167 points

It’s one banana, Michael. What could it cost, $2?

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54 points
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in 15 years when we can’t grow bananas anymore this meme will finally die

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15 points

Or when people figure out that bananas actually cost ~20¢ each and not $2, lol

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5 points

Why wouldn’t we be able to grow bananas in 15 years?

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38 points

Banana Blight/Panama Disease.

All bananas are essentially clones as they have no seeds and banana trees are propagated from offshoots.

In the 1950s a fungus caused massive die off of banana trees leading to the effective death of the entire Gros Michel cultivar. We have overcome this set back by introducing the Canvendish cultivar which at the time was resistant to the fungus and was a commercially viable plant.

We now face a resurgence of the fungus which has found a way to infect the Canvendish cultivars. Being clones, they have no way to develop a defense as we can’t interbreed the banana plants to produce resistance to the fungus. This time round we don’t have a readily replaceable cultivar thats commercially viable if the Canvendish cultivar fails.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_disease

For reference the Gros Michel is still grown on a boutique scale and a 5 lbs box of Gros Michel bananas costs US$127 excluding shipping.

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14 points

Maybe it’s a 4lb banana?

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14 points

It has an organic sticker on it.

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6 points

Organic bananas are actually very reasonably priced. Usually only about $0.10 a pound more.

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9 points

I believe the implication is that $2 would be a fair price to pay for a banana if it weren’t for imperialism exploiting the workers where they grow

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You guys pay almost 2$ for a single Banana? Looks like the people on both sides get fucked by the rich.

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When I worked at Walmart, bananas were the number one selling item at $.68/pound. Then, for a week, someone set the price to $.68/banana. So a whole bunch went from like a dollar and some change to like $7 on average. Instantly killed the sales until they went back to per pound. When I was asked to change the price sign, I asked if it was a mistake and they told me no.

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20 points

I live in Maryland. I can get like 5 bananas in the middle of winter for $2.

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21 points

Fun fact: At least here in Germany, supermarkets almost lose money on bananas. They can’t raise the prices because the price of bananas is so ingrained into people’s minds that an increase would implicitly signal “expensive store” even if all the other prices stayed the same.

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6 points

They’re like $0.35 at the grocery store here. They’re even cheaper in more affordable areas.

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3 points

Yeah that’s also “under $2”

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3 points
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When someone says “under $2”, I’m thinking like $1.89, not $0.35. Although you’re right, and it’s technically correct.

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27 points

I’m pretty sure countries without histories of imperialism can also purchase bananas…

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80 points

Benefiting doesn’t require you or your country’s past participation.

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11 points

Yeah just like I didn’t personally terrorise indigenous people into moving away, I am in fact benefiting from terror against indigenous people by living on Turtle Island as the offspring of settlers.

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-21 points

My main point was this isn’t imperialism. Words mean things, man.

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39 points

Of course it is. How do these foreign companies own such large amounts of land in these countries? (Hint: US-sponsored coups). Why are these countries producing large amounts of a single crop via monoculture practices instead of solving for the nutritional needs of their own population?

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8 points

Then what is it?

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3 points

What county had zero history of that?

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4 points

“Maybe one of the smaller countries… like the Vatican! … Wait.”

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0 points

Is this meme aimed at everyone? Doesn’t feel like it lmao.

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-1 points

I think you can buy bananas in Luxembourg or Bhutan

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1 point

All bananas are the result of imperialism. Look up the banana wars. So many workers dead, all in the name of Dole, cheap bananas, and extracting every last cent of profit.

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1 point

Some countries with imperialist histories grow bananas too

What if a non imperialist buys a reasonably priced banana from a former imperialist?

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27 points

Pretending this is the case, I would prefer not subjugating entire peoples for cheap shit.

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11 points

“I don’t see how I benefit from imperialism” typed the misguided asshole trying to make people feel guilty into his phone ironically powered by a lithium battery that was mined via slave labor provided by (drumroll) imperialism.

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5 points
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Deleted by creator
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Microblog Memes

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