It's almost 40 years ago since
Bob Dylan penned these words, which I actually used in a sermon last summer:
“Well, it may
be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're
gonna have to serve somebody”
But it's almost 2000 years ago since this Lord himself
stated:
"No
one can serve two masters… You cannot serve God and wealth.”
Or Mammon as the King James Version of the Bible used to
say.
These two statements came to mind as it struck me recently
how much we in 21st century North America have sold out to Mammon.
As I put it in my title, we have quite thoroughly commodified life, from beginning
to end. Now, I am no economist, so some might argue with some of what I have to
say. However, as we are becoming increasingly aware, we are running into
problems with this commodification.
Are there any remaining basic human rights or needs that do
not now have a price on them in some way or other? I’m not speaking here of the
details that go into modern human rights codes, which concern mostly
psycho-sociological areas. I am talking about fundamental things like air, water,
food, clothing and shelter. And of course, another life essential, good health,
has long been commodified. However, as was also impressed upon me this week in my
volunteering with the City of Richmond’s Family and Youth Court Committee, even
justice has been commodified.
Now, what do I mean by ‘commodifiction?’ Two on-line
definitions should suffice:
1. the
action or process of treating something as a mere commodity (Google).
2.
the transformation of goods,
services, ideas and people into commodities, or objects of trade…objects of
economic value (Wikipedia).
Indeed, interestingly,
Google shows a graph with the definition that indicates the use of this word
has really only taken off towards the latter part of the 20th
century. That is not surprising, as the concerns I have about the commodification
going on in the areas I mentioned in the last paragraph have really escalated
in that time period.
So, is air commodified? Not
so much yet in North America. However, in parts of Asia, beginning notably in Japan,
and spreading from there, air pollution has some time ago already resulted in
oxygen being sold on the street to help you cope with the toxic air.
I scarcely need to tell you
about water. Most jurisdictions in our continent, too many Indian Reserves
notwithstanding, still provide a service of supplying us with quite
satisfactorily potable water. However, because of our excessive concerns for
our health, we have fallen prey to huge multinationals exploitation of our own
water supplies. Most of us probably know how corporations like Nestle get away
with extracting our underground water resources for pennies and selling it to
us for dollars. I like to sometimes point out to people that one well-known brand
of water tells it all; Evian – spell it backwards. And then we keep getting
reminded by those who stand up for our water rights, or indigenous neighbours
and organizations like the Council of Canadians, that others, like our
increasingly dry neighbour to the south, are eyeing our water and would just
love to buy some of it.
Food? There are all kinds of
monetary issues around food. The value of commercial crops like grains are sold
on futures markets in the stock exchange where they are simply referred to as
commodity markets. Our health fanaticism has again resulted in our being
gullible to all the hype and marketing around natural and organic foods – for a
higher price, of course. Then we have, especially in this country, all sorts of
boards that control prices of commodities like milk and eggs. Sometimes, food
production is subsidized.
Clothing? Seriously – you don’t think commodification
is here too? Anything with a brand on it is always sold at a higher price than
no-name apparel, whether that brand refers to a corporation or is the logo of
some sports team, for example. And if you don’t wear the right brand, well, be
ready for some negative reactions from your insensitive classmates or snobby peers.
When it comes to fashion, shoes and accessories, the sky is the limit. Ladies,
want a little clutch purse for $3,000? My young friend will sell you one. You
probably couldn’t fit $3,000 worth of bills in it. I won’t even begin to go into
cosmetics and all of that. Beauty has been extremely commodified into sales of
billions; what the Creator gave us is no longer good enough.
Now, housing – homes – has become
a serious area of concern. A mere thirty years ago, owning a home was probably
still an average dream of young people. It was just something that came with growing
up and starting a family. Sure, people sometimes made goodly sums by selling
homes in areas where value was going up for some reason or other. However, now?
Things are entirely out of hand in too many part of the world. In our global
village, there are too many people with too much money who think nothing of
plopping a few million down for a house, or a few of them. That used to be the
purview of deep-pocketed ‘developers’ etc. No longer. Before the ink is dry on
the bill of sale, the houses are already being ‘flipped’ for a higher price. It’s
not a home that is being bought. It’s an investment. Indeed, just as on the
stock market or an auction, it’s not uncommon for the house or condominium to
go to the highest bidder, often reaching heights well beyond the asking price. Meanwhile,
those who want and need ‘homes’ get shut out of ‘the market.’
I also mentioned health. In
our country, we try to retain basic health care as a service, not a commodity.
But would you not agree that dentistry – are teeth not essential? – and the
pharmaceutical and related [neutraceutical and supplements] industries are really
dealing at commodity levels? There are also constant forces, again mostly
coming from south of the border, with some notable challenges from within (e.g.
Dr. Brian Day and his supporters here in BC) that would like all of health care
to be more commodified.
While we are talking about
health care, it’s a small step to talk about life. Now, you can pay to start life - to get
fertilized, or inseminated, to have a conceptus implanted in a womb. That’s the
beginning of life. We know that genetic modification is in the wings here too –
for a fee, of course – just as it has long been with food and animals. And if
you think you have lived long enough, or find life insufferable – you can get
help to end it – for a fee.
Then there’s justice. Isn’t
that a right for all? I told my wife yesterday maybe justice should become a
service like health care, along with dentistry and pharmacy. We have had
so-called Legal Aid for some time – government – (now mostly woefully under-)funded.
But we know too well that too many don’t get justice because they can’t afford the
high-priced legal help that might get them their due. Some of the worst abuses
in this area have been our own Canadian lawyers pocketing millions from disenfranchised
and abused, traumatized indigenous people to supposedly help them get their due
in the aftermath of the residential school revelations.
Is there an area of life I
have overlooked? Love? Faith? One could write a lot about how money figures
into those areas in our world too. But you get the picture. Whom do we serve? It’s
certainly not mostly “the Lord.” If it truly was – well, I guess we have to
wait for Him to return to get us there.
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