Walmart and 112 Dead Factory WorkersHow many more tragic disasters await so multinational corporations can offshore jobs, exploit deplorable working conditions overseas, and continue filling the corporate-consumerist troughs? 112 Bangladeshi workers perished in a factory fire last week the cause is still under investigation. And as the tragedy made its way across international news headlines, it quickly became clear the factory was producing clothing for mega-retailer Walmart in the United States. Associated Press (AP) reported in their article, Walmart Admits Bangladesh Factory Was Making Clothing For Retailer Before Fire, that: The report also stated: Regarding the conditions of the factory, AP reported: Walmart isnt the only mega-corporation who has offshored American jobs to dungeons and deathtraps overseas Apples relationship with Taiwans Foxconn is another example. Operating in mainland China, where windows must be locked and safety nets deployed below to prevent waves of suicide attempts that sweep across the oppressed, underpaid workforce (also here, here, and here) as they churn out iPads and iPhones to sate Americas consumerist hunger, Foxconn has become a notorious name in the generally under-reported world of exploited labor. Ironically, many who tout themselves as liberal and interested in human rights, can be found tweeting, updating their Facebook accounts, e-mailing, and discussing their pet humanitarian causes on iPads and iPhones created by the modern equivalent of slave labor. Walmarts questionable supply chain is not a new topic, it is simply back in the news because of a particularly tragic repercussion of its habitual disregard for human life. Campaigns to force Walmart, or Apple, or any other large multinational corporation to reform their behavior has only caused them to bury their abuses deeper, further from necessary oversight. It is only tragedies like the fire in Bangladesh that momentarily bring the truth of Walmarts continued, willful negligence to the surface. Many people are quick to call for a boycott and this is indeed a superb idea. But it is an idea that will never take hold unless it is taken to the next level by doing so, it will address the myriad of problems Walmarts business model has created, and not just human rights abuses. Boycotting Walmart must be done in tandem with a concerted local effort to create citizen-networks, clubs, hackerspaces, and makerspaces to pool resources together and begin replacing permanently, large multinationals like Walmart, not through mere protests or policy changes, but through local innovation and entrepreneurship. These local networks will produce small businesses and jobs, leveraging technology while giving local communities exactly what they want, and a direct hand in the manufacturing process, not merely a chance to belly up to the corporate-consumerist troughs filled daily at Walmart. With all real solutions, effort, education, organization on a local level, and persistence will be required but it is a price that is at the same time a benefit, and when compared with the continuously deteriorating economy and social fabric of Western society within the current paradigm it is mired, it seems like a small price to pay, and one that seems it should begin being paid immediately. RELATED ACTIVIST POST ARTICLE (UPDATE) Tony Cartaluccis articles have appeared on many alternative media websites, including his own at Land Destroyer Report, Alternative Thai News Network and LocalOrg. Read other contributed articles by Tony Cartalucci here. 