How 1 Person Can Make A Difference Against The Big Companies!
Don’t think that ‘someone like you’ can’t make a bigger company have to make changes.
In today’s society there are plenty of ‘little poeple’ out there fighting for a larger cause – so don’t think that you couldn’t be one of them. Not everyone wants to take on something huge – but if you do, then take the following as inspiration.
The Film CRUDE (2009) is all about a massive ongoing court case between the indigenous tribes of the Ecuadorian Amazon and Texaco (which was brought up in 2001 by Chevron).
30,000 people from the area filed a class action lawsuit against the huge oil company in 1993 for polluting their land. They wanted them held responsible for causing human health issues, animal health issues, and environmental health issues through systematic ‘spilling’ of oil into the natural watercourses and penetration into the ground from continuous overflow and dumping of toxic petrochemical waste over the past decades.
And who took on this case for the people? A newly qualified young lawyer called Pedro Fajardo who lives close by.
He had grown up watching his environment being destroyed and poisoned by the petrochemical company, and decided to work really hard towards fighting his case as soon as he was able. Being from a poor family he worked extra hard to get good grades and so was able to get sponsorship from a Catholic School to take his law degree. This case was his first case taken on after graduating!
How Is This Relevant To Me?
Well, what are you passionate enough about to make a real difference? What things have you thought were ‘unfair’ or ‘unjust’ in your local area or around the world?
You can make a difference if you just make sure you are in the right environment to make a difference – and you make sure you can do the best job possible to achieve it.
For example a friend of mine found out that a property close to the entrance to her children’s school was going to be converted into 8 flats – with the drive emptying out into the street where her children walked every morning. She found out about the application and what it meant for the local area and then produced a short print-out of facts to other parents – raising her concerns over increased traffic so close to children.
She managed to get enough signatures of complaint from other concerned parents that the application was refused – although she wasn’t too happy about the photo of her they put in the local paper!
I know this is only small fry compared to the years long battle in CRUDE, but every small step can lead to a larger one. And every other person out there fighting a case is winning for truth. As Pablo said in the film; Texaco have a harder job than him fighting the case as he is just telling the truth – they are having to think of a lie to cover that truth every time!
How Did He Do It Then?
Of course it wasn’t just a self-funding attorney from Ecuador that is taking on the entirety of the $200 billion annual revenue multi-national oil-producing Chevron – he had friends!
When you are fighting a true case like this – where the evidence speaks for itself – you will always find other people fighting for similar causes that will chip in – making your voice louder.
For example Pablo had won the attention of a US attorney and his board of funders – and they believed in his cause. Whether they were really in it for the Ecuadorian people or the huge sums of money doesn’t matter – they were there when he needed them.
Other charities also stepped into assist, including Trudie Styler and Sting who work for their own humanitarian charity the Rainforest Foundation Fund – as well as articles in magazines such as Vanity Fair. Of course the best voice for his cause was when this documentary was made by Joe Berlinger (and make sure you watch it) – as the world can now see first-hand the people involved and the damage they are having to live with.
So don’t think that when you start something you are alone – you can always find others willing to make a difference too – and together you can make it bigger!
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