0136 - Fungible - 2020.05.11 |
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Comment: "Fungibility" is one of those concepts that seems obvious, once you're introduced to it. Of course some things are interchangeable. Obviously, steel is steel, sugar is sugar, as long as it meets the standard criteria, it doesn't matter where it comes from. Why didn't these economics eggheads just say "interchangeable"? But when you fully grasp the concept, you realize how difficult - if not impossible - it is to buy things ethically in today's late-stage-capitalist economy. Don't want to support a war in the Middle East or a pipeline going through First Nations land? Well, too bad, the fuel at the pump is just untraceable hydrocarbons. Don't want to support overseas sweatshops? Sure, that label says "made in the USA", but that's just where the shirt was assembled. Who wove the cloth, spun the thread, dyed the fabric? Does "made in the USA" include prisoners working for pennies per day? Oh, that chocolate bar says the cocoa is "fair trade", does it? Great. What about the sugar? What about the almonds? What about the ink on the wrapper? At the end of the day, the only way to ensure ethical commerce in a world of fungible resources is to enforce regulations on industries as a whole (hopefully, on a global level), otherwise, you're always consuming the product of the product of the product of the lowest bidder. This is why, of course, you should, whenever possible, support non-fungible art like webcomics and robo-cuddling, products with as short a supply chain as possible. I can promise you, if you support me on Patreon, that I will not use your money to put myself into a sweatshop. |
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