Malia+M’s+2016+OpEd+Article

Hi would you like to buy some... 
 * CAPITALIST COOKIES???**

You see that infamous sweet smile of the Girl Scout at your local Vons, and you know, it's that time of year again. Isn't she so polite, just a little Daisy Scout, beginning her new journey down the road of contributing to... CAPITALISM.

That box, that you bought, is filled with cheap partially hydrogenated oils, which can stay in your body up to months. Those profits she makes, aren't even profits, an estimated 1/5 of sales is given back to the troop, with 20% total sales of Girl Scouts going to buying prizes for the girls that sold hundreds of boxes, which is quite a minority. Sure money does go to funding special events, but they are open to such a small amount of people hardly anyone can get into them. Also, when Girl Scouts does offer a community service activity, it usually is first serve first serve, costs, or both! Is that what dear Juliette Lowe would have wanted? Cheap and quick cookies mass produced and sold to get money back in the system as soon as possible? We are straying away from the original teachings of Girl Scouts, loyalty and community service, more and more with each new money patch added to a vest, with each new product for GS sold in stores. Yet how can you trust me, what gives me credibility on this pressing matter of the Capitalistic oppression many young American girls are facing today? Well I too, am a Girl Scout, but this matter will no longer rest as an ignored injustice. I shall convey the following atrocities I have encountered of being a cog in the machine, being just another cookie in the jar. None of these stories are "make believe", and I am not the only one who has faced these problems before. For all those other Girl Scouts out there, afraid to raise your voice, you are not alone, and change cannot happen without you, stand strong my sister!!!

My troop and I in elementary decided we wanted to raise money for malaria nets in Zambia, out of the goodness of our hearts as Girl Scouts. We raised money by making an adorable “action movie” about fighting against malaria and mosquitoes, and earned enough for 3-5 nets and we felt so accomplished even if it wasn’t a large quantity of nets. We were in the middle of planning to make another movie to raise money when we heard from one of our fellow troops that our local council had heard about our donation and had disapproved! We double checked and sure enough this shocking fact was sadly true. We hadn’t chose to raise money by selling Girl Scout cookies or nut as it would take longer as not all of the profits from sales reach us, and this had evidently disturbed our local council. They wanted to know if we had already sent off the money for the nets and when we said we had the told us they would let it slide again, but that we were not allowed to make any sort of profit by any activity of our own without selling some sort of Girl Scout product such as cookies or we would not be allowed to use our money for troop related activities, even donations! It took awhile for me to comprehend why what we did was so wrong, then I realized it wasn’t wrong, they just wanted more income!

In terms of cookie sales, Girl Scouts has applied too much pressure on raising money to scouts, almost to the point where it is a constricting tourniquet. Over the years the emphasis to sell more and more until has reached a peak this year where girls are no longer taking safe actions to sell cookies, and even some bullying has begun to emerge. Just two weeks ago, my troop leader received an email with from a very heated mom about cookie sales techniques. She was furious about the way troops had been selling by stalking cars in parking lots with wagons of cookies, or lowering the cookie box prices to entice more customers! And these were young girls, elementary and early middle school girls as a matter of fact! Yet the big Girl Scout capitalists continue to pressure these young girls, which the grumpy housewife-troop-moms relay to them in almost a bullying manner from name calling to just plain old calling out the girls who don’t sell a lot. Someone I know (who shall remain anonymous) was a victim of this, and finally the TROOP MOM and her bullying and her all the pressure drove that person and her friends away from that troop. It’s no longer about learning money skills or raising troop money it has become a competition spurred by Girl Scout Capitalism and it is damaging the Girl Scout name. So next time you see that sweet smile of a Girl Scout, asking if you want cookies, don’t buy the cookies, make a donation, and show support against the Capitalist cookies and support for a better alternative fundraiser. This capitalist down turn of a once pure intentioned organization is staining the Girl Scout name and must be stopped!