Fear Factory

Economists use the concept of externalities (or external costs) to refer to those costs that that are paid (usually against their will) by parties other than those who engage directly in a purchasing contract.

You know how you love a good bargain? Well, those low prices are not something borne out of the generosity and kindness of corporations. The costs are transferred, and ultimately paid for by the horrible working conditions of workers in some remote corner of the world, by the low wages such workers receive, by their deteriorating health, by their inability to form unions who might protect them, by the depletion of their natural resources, you get the picture.

The money you don't pay a corporation is the same money that corporation takes away from some kid in a dark and damp factory who doesn't have a choice, a voice or a say. So, as Jon Stewart shows in the following clip, you might want to think about all those unnecessary gadgets you carry around, and the real costs that producing them and giving you a lower price ultimately represent.


And when it comes to food, external costs are also paid by the poor animals who must endure nightmarish living conditions on a daily basis until they are cruelly slaughtered... all so you can enjoy some steak or a hamburger that will eventually give you diabetes...