Saving the world one purchase at a time
Thanks to a tangent at bible study tonight i have been asked to post a discussion on among other things discount stores and the ethical issues present when purchasing from these stores or just buying products made in third world companies. The problem as i see it is a very complicated issue. By buying at walmart or target or other cost savers are we being immoral. We as Christians have a duty to help the world and to help "orphans and widows in their distress" James 1:27. The problem comes into play in the circular way of economics though walmart provides cheap purchases for the under privledged does thus increasing their standard of living does it do more damage by paying them 5.15 and hour and not letting them move up the economic ladder. Or by eliminating more jobs in a community than it creates does that help the poor in the long run. Or does the fact that the money goes to the corporate head quarters in arkansas and not the local community like a mom and pop shop in the long run effect the economics of the community as a whole. Or does not buying at these stores or these products does that keep the poor third world kid from making any money. Is it worse for us to boycott and deprive them of any income or to continue to buy and thus put them in horible conditions to work. many questions and im sure you all have many answers. let me know what you think. Me personally i believe that the issue is very complex. I believe that we as a nation should do our best to "convince" discounters to pay fare wages to their works and not necessarily on an american pay scale also i would argue walmart should unionize (as much as i feel the union is outdated in most instances) or at least have the morals to pay competative wages. Would it be so bad to pay a 1.25 for our candy bars so the people working there could have insurance i think not. But its a complicated issue of which i am excited to dialoge with you all about. Just to let you know i am antiwalmart. But to be honest for those of us that dont depend on walmart as our source of income it is very good for us in the economic sense. WHat about morally?
Let the world wide web know
posted by nic @ 5/31/2005 09:32:00 PM
7 comments
7 Comments:
I think this is a great subject to chew through, and I've been becoming more and more sensative to the effects of the system we live in. Right now, regardless of the major corporation, there are definitely a few people getting really rich both from selling products, and through exploiting their laborers. It's really easy for any of us to take a cursory glance and say that there is a problem with the system. What is difficult is taking the longer inward glance and realizing our implication in the state of the system.
We sell out to the system for convenience.
We sell out to the system for cost-efficiency.
We sell out to the system for time-savings.
We sell out to the system for selfishness.
We sell out to the system for addiction.
It isn't like we don't realize there is a problem--we realize there is a problem, but we just ignore it.
It isn't like we aren't responsible. Every purchase we make or don't make has a ripple effect in the whole system.
I talked to one person recently, and they shared a dismal outlook that in the end, the major corporations will run everything and the prices will start going up once they eliminate competition from small local businesses. This person advocated making the most of the low prices now and because the local businesses are doomed anyway. I can't really get behind that mindset.
I'll shut up now...thoughts?
i agree with your friend on the increase of prices eventually why do you think they put walmarts so close to drive out all business then go back and close them eventually. But like you said where do we fit in where do we make the stand do we make our own cloths well were do the textiles come from probably child laborer. and are mom and pop shops any better they buy from the same suppliers as the large companies are we doomed to be stuck in the system in if not how do we get out. geeze.
I agree that this is a very interesting and complex topic that we discussed at the Bible study on Tuesday. I am becoming more interested in international development and hopefully will be taking a class on this topic at the University of Pittsburgh this fall. Now I have to admit that I do go to Walmart. I think for some of us (especially for us students who are living on stipends or student loans), it's a catch-22. I can't afford to buy the clothes at the Gap or Elder Beerman, and so I go to Walmart (and of course Gabe's). I don't know a whole lot about economics and/or politics (although my co-workers at the Survey Research Center have been educating me about politics). I did want to raise some positive things we can do, even if some of us continue to go to Walmart. I have heard (although I would have to confirm it) that Aldi's pays their employees something like $8/hr., which is probably better than at Kroger. Thrift stores are always an alternative to Walmart, and can even make Walmart look expensive (although unfortunately I haven't found decent thrift stores here in Morgantown. In Richmond I could buy almost-new, stylish blouses and t-shirts for very cheap). There's a store called 10,000 villages in Pittsburgh and Richmond (and probably other cities) that sells hand-made things like clothes, pottery, baskets, jewelry, musical instruments, toys, etc. made by people in Third-world countries. The store is actually run by Mennonites and the people who work there are volunteers. They sell these things to help provide a living for these people. (The Mennonites might be an interesting group to learn about - I had been told by a person who had grown up in a Mennonite family that every young person is expected to give at least one year of their life to volunteer service, whether in this country or overseas.)
One question that I have is, though, is the passage that we studied in James about taking care of the widow an orphan really applicable to a systemic kind of socioeconomic oppression, or only to the individual level? (We might not be able to change the whole social structure of the U.S., but if we know an employee of Walmart who is struggling financially or some other way, we can help them out). I'm sure I could go on and on about this topic, but I'll stop for now.
i believe it is applicable in the personal and also in the more broad sense we as a people group christians need to watch over one another thus making it applicable to the masses individually as a single christian we are lest able to make a mass impact but can make personal impacts on the issue that is at least how i see it
Optimize the system and you optimize the subsystems.
Optimize the subsystem and you suboptimize the system.
Think about that one with regard to this subject.
I've been thinking about that homespun idea for clothing. I realize I have no idea how to do it, but that was one of the things Gandhi did with his protest of british imports. He encouraged the people of India to spin their own clothes.
You bring up a great point with regard to the mom and pops, and that's where I am at a roadblock too. All of these stores are getting their goods from the same suppliers typically. So you stop buying at walmart, you are probably still going to be buying similar brands of food, etc. Many companies have multiple brand-lines as well. So you can support a large corporation by buying products of one of its subsidiaries.
I think as much as we can, we may want to start looking into supporting local stuff, and researching some of what we are doing.
It's kind of funny, when we think about the idea of giving an account to God for our lives, we typically don't think about this with regard to our environmental policy, our care for the poor, and our responsibilities in a myriad of other ways.
It's mind-numbing at times if you think about it.
Ah! I posted in the wrong spot! If you want to look at my (Trina) comments about this, please look under "another great night." Then this will make more sense. Bono's thing is data.org (debt, aids, trade, africa).
I'm not for a small peak of ownership. (Picture a triangle with owners on top and workers on the bottom) Wally world and target, etc. don't leave much room at the top for many people. This scares me.
Here are the thrift stores I know about if anyone would ever like to visit them, I'm game. If you know of more, please add them!:
Hospice Care thrift shop-they sort by size! High St., Morgantown
Salvation Army-Beechhurst/Don Knotts (across from Cardello's lighting)
Goodwill-mountaineer mall
Goodwill-next to the uniontown mall, uniontown,pa
Goodwill-fairmont, across the street from Sam's club
Goodwill-Bridgeport exit, next to save-a-lot
The farmer's market is back every Saturday in summer!! This year it's on Spruce St. in the parking lot (sort of across from the library and down a block). I think it is an awesome and affordable way to support local people and many practice organic methods. It's delicious!!!
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