Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4 — Thursday, January 23, 2020
Alanna Berger
Brittany Bowman
Zack Blumberg
Emily Considine
Cheryn Hong
Krystal Hur
Ethan Kessler
Mary Rolfes
Michael Russo
Timothy Spurlin
Miles Stephenson
Joel Weiner
Erin White
Lola Yang
ERIN WHITE
Managing Editor
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Editor in Chief
EMILY CONSIDINE AND
MILES STEPHENSON
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EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
EMILY ULRICH | COLUMN
How to make exercising as addicting as social media
L
ast Wednesday I got
out
of
my
morning
lecture
early,
and
although part of me was inclined
to head to the library and study
for my organic chemistry exam,
another part was begging to enjoy
what was left of the day. It was 40
degrees outside and there was not
a cloud in the sky. You don’t get
many days like that in the middle
of January in Michigan. I decided
to go on a quick run between
classes to enjoy the weather.
I took Geddes Avenue into
Nichols Arboretum and then
ran down to the Huron River.
I was definitely on a runner’s
high that morning. “Ladders” by
Mac Miller was playing in my
headphones, and I could feel my
pace speeding up. As soon as the
bass dropped, I reached an uphill
part of my run. It was as if Spotify
was synchronizing the music to
my route. I ran up the hill at a
blazing pace, and I knew this run
was going to be a personal record
on Strava.
Strava is a social network
for athletes, and although it’s
geared
toward
running
and
cycling, the app lets you measure
your athletic performance in a
variety of activities including
rowing,
surfing,
ice
skating,
kayaking, rock climbing, skiing
and more. Once you choose your
type of workout and click the
start button, the app will begin
tracking stats including distance,
time, speed, route, elevation gain
and average pace along with
many other features. It is a great
way for athletes to track their
training plans, but also a fun way
for those who are new to working
out to track their fitness goals.
The platform allows you to record
your favorite statistics and post
them along with a photo to round
out the full fitness experience.
Your followers can give your
workout a “kudos” which is
equivalent to a “like,” as well as
comment on your post.
Strava, unlike other social
media apps, emphasizes personal
goal setting and celebrating your
own fitness accomplishments. On
Strava, you have the opportunity
to connect with close friends
who are also tracking their
workouts
and
support
each
other in obtaining fitness goals.
It provides a way to feel the
support of your community, even
when your workout buddies are
not physically there with you.
The aspect of community
in fitness is important. In a
study on medical students, it
was found that individuals who
work out in a group have a lower
stress rate and better quality
of life than those who work out
alone. Strava could serve as an
alternative when you can’t have
a group with you, but still desire
the encouragement a community
provides. It can be difficult to
find inspiration to push yourself
when you are working out by
yourself.
The
intersection
between
social
media
and
fitness
is
growing in popularity so much
that the term “fitspiration” has
emerged. However, this type
of inspiration is not always
beneficial. Many times, it can
lead to low self-esteem or body
image issues when comparing
oneself to fitness trainers, athletes
and other health gurus that you
most likely will never cross paths
with in real life. I have caught
myself multiple times scrolling
through Instagram and seeing
posts about the latest cycling
trip,
backpacking
expedition,
triathlon or exotic yoga retreat
that celebrity athletes have just
accomplished. Meanwhile, I am
questioning why I just ate that
cinnamon pizza bread from MoJo.
Let’s admit it, we all have those
days when we feel like doing
absolutely nothing. After class,
we would rather head home and
curl up with a cozy blanket and
Netflix to relax instead of going to
the gym. Your dedication to those
New Year’s resolutions might be
starting to wear off, and that’s
okay; it just means there’s a need to
find motivation elsewhere. Fitness
apps, like Strava, can provide that
motivational factor. When I go
on Strava and see how active my
friends on campus are, it gives
me the ambition to work out and
produce stats worthy of “kudos.”
Sure, maybe I’m addicted to social
media, but at least it’s in a way that
drives me to be more active and
take part in a healthier lifestyle.
Emily Ulrich can be reached at
emulrich@umich.edu.
NOAH ENTE | COLUMN
Taiwan elections reflect power of Hong Kong protests
E
arlier
this
month,
Taiwanese
voters
went to the polls to
decide the future direction
of
their
country’s
historically
hostile
relationship with the
Communist
Party
of China (CPC). At
their
hands
were
options
to
move
toward some form of
greater reconciliation
with
President
Xi
Jinping
and
his
government, or for
Taiwan to remain as
nationally distinct as possible.
On Jan. 11, the people of
Taiwan emphatically decided
to maintain their independence
from the CPC and continue their
fight for legitimacy. As a result,
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-
wen won reelection amid an
unusually large voter turnout
and is set to continue her defense
of
Taiwan’s
autonomy
from
Beijing’s far-reaching tentacles.
