There seems to be some discontent in the land. The middle classes that don't need to buy anything are shocked by the poor saying that they need to shop. Wheee! Quelle Surprise.
As one of them there shopkeepers what gets really irritated at this buy nothing/boycott Christmas BS, I'll speak my piece....
Buy something. Not just anything though. Buy something really fricking expensive. Made by people making a living wage all along the way. Your version of expensive may be a 4.00 cup of organic, free trade, shade grown coffee served in an independent coffeehouse by someone who is getting paid better than minimum wage, or better yet is a partner in the coop. It may be buying a piece of handmade jewellery. It may be a bespoke suit. The point being that the process of making and selling the item is not exploitative.
Compare and contrast with the same items made at the expense of the people whose labour is being devalued. A cup of coffee from a plantation in Thailand, served by part time minimum wage slaves in a mass merchandising chain like McDonalds for .80¢. A piece of jewellery mass produced in a sweatshop in Thailand, using stones cut in a sweatshop in India, sold in a chain that pays minimum wage. A 5$ t-shirt, and a 10$ pair of jeans from Wal-Mart that were produced in a sweat shop in Malaysia, from fabric produced in a sweat shop in China.
We've been taught for so long that being frugal, and shopping for the cheapest price makes us better people, that we've internalized it. The Calvinist tendency to be frugal has interfered with our own moral compass. The fact is that many people feel morally superior becuase they are not 'paying for a brand'.
The reality is that quite often the so-called 'luxury goods' are a lot less damaging to the world than the cheaper generic goods. I'm not talking about the Tommy Hilfiger level of label, but the Louis Vuitton level.
As part of an industry that is typically vilified by the left, I feel pretty strongly about this.
The people I work with are craftspeople, and very highly skilled ones at that. We are competing with virtual slaves operating out of Asia. It can get pretty discouraging. I have to deal with people who are price shopping, comparing what we do with mass produced products, and seeing no difference, either in the morality of it, or in the quality. I also have to deal with all the twits who come in and yap about how awful what we do is, and how morally superior they are. I mentally note what they wear, and compare it to a mental checklist of how much abuse they are complicit in based on their choice of footwear, branded clothing, and accessories.
We all make choices when we consume. Do we spend more on supporting local businesses, or on helping people in the third world? Do we support the idea of conspicous consumption by supporting companies that have built a brand based on the idea of luxury, or spend less and end up supporting companies that depend on what is equivalent to slave labour.
Even when it comes to such mundane things as grocery shopping, we make these choices. Do we choose the basic bread, or the yuppie bread from the local bakery that costs three times as much, but is made at a local co-op that uses organic wheat?
This simplistic idea of not shopping one day is inane and stupid. What we have to do is make a basic decision of how to spend the money we earn, and base it on how we value our own labour.
(editors note. I swore to myself that I'd finish this post tonight, but got forced into a social drinking situation, so I fully expect to have to come back and clean this post up later. Love you all. Cheers. ;) )
what you describe is exactly what I would promote. Paying the honest value of something, where the workers in the fields earned a living wage, the craftman wasn't driven out of business and the shop owner could keep an honest buck.
What I'm fighting is blind consumption of corporate goods and retailers.
and no one on my site ever said the poor couldn't shop. It would make a lot more sense if the realtively well off stopped shopping and the poor took advantage of the sales.
You should really read more to get the whole drift of the site.
you are way off base.
Posted by: nancy jowske | December 01, 2004 at 03:20 AM