend at least some extra $30K on reasonable salaries and habitation, and still make a profit.

Likewise, mankind would move away from oil if all externalities were accounted and paid for.

That's what they used to say in the early 2000s about "carbon offsets": make the externality accounted for, and... well, we can see how that one is working out, can't we?

[–] acockworkorange@mander.xyz 0 points 7 months ago (1 children)

True, it doesn’t show that. A leap of logic on my part.

Carbon offsets assumes players would play fair, but the whole system was rigged from the get go.

[–] jarfil@beehaw.org 1 points 7 months ago

Rigged is one part, people playing the system is another... but even IF we took it all at face value, no rigging, everyone playing fair...

What's the goal corporations think people want them to aim for? Being "carbon neutral"?... WTF even is that; we need to become "carbon negative", to reverse the damage that's already been done, not just go on polluting and pay someone else to hopefully clean up some of it, maybe, some day.

The public shouldn't accept anything less than "we buy twice the carbon offsets of our emissions" from corporations... but no, they show up with "planning to become carbon neutral in just 25 more years", and the public is like "oh cool, that extra pair of sneakers I don't need, is so eco-green"... 🤦