FWIW there were widespread, decades-long boycotts of Nestle due to their baby formula marketing:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1977_Nestl%C3%A9_boycott

>>> That dependency was a large part of Nestle's strategy in providing baby formulae in Africa. They would supply each new mother with - if I'm not mistaken - one month or three month's worth of formulae. Just enough so that she would stop lactating, but require them to now purchase many month's worth of formulae at prices that they really could not afford.

> FWIW there were widespread, decades-long boycotts of Nestle due to their baby formula marketing:

> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1977_Nestl%C3%A9_boycott

So this has been known for 50 years? I'd always assumed this was a much more recent controversy. What's the situation with Nestle's marketing now?

What imperialism and neo-colonialism controlled by european-descended cultures have done to exploit the rest of the world is so terrible that it almost sounds like science fiction, and we in the countries on the taking end mostly manage to avoid knowing about it. It is ongoing.

It's because those countries don't protect themselves from foreign predatory selling. Developed countries have all sorts of restrictions on what their own citizens can import, what can be sold locally, even what free gifts they can accept, to prevent prevent that sort of exploitation. But the common feature of poor countries is that they're bad at self-governing, so they're kind of at the mercy of everyone else. What can other people do about that? Regime change? That's been tried a lot and doesn't work.

I know this sounds cold, but blaming what foreigners do on them is kind of fruitless. There are so many of them waiting to exploit anyone. It's like blaming foreign hackers for hacking your computers or even blaming the weather for blowing down your fence. Yes, it's technically their fault, but you're never going to eliminate those outside forces so you'd better improve your own security.

Not sure why you singled out the ethnicity of the people in those foreign countries since China does it too now.

You need to realize that a lot of this is pushed on developing nations through the IMF and other organizations that force countries to sign extremely poor deals out of desperation.

How exactly do you expect a country to stop stronger countries when they have a weak government, military, social services, and treasury?

You can read a cursory of these issues here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Monetary_Fund#Cr...

FWIW China is doing the same thing as the IMF through its belt and road initiative, that doesn't make it right either.

OK, didn't know it was the IMF's fault.

I know you already declared it "fruitless" but it's worth looking into the decades that the USA and other countries spent using all the political, economic, and military force they could to prevent these countries from protecting themselves from foreign predatory selling, it's probably part of the picture.

"Fruitless" is a funny word when you read about the USA+Dole Corporation wars on South America.

Tribal and religious wars are nothing compared to the wars waged for corporate and imperial interests.

> "Fruitless" is a funny word when you read about the USA+Dole Corporation wars on South America.

North America, mostly; specifically, Central America, which is part of North, not South, America.

You do realize that a common feature of these poor countries is non-stop meddling in their local affairs, especially by the West. If there is a politician or political group that would affect the flow of resources out of said country, then they end up having a regime change or their opposition receives a wealth of arms and/or money.

> It's because those countries don't protect themselves from foreign predatory selling.

Can't do that. You'd have the IMF and World Bank on your backs if you tried to place restrictions on trade. This is a one-way street.

Nestle used the same marketing techniques in every country. In the United States today approx. 70% of babies are fed entirely or partially using formula. If that number surprises you, then maybe that's a hint to check your privilege.

Don't forget that one of the major exports of "European cultures"--including European-educated people from elsewhere--is manufactured outrage.

Making a buck off of poor people is hardly unique to European culture.

> If that number surprises you, then maybe that's a hint to check your privilege.

Has "check your privilege" become so cliché that it's just spewed out where it doesn't make sense? I'm honestly trying to understand what kind of "privilege" leads to one being unaware of baby formula statistics.

The phrase is idiotic and I hate it, but in this case it's presumably about education level, or the ability to breastfeed a baby without having to go to work and have someone else take care of it.

It's just such a weird statistic to flex on. I'm upper middle class, and I'm honestly surprised the number is that low, because pretty much every mother I know has used baby formula at some point. It's not ever anything I associated with class or education.

>Nestle used the same marketing techniques in every country. In the United States today approx. 70% of babies are fed entirely or partially using formula.

I have 4 kids, the oldest is 7. I can assure you, there was no nefarious formula marketing going on when my wife was pregnant.

Also, there is a really bug difference between what was being described in Africa and "a baby partially on formula". There were times when we leaned on formula - and it was beneficial. There are moms who are dependent on formula and it is a good thing.

But let's not confuse those positive sides of formula from Nestlé pushing formula in Africa.

Check my lactation privilege?

Oh no, it's certainly not unique to European culture. The rich of Europe, and of other settler-colonies set up by Europe like the USA, have just been the most successful at it for the past few hundred years, including at extracting profit from most other parts of the planet to the benefit of the European (and European-founded/dominated) parts. phenomenally successful.

It shouldn't lessen your outrage that Nestle is being horrible everywhere. This is the strangest form of whataboutism I've seen.

The comment being replied to is specifically about "imperialism and neo-colonialism". How nestle acts in different countries, in that context, is not whataboutism.