Activist gives 'Earth Week' talk

Sporting blue jeans, a green T-shirt and a strong New York accent, activist Kevin Danaher spoke passionately last night to around two dozen people about global economic and environmental injustice to mark Earth Day. Danaher -- the author of seven books and the co-founder of the non-profit organization Global Exchange -- talked in the basement of Steinberg-Dietrich Hall about the need for environmentalist and humanitarian action in the capitalist system. Danaher's talk, named after his latest book, Corporations are Gonna Get Your Mama, was the keynote event of Earth Week, five days of programs to raise awareness of environmental issues sponsored by the Penn Environmental Group. Danaher lamented the fact that "success in life is determined by your relationship with things, not the quality of your relationships with other human beings." Punching his arm with a fake syringe, he chanted, "More commodities! We've gotta have more commodities!" But our worship of material goods harms others more than just ourselves, Danaher said. He cited statistics showing that the wealthiest 20 percent of the world is responsible for 86 percent of global consumption, meaning that millions starve as a result of international trade engines committed to profit. A child dies needlessly of hunger every three to four seconds, Danaher said, snapping his fingers rhythmically. "That's just wrong." In a world where "a tree standing has no value? until you kill the tree and turn it into a marketable commodity," the environment is also doomed to suffer, Danaher warned, pointing to the elimination of 150 million-year-old sea turtles by environmentally-unfriendly corporations. Danaher and his colleagues have been orchestrating grassroots efforts to stop companies from exploiting natural and human resources. He is currently involved in a $1 billion lawsuit against 18 garments retailers, including The Gap, for alleged labor code violations, such as the use of foreign sweatshops in producing garments with labels that read "Made in the U.S.A." If Americans were more aware of the transgressions made in the name of profit, there would be a greater outcry against such practices, Danaher said, "because the Americans are basically decent people." Students who attended the event greeted Danaher's educational messages with enthusiasm. College of General Studies freshman Chris Taylor said he was inspired to hear that "people have the power to make the change." But Earth Week organizers were disappointed at the scant turnout for the event. "It's disgusting when 1,200 people can go and try to find out how to become the second-richest man in America and only a small amount care to find out how people and economics work together," said Michelle Weinberg, a Daily Pennsylvanian columnist and co-chairperson of Penn Environmental Group, referring to Wednesday night's speech by billionaire financier Warren Buffett.

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