Tsai Ing-wen has proven to be
a revolutionary figure who spoke
out against a 1992 understanding
reached by the CPC and the then-
ruling
Taiwanese
government
that a “one country, two systems”
framework would be implemented
someday, and Taiwan would
not
declare
itself
officially
independent from China. Tsai Ing-
wen has vocally expressed that
such an agreement would not be
beneficial to Taiwan. Her running
mate has hinted at moving toward
independence, though Tsai Ing-
wen has denied having such an
objective.
The ongoing protests that have
rocked Hong Kong since last
spring are sure to have played
a prominent role in the votes of
millions of Taiwanese citizens,
as well as Tsai Ing-wen’s policy
toward China. The months of
unending
civil
and
political
unrest in the city stemmed from
exactly the type of system that
Taiwanese voters clearly decided
to avoid. The Chinese Nationalist
Party, which ran against Tsai Ing-
wen’s
Democratic
Progressive
Party, seeks to bring Taiwan into
a political framework of greater
Chinese
influence,
satiating
China’s leaders’ quest of bringing
Taipei ever closer to the arms of
the CPC. With the “One China”
policy living on to this day, the
People’s Republic of China is still
trying to bring Taiwan under their
control.
In recent years, China has
worked especially hard to put
pressure on Taiwan and spread
fear throughout the island. Beijing
showed great support to Han Kuo-
yu, Tsai Ing-wen’s main opponent,
and has demonstrated approval
for developing Chinese hegemony
over Taiwan’s democratic system.
However, China’s efforts have
not been limited to
political
messaging.
Over the past few
years,
the
Chinese
military has created
a series of artificial
islands in the South
China
Sea,
actions
which the government
has maintained are
necessary
in
order
to
defend
Chinese
interests. These naval
installations pose a threat to any
country which also claims the
right to freely operate and travel
in the area. This particularly
includes Taiwan, which would
be threatened by the proximity
of China’s navy should a violent
standoff arise in the future.
The South China Sea is one
of the most vital international
shipping passages in the world,
and
if
China
continues
its
aggressive development of islands
and insistence that the sea belongs
solely to China, the future of free
trade — not to mention Taiwanese
autonomy — will be put at massive
risk.
Amid
this
frightening
geopolitical reality, Taiwanese
civilians can look to Hong Kong
as an example of what could
happen if they accepted a slow
yet decisive move toward China’s
domain. In recent headlines,
Taiwanese donors have supplied
Hong Kong with 2,000 gas
masks, air filters and helmets:
an act of solidarity in the face of
shared regime repression. They
see the young men and women
brandishing
gas
masks
and
braving police forces to stand and
defend their democratic system.
They witness Hong Kong’s weak
leadership doing little to assuage
the fears of its people. Above all,
they can see the unbearable toll
the protests have taken on the
semi-autonomous city for nearly
a year. When considering a future
for their children, Taiwanese
voters rejected such a path, at the
end of which their high school
and college students would be
called upon to take on a brutal
regime alone. That is not a fate
that any parent would wish upon
their children.
As
such,
Tsai
Ing-wen’s
reelection
represents
the
strength and resilience of the
Taiwanese people in the face
of growing pressure from the
CPC. She will surely face great
challenges
in
her
quest
to
achieve, maintain and enhance
Taiwanese national identity and
possibly independence, but the
polls indicate that her people
believe in her to advance their
interests.
Going forward, it will be
interesting
to
monitor
the
behavior of the U.S. vis-à-vis
an empowered Taiwan and an
emboldened China. For decades,
the U.S. has followed Beijing’s
“One China” policy, which states
that countries must only have
official diplomatic relations with
the PRC and not the “breakaway”
and
“illegitimate”
Chinese
government of Taiwan. Yet the
U.S.
has
quietly
maintained
a
relationship
with
Taiwan,
one that has included billions
of dollars in arms sales, since
the Taiwan Relations Act was
passed by U.S. Congress in 1979.
Despite
the
understanding
reached by former President
Carter with Beijing, in which
U.S. Presidents did not officially
speak with Taiwan’s leaders,
President Donald Trump has
had noteworthy contact with the
Taiwanese government.
Following
the
Taiwanese
election, countries perceived by
Beijing to be getting too close
to Taipei have been harshly
punished.
Most
notably,
the
government in Shanghai has
cut off all relations with Prague
after the Czech Republic’s capital
signed a sister-city agreement
with Taipei and not Beijing.
As a result, Trump’s policy
surrounding
the
decades-long
conflict will surely have practical
implications for both the U.S.
and Taiwan, especially as Trump
works with President Xi to
stabilize U.S.-China trade.
However,
the
discourse
surrounding Taiwan somewhat
appears to be changing, for the
benefit of the U.S. and Taiwan.
