It's one banana, Michael. What could it cost, $2?
I believe the implication is that $2 would be a fair price to pay for a banana if it weren't for imperialism exploiting the workers where they grow
You guys pay almost 2$ for a single Banana? Looks like the people on both sides get fucked by the rich.
When I worked at Walmart, bananas were the number one selling item at $.68/pound. Then, for a week, someone set the price to $.68/banana. So a whole bunch went from like a dollar and some change to like $7 on average. Instantly killed the sales until they went back to per pound. When I was asked to change the price sign, I asked if it was a mistake and they told me no.
I live in Maryland. I can get like 5 bananas in the middle of winter for $2.
Fun fact: At least here in Germany, supermarkets almost lose money on bananas. They can't raise the prices because the price of bananas is so ingrained into people's minds that an increase would implicitly signal "expensive store" even if all the other prices stayed the same.
Pretending this is the case, I would prefer not subjugating entire peoples for cheap shit.
But bananas are :D
Oh, Banana Co
Unless, of course, you're a member of the banana Republic that produced the banana. Then $2 is the largest fortune you've ever seen and your hands get chopped off if you get caught eating a banana when you were supposed to be picking it for the sheltered, ignorant shit head that wrote this tweet.
isn't cheap food and goods imported from around the world a benefit for those that live in the US and other rich countries?
It's horrible for 90%+ of the world, but for those 10% they get a huge benefit and the few thousand owners get even more money for their dynasties.
They are harvested green and inedible.
It's a banana Michael, how much could it cost? $10?
Image Transcription: Twitter Post
NOT Tom Hiddleston, @MusingsHistory
"I don't see how I benefit from imperialism" he says as he peels a Dole banana that he can buy literally any time of year for under $2
So what you're saying is, you hate cheap bananas?
The cost to humanity is anything but cheap.
The imperialists would disagree as they see a whole lot of value in it. Sure millions suffer, but hey, a few people get rich and that's really what god wants, isnt it?
I prefer "Itchy Gorilla" brand bananas. Sure they smell funny but you can get a bunch for under a dollar on the street.
The United Fruit Company has been defunct for almost a century by now.
I still recommend buying fair trade Bananas if you can afford it, but eating a banana helps poor people in third world countries more than eating an apple, which doesn't send a single cent to the third world.
And second, why does the OP consider eating bananas exploiting banana farmers, but eating apples is not exploiting apple farmers??
Edit: thanks for the downvotes you dumb fascists.
I actually grew up in a banana producing country. All the leftists shitting on our produce are enemies of the people. People in poor third world countries desperately need money and selling their produce is how they earn money.
Yes, buy fair trade, that actually gives a better price to those farmers. But even without fair trade, buying tropical products helps tropical farmers.
UFC is just chiquita now it's the first sentence on wiki
Buying bananas to help people in developing countries is like shopping at Walmart to help the employees. The vast majority of that money isn’t going to them.
That's really short sighted and screws over people.
With any product, the vast majority of money goes to rich capitalists.
But for a banana farmer, all their money comes from selling bananas. Sure, short term they could switch to manioc or rice or tobacco or some other tropical produce, but if no one buys those products, they have no income.
Longer term, they try to give their kids education so that the next generation will not be banana farmers, but that's only possible if they have enough money to send kids to school.
Buying fair trade Bananas is the best thing we can do to help them, aside from charity. Buying normal bananas is the second best thing that can be done.
Because bananas are grown in third world countries where many mega corps are controlling many aspects of the food growing and trading.
While apple farmers, you can litterally go pick them yourself by the price set by the farmer.
This is more nuanced than that, but that's the gist.
The point is in no way is a cheap banana in new York, in the winter, a proper reflection of the "fair cost it should be" for the farmer who worked to make it
Buying from shitty companies that exploit a country won't help people on that country.
Those companies do not inject money on the cities they enter. They bribe politicians for advantages, destroy the natural resources, and go as close to slave work as they can while paying no taxes.
OP didn't mention apples.
Which tells you how large of an impact they had if their legacy is still with us.
Are the apple farmers living and working in a third world country? Getting as little as possible?
Yeah pretty sure it's mostly racism that makes people assume all banana producing countries are run by rich white men, also the assumption that people in those countries don't want to engage in trade like everyone else does.
Reality is bananas are currently cheap because they grow well and transport easily, also because cargo is very cheap thanks to giant shipping containers. The same reason goods made in the rest of the world are available to people in banana farms - the fact no one has any reason to doubt you're from a banana producing country is testament to the benefit two way trade has made us all. Your phone is probably newer than mine, you can use it to look up all the same information and entertainment as me living in one of the most colonialist countries - things have changed so much for the better and pretending it hasn't is a major flaw in a lot of people's thinking at the moment.
And of course that doesn't change history but moving forward is far more important than whatever it is the people angry at bananas want us to worry about.
Yeah that's not what imperialism is.
The United Fruit Company literally building a private army and overthrowing the government of Honduras isn't imperialism?
I think if you asked them it would just be considered good business /S
Over a hunderd years ago.. but I get the point. Also not the OP you were replying to before.
There is some pretty specific history around Dole, the US government, and Bananas.
Recommend getting your hands on a copy of Bananas by Peter Chapman if you would like to learn more!
The post didn't mention the US
It absolutely can be... Did you think he was offering a concise definition of imperialism as "when cheap year round produce?"
Never trust a statement from someone who says 'literally'.
They used “literally” correctly though…
Makes it a useless word in that case, actually. <-- like that one
Paradox detected.
