One of the benefits of globalization, it can be argued, is generosity. More and more people are taking real concerns with their neighbors, countrymen, and people around the world. More and more organizations are setting up donations to send to struggling communities around the world. Even more people are starting to feel they need to help others get all they need to live as well as all they deserve to be happy. Food drives and clothing drives can be found everywhere, from large corporate stores to small home-town city halls. However, though all this may be true, there are still many issues that plague the world. One of these issues is that corporations can and do abuse socio- economic rights in some of the countries they operate in. These corporations have been known to get into struggling third-world countries and leaving them a mess. These countries usually are rich natural resources but lack the technology or funding necessary to extract them. Coal, natural gas, and other precious metals are very commonly found in these countries, which would usually mean that said country is in decent shape. However, negative impacts on both environmental and human rights can be frequently observed. For instance, Chevron’s oil extraction in Ecuador left lakes and rivers in the country filled with toxic waste. Residents who call the polluted area home have accused Chevron’s waste of causing birth defects and cancer. Already struggling areas should not have to deal with added complications. Also, individuals who call Zambia home have accused Vedanta of destroying their land and livelihood. Vedanta has been accused of destroying the country and polluting the water supply with runoff from the Nchanga Copper Mine. Although the Chevron incident took place many years ago, the Nchanga Copper Mine remains an issue to this day. These mines are still operational and there is still pollution happening because of it. It seems as if corporations are being more careful, but that doesn’t change the fact that they are still abusing these small, struggling countries. If it wasn’t for the residents of Zambia and Ecuador speaking up, it is hard to tell what all these countries would have had to endure. These corporations could have dealt some serious damage, even more so than what has already been done. If their voice had not been heard, it is possible that Ecuador could have no clean drinking water. Although these examples are not the most recent, and more corporations are trying to be safer and cleaner, there are still many corporations that are currently abusing both environments and human rights. Poorly managed resource extraction and sweatshops are two issues that the world simply cannot get rid of. When the extraction of coal starts to become “cleaner”, the process of fracking comes to the forefront. Using clean drinking water to extract natural gas is not the smartest or safest thing that we can do, but we are doing it. There will always be issues with corporations abusing rights. However, we must not let that keep us down. We must keep an open eye and let our voices be heard when something is not happening as it should. People have voices that need to be heard.
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