Illict Trade

After watching Illicit: The Dark Trade on PBS, I walked away feeling very unsatisfied with what our world is offering and instilling into the minds of the impressionable.

I know my feelings are huge generalizations, but it’s incredibly sickening to see all the corruption that takes place around the world and how greed clouds the hearts of these people.

Those in developing and undeveloped countries know no other way of life. They don’t know their rights, they don’t know what else the world has to offer them… all they want to do is survive and take care of their family. Those involved in the illicit market take these people’s hopes and dreams and exploit them. These unknowing individuals then live through life thinking that they have no other choice. As one man in the video put it, “If you don’t sell drugs, how can you eat?”

So, how do we reverse this problem that has become all encompassing?

With extensive and extremely intricate networks that carry out these illegal trades, it’s quite simply hard to just say, “Stop.”

By no means do I have the knowledge or background to propose a solution to this problem. But, I do believe that change can happen by educating those at the bottom of the chain – the consumers, the laborers, the jobbers, the buyers. Most of us don’t know where our money goes when we buy a knock-off Prada bag, pirated DVD’s, and even as the video mentioned, kidneys. The laborers and the in between workers sometimes do not know what they are making or the extent of the pain they are inflicting across the world. By taking away the customers, who will buy their products? By taking away the laborers, who will make their products? And with no one buying and no products, where will these people get their money from?

We are not perfect, so I know that this world will never be perfect.

But, we are all equal and deserve to be treated so.