Firestone And The Warlord This Is A Television Frontline Show From PBS And ProPublica
Extra Credit
Maria Cabrera
December 12th, 2014
Firestone and the Warlord (This is a television Frontline show from PBS and ProPublica.)
What an incredible story. Great Job, Frontline! It seems the seeds of the destruction were planted in the mid 1800's, when America installed formally enslaved people in Liberia. It seems that the rise of Charles Taylor, or someone like him, was inevitable.
This is a story of exploitation, racism, and greed. If the US never engaged in slavery, the killing, injuring, and raping of thousands/millions of people may never have happened in the US and in Liberia. If only Firestone would have treated its Liberian employees better. If only Firestone cared enough about the lives of all the Liberians, maybe it could have been a force for systemic and real change. If only Firestone was not so interested in money and profit and more interested in humans, perhaps it could have been even more profitable by taking care of the people. Instead, Firestone engaged in a system not much better than the slavery of America. Yes, it paid its workers, but barely enough. They took natural resources and exploited the labor from other humans to make money for its shareholders at the expense of the people of Liberia. Because these people have brown skin and they had natural resources, it was easy for the world to ignore the plight of the Liberians and to justify Firestone's treatment. Exploitation at its finest.
The issue of large corporations who play enormous economic roles in developing countries is a complex one. It is undoubtedly true that Firestone, having little sense of responsibility to anything but its own economic benefit, materially supported Charles Taylor's forces.
I wish Frontline would have investigated more about the implication of the US and other governments in setting up Charles Taylor, Firestone, and the ruling descendants of the enslaved Americans. Where did Taylor get the guns? Did the US government get him out of jail? Why didn't the
Maria Cabrera
December 12th, 2014
Firestone and the Warlord (This is a television Frontline show from PBS and ProPublica.)
What an incredible story. Great Job, Frontline! It seems the seeds of the destruction were planted in the mid 1800's, when America installed formally enslaved people in Liberia. It seems that the rise of Charles Taylor, or someone like him, was inevitable.
This is a story of exploitation, racism, and greed. If the US never engaged in slavery, the killing, injuring, and raping of thousands/millions of people may never have happened in the US and in Liberia. If only Firestone would have treated its Liberian employees better. If only Firestone cared enough about the lives of all the Liberians, maybe it could have been a force for systemic and real change. If only Firestone was not so interested in money and profit and more interested in humans, perhaps it could have been even more profitable by taking care of the people. Instead, Firestone engaged in a system not much better than the slavery of America. Yes, it paid its workers, but barely enough. They took natural resources and exploited the labor from other humans to make money for its shareholders at the expense of the people of Liberia. Because these people have brown skin and they had natural resources, it was easy for the world to ignore the plight of the Liberians and to justify Firestone's treatment. Exploitation at its finest.
The issue of large corporations who play enormous economic roles in developing countries is a complex one. It is undoubtedly true that Firestone, having little sense of responsibility to anything but its own economic benefit, materially supported Charles Taylor's forces.
I wish Frontline would have investigated more about the implication of the US and other governments in setting up Charles Taylor, Firestone, and the ruling descendants of the enslaved Americans. Where did Taylor get the guns? Did the US government get him out of jail? Why didn't the