We Idolize those, who fought and died for everything we live for. Oh, the irony!
"Ernesto Guevara de la Serna (June 14, 1928 – October 9, 1967), commonly known as Che Guevara or el Che, was an Argentine-born Marxist revolutionary, political figure, and leader of Cuban and internationalist guerrillas. As a young man studying medicine, Guevara traveled roughrough[›] throughout Latin America, bringing him into direct contact with the impoverished conditions in which many people lived. His experiences and observations during these trips led him to the conclusion that the region's socioeconomic inequalities could only be remedied by revolution, prompting him to intensify his study of Marxism and travel to Guatemala to learn about the reforms being implemented there by President Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán." (wikipedia)
You walk down to the cafetaria to hang out with your buddies, wearing a t-shirt with "Che's" infamous mug. I hear you talking to your friends as they point out the obvious, " Yeah, man! he's my hero, he stood against injustice and inequality, he's so my role model". And then you direct their attention to your newest Pumas (Made in China - by Huan, who gets paid $0.50 a day). You zip up your American Eagle hoodie, the one you purchased last thursday (Made in Pakistan - by Suleman, 9 years old, lives in a foster home, gets paid $0.15 for a day's labour, hasn't had a shower in week, and can't even recall the last time he went to bed with a stomach full of food).
But here you are, a self-proclaimed protege of "CHE". Oh, how you'd make him proud if he were alive to witness today. Please don't look so shocked at the revelation of Suleman and Huan's wages. It's not a secret, or an underground propaganda against the multi-billion dollar corporations. Hard facts, pretaining child labour are right infront of your eyes. Billboards, websites, magazines, newspapers, TV shows and so much more. All you have to do is, look.
You just decide to ignore this ugly side of the world you live in, because...well! it's convenient, right? It's easier to just change the channel when a program discussing such a sensitive issue is on. It's so much more easier to simply flip over to the celebrity news, or the sports section when an article about the inhumane treatment of sweatshop workers, child labour or child prostitution is published.
Hey, wait now! How's child labour and child prostitution even on the same page, you ask. Well, how is it not?
A 11 year old working in a sweatshop from dusk till dawn for a mere $0.20 cents a day, is surely interested in it for a career, eh? Sad reality of it is, the 11 year old has no choice. Circumstantial submission, remember this term.
Now, replace the "sweatshop" in the paragraph above with a "child prostitution ring". You get the idea.
I'm not saying, don't enjoy your life because there's so much poverty, so much cruelty and injustice in this world. You are privelleged enough to live in a society where you're not forced to work in a sweatshop for a fraction of a dollar at an age when you shouldn't have a care in the world. Just don't ignore it.
Don't promote child labour. It's no different than promoting child prostitution. Just, don't pretend to idolize a man who stood against everything you stand for. Don't say you want to be like Che when you could easily pass off as the spokesperson for (insert your favourite brand), looking like a carbon copy of (insert name of a celebrity) - minus the jaw dropping good looks, the money and glitz. That's not what Che stood for.
For every $100 you dish out on the newest Nike sneakers, donate $20 to someone who hasn't even got a pair of slippers to walk in. For every $400 you spend on a Louis Vuitton purse, donate $50 to a girl who's dying of pneumonia because she didn't even have a shirt to cover her belly.
Really, is that too much to ask?
