Coca-Cola bottlers “contracted with or otherwise directed paramilitary security forces that utilize extreme violence and murdered, tortured, unlawfully detained or otherwise silenced trade union leaders,” the lawsuit states. It also notes that Colombian troops connected with the paramilitaries have trained at the U.S. Army’s School of the Americas (SOA) at Fort Benning, Ga., where trainees were encouraged to torture and murder those who do “union organizing and recruiting;” pass out “propaganda in favor of workers;” and “sympathize with demonstrators or strikes.” This was made public when the Pentagon was forced to reveal the contents of training manuals used at the school. (For more information, see www.soaw.org, the website of SOA Watch.) The year that the lawsuit was filed, The Coca-Cola Co. made $4 billion in profits and paid its CEO, Douglas Daft, more than $105 million. Coca-Cola continues to rake in billions each year, yet the frightening conditions at the Coke plants remain unchanged. Labor unions and human rights advocates in the United States can stop these atrocities at Coca-Cola’s bottling plants.
The Coca-Cola Company and its products have been criticized by various sources for various reasons including negative health effects resulting from consumption of its products, exploitative labor practices, high levels of pesticides in its products, building plants in Nazi Germany which employed slave labor, environmental destruction, monopolistic business practices, hiring paramilitary units to murder trade union leaders, and marketing unhealthy products to children.
If one were to believe such reports, this might cause one’s sleep to become disturbed. However, imo, one would likely have a clearer understanding of things.
The killercoke site seems to make no distinction between Coca-Cola Company and Coke bottlers. Isn’t a bottler similar to certain franchise agreements; just an independent company that has purchased the rights to bottle/distribute Coke within a certain geographical area?
The reason I brought this up was because I figured it could be used by others to attempt to discredit market anarchist theories. “See what Coca Cola is doing?! A private company doing awful things!”
I don’t know the whole story behind these allegations. However I do know from history that unions themselves are capable of performing some very disgusting, highly destructive acts, and this side of the story is the one usually untold these days. For all I know Coca-Cola may have been very justified in doing what it did, but I do not have enough facts to make this judgement.
Secondly even if it is unjustified it still isn’t a refutation of anarcho-capitalistic theory: Anarcho-capitalists are against all forms of aggression. The state is merely the main target as it is by far the most heinous aggressor in history. However it is not at all pretended that the state is the only aggressor, nor is it held that anything not done by the state is okay.
I once lived in a small little country where the Coca Cola kingpin pretty much owned (and still does) the government. When Pepsi tried to get a foothold in the country, the Coke cartel responded by putting a bounty on all pepsi bottles which were collected and destroyed. After several years, the Pepsi boyz gave up, unable to afford new glass bottles for each filling. Today Pepsi is only available there on the black market when it is smugged in from Mexico.
The other Coca Cola conundrums described above all involve predatory acts of aggression and/or collusion with governing authorities which livertarians do not condone. AnCap society would be far from utopia but a free market would regulate these types of acts far better than a fixed one.
I heard these allegations years ago back when I was in highschool. From my research back then, they were taken to court and proven innocent. I know that might not say much. their standard of living from what i hear is pretty good. They all had cellphone back in the early 2000’s. Mexico has a lot of corruption.
When I’m at home I drink unhealthy amounts of Coke. Not as much as I used to, but still a lot of Coke (at least 3 cans a day when I’m actually home). I’m drinking one as we speak, and I might drink 2 more later.