Viral Marketing of Humans
Be warned. Africa is officially on the radar screen.
In a recent BusinessWeek magazine, “Embracing Africa” was listed under the Best Ideas section, and the Hollywood stars lined up to shine the spotlight on the continent’s woes. Bono, Chris Rock, Madonna, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and more brought their serious star power to the last of the unexploited continents. Other captains of industry followed. Sir Richard Branson began Virgin Nigerian Airways. China hosted a summit of African leaders in Beijing.
We are officially on the verge of exhausting our human resources.
I have been waiting for this news for years. Growing up, the story was the same, only the continents were different. It was almost a game. Turning over the many toys and products that passed through my hands trying to guess the origin of their birth. Back then, “Made in Japan,” “Made in Taiwan,” “Made in Mexico,” “Made in Korea,” were the many markers. Now it seems to be “Made in China.” And it appears as if in the not too distant future, that marker will be “Made in Africa” (pick your particular country of exploitation).
And exploitation it is. I am shocked that the exploitation of the cheap labor in Africa has taken so long. Perhaps all the woes and unrest those stars have called attention to - AIDS, Darfur, etc – has prevented the developed countries from approaching these undeveloped countries sooner. But now, it appears as if we have nowhere else to turn for our cheap labor. The rest of the five inhabited continents are officially off the map as Asia is officially entering the tail end of its harvest.
That leaves only one place to turn – Africa.
Soon we will be reading about the sweatshops of Africa, and given the heat there, they may actually take on a literal meaning too. The poor, unorganized, forgotten people of Africa are about to be harvested for their labor, just as its rich mineral resources have been harvested over the years. And that isn’t all bad. As with every continent where the developed countries have exploited the undeveloped, the standard of living has always risen. Wealth, albeit relative, follows exploitation. In fact, it may be this new attention and exploitation of Africa that saves it from itself and the assumed self-destruction of the path it is currently on.
But the exploitation of Africa isn’t what worries me so much. At this point, we all need to be grown-ups about expoitation and admit that that is how we humans behave. Shame on us. Truly. You’d think that after chewing our way through 5 continents, we’d get it right, or at least more right, by the sixth.
No, that is not what worries me. What worries me is where will we viral humans go after we have used up the last of our cheap resources? What cheap labor force will sate our hunger for ever increasing cheap products?
As is always the case at moments like this in history, there is typically one answer that rises to the challenge – technology and human ingenuity. It is amazing what we humans are capable of when we put our minds to it. Unfortunately for us, we only put our minds to it when the situation before us has reached a crisis point. So, once we have exhausted Africa and the last of our cheap labor here on Earth, I am sure a new technology will emerge that breaks through our current limitations.
And here is where this line of thinking gets truly spooky. Are you ready for the next incarnation of science fiction, or “science future” as I like to call it? Are you ready to live alongside robots providing you with all the creature comforts we humans desire? Ready or not, here it comes.
Africa is the last wall of defense before the robotic world rises up . . . and that wall is about to be breached.
In a recent BusinessWeek magazine, “Embracing Africa” was listed under the Best Ideas section, and the Hollywood stars lined up to shine the spotlight on the continent’s woes. Bono, Chris Rock, Madonna, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and more brought their serious star power to the last of the unexploited continents. Other captains of industry followed. Sir Richard Branson began Virgin Nigerian Airways. China hosted a summit of African leaders in Beijing.
We are officially on the verge of exhausting our human resources.
I have been waiting for this news for years. Growing up, the story was the same, only the continents were different. It was almost a game. Turning over the many toys and products that passed through my hands trying to guess the origin of their birth. Back then, “Made in Japan,” “Made in Taiwan,” “Made in Mexico,” “Made in Korea,” were the many markers. Now it seems to be “Made in China.” And it appears as if in the not too distant future, that marker will be “Made in Africa” (pick your particular country of exploitation).
And exploitation it is. I am shocked that the exploitation of the cheap labor in Africa has taken so long. Perhaps all the woes and unrest those stars have called attention to - AIDS, Darfur, etc – has prevented the developed countries from approaching these undeveloped countries sooner. But now, it appears as if we have nowhere else to turn for our cheap labor. The rest of the five inhabited continents are officially off the map as Asia is officially entering the tail end of its harvest.
That leaves only one place to turn – Africa.
Soon we will be reading about the sweatshops of Africa, and given the heat there, they may actually take on a literal meaning too. The poor, unorganized, forgotten people of Africa are about to be harvested for their labor, just as its rich mineral resources have been harvested over the years. And that isn’t all bad. As with every continent where the developed countries have exploited the undeveloped, the standard of living has always risen. Wealth, albeit relative, follows exploitation. In fact, it may be this new attention and exploitation of Africa that saves it from itself and the assumed self-destruction of the path it is currently on.
But the exploitation of Africa isn’t what worries me so much. At this point, we all need to be grown-ups about expoitation and admit that that is how we humans behave. Shame on us. Truly. You’d think that after chewing our way through 5 continents, we’d get it right, or at least more right, by the sixth.
No, that is not what worries me. What worries me is where will we viral humans go after we have used up the last of our cheap resources? What cheap labor force will sate our hunger for ever increasing cheap products?
As is always the case at moments like this in history, there is typically one answer that rises to the challenge – technology and human ingenuity. It is amazing what we humans are capable of when we put our minds to it. Unfortunately for us, we only put our minds to it when the situation before us has reached a crisis point. So, once we have exhausted Africa and the last of our cheap labor here on Earth, I am sure a new technology will emerge that breaks through our current limitations.
And here is where this line of thinking gets truly spooky. Are you ready for the next incarnation of science fiction, or “science future” as I like to call it? Are you ready to live alongside robots providing you with all the creature comforts we humans desire? Ready or not, here it comes.
Africa is the last wall of defense before the robotic world rises up . . . and that wall is about to be breached.
Copyright 2006, Rich Largman, All rights reserved
posted by EvolutionUS | 10:43 AM
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