A message for Mothers' Day

[bohemiancoast]

Eventually, South Africa's apartheid system grew too much for the 'civilised' world to tolerate, and the country was collectively shunned until they sorted it out.

We have a country in the world, a rich successful country, where many adults are enslaved. They are owned as property and are not allowed to do the sort of ordinary things -- like walking out alone, or driving, wearing what they choose, meeting friends -- that we take for granted. They do not have the vote. They have no control over economic assets and their marriages are arranged.

It's not good enough to say 'but they like it that way'; actually, there's plenty of evidence that this isn't true, and even if it were true for the majority, that's not good enough. It's like saying 'because most women prefer to have long hair, we'll ban short hair'.

We need to act politically to shun Saudi Arabia.

Comments

[alexmc.livejournal.com]

Even if you had a car you wont be able to shun their oil because I don't believe you know the source of the petrol at the pumps. There is no guarantee, for instance, that Q8 petrol stations serve Kuwait oil.

I don't know that financial sanctions against Saudi Arabia will work, but making their society more visible to the outside world is a good start.

[filkerdave.livejournal.com]

In fact, given the fungibility of crude and the mixing that goes on, it's entirely likely that you've got Kuwaiti or Saudi oil in your tank.

I wish that weren't the case.

[necturus.livejournal.com]

I believe Citgo is owned by the Venezuelan state oil company, so Citgo stations probably sell gasoline from Venezuela. But who knows?