Both because it is just, and because
it can be used to curb China’s
economic and political behavior,
the U.S. should lead the change
in the world’s approach to the
island that, like Hong Kong,
is simply fighting to keep its
autonomy
and
democracy
afloat.
ALLISON PUJOL | COLUMN
Not your mother’s Banana Republic
I
t
was
always
a
great
challenge for my mother
to
coax
my
younger
self into eating fruits and
vegetables. These days, I am not
a particularly picky eater. After
learning to subtly incorporate
fruits into my favorite foods,
I now put blueberries in my
pancakes and strawberries in
my yogurt with glee. But I once
had a terrible aversion to fruits
and vegetables, save one — the
banana. To this day, my love
for bananas far surpasses my
appreciation for any other fruit.
The
banana
plant
grows
quickly and cheaply in tropical
areas — like those located in
South and Central America.
Even
though
my
sunny
home of South Florida sees
the occasional banana plant
(which flowers but is not quite
a tree), it is difficult to produce
bananas in the majority of
the United States. By the end
of the 19th century, the U.S.
economy
responded
to
the
domestic demand for bananas
by importing the fruit from
the countries where it grew
naturally. Corporations such
as United Fruit Company and
Cuyamel Fruit Company —
ancestors to the now ubiquitous
Chiquita banana — established
strong ties with Latin American
governments in exchange for
hefty loans and expansive land
ownership.
In
Costa
Rica
alone,
thousands of workers died from
disease or the effects of a hostile
climate during the construction
of infrastructure to support
the U.S.’s burgeoning banana
imports. It was during this time
that the term “banana republic”
was coined, which refers to a
country that has an economy
dependent on the export of a
single,
usually
agricultural,
good.
At Trader Joe’s in the U.S.,
bananas are priced at 19 cents a
pop. Meanwhile, for many Latin
American countries, the export
of bananas — and the intensive
manual labor that allows it —
is economically essential yet
deeply
exploitative.
Banana
farm workers earn a meager
living and often face hostile
environmental and economic
conditions where they work.
The tropical heat is brutal
and the hours are long, and
Chiquita’s program for workers
includes a stipulation that if
they quit or are fired, Chiquita
can seize their home. Female
laborers
often
face
sexual
harassment or threats of rape
from their superiors, and the
threat of being fired is often
sufficient to prevent anyone
from speaking out or resisting.
For those who work on lower
rungs of the banana industry
in
Latin
America
today,
there is little opportunity for
redress.
Labor
inspections
are spotty at best, largely
because government officials
are overburdened with huge
caseloads and few financial
resources.
Colombia
even
closed its Labor Ministry from
2002 to 2011.
There is little hope that the
industry will properly regulate
itself
and
ensure
human
rights standards for its own
workers. In the decades since
the inception of corporations
like
Chiquita,
organizations
such as Business for Social
Responsibility (BSR) have even
lept at the opportunity to use
widespread worker abuse for
profit.
In
a
State
Department-
funded report released during
the Obama administration, BSR
analysts chirped about the need
for “worker empowerment” in
Honduran banana farms such
as Finca Tropical. “Plantation
owners,”
the
report
sagely
suggests, are often pressured by
international certifications to
facilitate a “one-sided discourse
where managers fail to prompt
worker participation.” We’re
looking at a business that
brands
itself
on
socially-
conscious
consumerism
but
refuses to criticize the evident
exploitation
of
its
clients’
workers.
Perhaps the biggest concern
that still remains 10 years after
the report’s release: What does
a huge corporation like Chiquita
really do when workers come to
their managers with a request
to be paid more than $14 for
12 hours of high-risk intensive
labor?
So, what should we do
as U.S. consumers? Should
we
stop
eating
bananas?
That’s one potential way to
personally protest the injustice
that laborers face. Still, the
individual
choice
to
avoid
bananas won’t break the supply
chain or resolve the business
model that has perpetuated
exploitation in the first place.
Maybe I’m biased because I
really do love bananas, but to
me, the problem lies not with
the fruit but the structures that
commodify and restrict it.
There
are
plenty
of
organizations
that
are
passionate
about
the
fight
against worker abuse, especially
that which occurs in Latin
America today. Human rights-
focused
legal
organizations
have engaged in the fight against
corruption in corporations like
Chiquita, and many agricultural
workers do claim membership in
unions despite their employers’
best attempts to silence them.
Supporting these groups won’t
promise immediate and perfect
resolution to the dangers that
workers face in Latin American
banana farms, but it is certainly
a start.
Allison Pujol can be reached at
ampmich@umich.edu.
China is still
trying to bring
Taiwan under
their control.
Noah Ente can be reached at
noahente@umich.edu.
Strava emphasizes
personal goal setting
and celebrating
your own fitness
accomplishments.
NOAH
ENTE
KEVIN MOORE JR. | CONTACT CARTOONIST AT KEVJR@UMICH.EDU