An Interview with Sweaty Mouse

After the October 30 protests at the Disney recruiting session on campus, the Indy had an opportunity for an exclusive interview with Sweaty Mouse:

Indy: What do you think of your famous brother, Mickey Mouse?

Sweaty: Mickey's a good mouse, but he runs with a bad crowd. All those guys like Michael Eisner flashing millions of dollars at him, it's no wonder that he keeps quiet about the sweatshops. I know Mickey. I know he loves kids. He couldn't stand the idea of 11-year-olds sacrificing their childhoods to make shirts with his face on it. All so Mike Eisner can make an extra million bucks he doesn't need. It's enough to make a mouse sick to his stomach (and that's not easy if you know what mice will eat).

Indy: Disney claims that they don't own the sweatshops.

Sweaty: Of course it doesn't own the factories. That's how Disney evades responsibility. It's like somebody paying a hit man to "get rid of a problem" and then complaining, "Why are you criticizing me? I didn't kill anybody. I just happened to hire someone who does. I promise that person won't be killed again." Disney tells these factories exactly what to do, and they enforce the rules. If Mickey's face doesn't look right, they tell the factories to change. But if the health and safety and labor laws are being ignored, Disney looks the other way.

Indy: What do you say to the students who want to work for Disney?

Sweaty: We mice have an expression, "Are you mice or men?" It means, are you on the side of the mice who see the world from the bottom and want to change it, or are you like the men who run the world and decide that the suffering of others doesn't matter. Unfortunately, Mickey has been hanging around men for so long, like that Eisner creep, he doesn't see the injustice he's a part of creating. It's like that song, "Three Blind Mice." I'm trying to get mice like Mickey to open their eyes to injustice, and activists are trying to get students to see how wrong this system is. Disney could pay workers a decent wage and give them hope for a better life, and no one in America would notice the cost. People won't stop to pick up three pennies on the ground. I think they are willing to spend that much to assure a better life for the people who make their clothes. Unfortunately, we can't reason with these corporations, we can only embarrass them. The truth is, Disney only cares about the bad publicity. Disney doesn't give a rat's ass about the workers.