On Tuesday morning I read an interesting interview in Fast Company with Jeff Swartz, CEO of Timberland. Apparently Swartz has been a significant advocate for workers’ rights, recently cutting ties with a manufacturer in China for repeated human rights abuses. Here’s how he responded to a question about the “don’t ask don’t tell” circle between retailers and consumers when it comes to human rights

The only thing that stops the circle is faith. I have a religious feeling that guides me. [Swartz is an observant Jew.] I can’t show you the scripture that relates to the rights of a worker, but I can show you text that insists upon treating others with dignity. It says in the Hebrew Bible one time that you should love your neighbor as yourself, but it says dozens of times that you shall treat the stranger with dignity.

The power of transformation isn’t in somebody else’s hands; it’s in ours. There’s a story I like to tell about a woman whose only possession is a parakeet. She puts the bird in the window so she can share its song with the kids walking by. But these two knuckleheads come by; they live in the same neighborhood, the same circle, but have a different worldview. “We have nothing, so we will take your bird.” They stand in front of her and ask, “Is the bird alive or dead?” If she says alive, they will kill the bird, and if she says dead, they will let it fly away. Her answer is: “I don’t know. It’s in your hands.” It is her way of putting responsibility back on them.

I’ve never purchased anything from Timberland and probably won’t be in the market for boots anytime soon… but still, I appreciate the man’s commitment.