Who' s responsible?

I just finished reading Illicit, a book about the black market's role in the global market and how the two are inextricably linked on certain levels. While an enlightening read that exposes many things we probably all suspect (or should suspect), I feel it fails to address the role of the individual. One of the claims of the book, and I feel is very accurate in the globalize world of today, is that we are all involved at some level in the trade of illicit items. I consider myself to be a law-abiding citizen but have done a number of things that are by definition illegal and facilitating the illicit trade. But what can one do when you are breaking the law but you don’t know it. Maybe the people cooking dinner for you are illegals smuggled in to have a chance at a better life but will never get it because they are being held in debt by their transporters. You don’t know when these things happen. This is where the book fails to address how the individual can play a role in policing the global market. The author did explain the role of governments, NGOs, and even what corporations are doing. But for being a book that addresses social issues, it doesn’t address what the members of societies can do on an individual level.

Most importantly, I think we can educate ourselves and also demand better education for others. How can we make decisions about our daily lives that will affect the illicit and licit trades if we don’t know what we are doing? Education isn’t just about learning to read and write although it does start with the basics. It also means understanding how the decisions we make impacts those around us (society, of whom we are all members). Every society has cultural norms that govern how individuals engage and in general, these are usually not of malicious intent. Yes, it is impossible to know how far into the network our daily lives will carry us but being as responsible an individual we can be given the information we have is really the best thing we can do. While the people we elect and the laws they make play a role, our daily decisions accumulate to do just as much, if not more. So while drug enforcement agencies are going to continue to fight the supply, as long as we demand it, supply still find a way to meet the demand. Pirated CDs and programs will still exist so long as people are apathetic about it. The gray area between the illicit and licit trade has to be patrolled by law enforcement but also by you and me.