what evils do you contribute by sustaining?
8/2/18 8:11AM
I always flinch when someone uses the phrase “innocent civilians” when referring to American citizens present for an incident implemented by foreigners. No, they may not have had anything to do with the incident at hand, but do they contribute to sustaining America? More specifically: did they spend money to grow brands breaking the backbone and scraping at citizens of other countries at the cost of mass production and $3 bottles of soap?
When considering how much of an impact each consumer has in the first world, really children, the homeless, and impoverished who really can only afford the cheapest, convenient options, appear to be the only blameless ones, dragged along by the systems with no significance in power or say ( M O N E Y ).
While cohosting The View in 2001, Lisa Ling spoke about the September 11 attack suggesting that before seeking revenge, viewers consider why the US would have been targeted in such a way. That did not sit well with a little more than a few people. Not to say the following is directly related to 9/11, but the information is out there in terms of the American strains on economic livelihood throughout the world. At the cost of first world convenience we further aggravate the state of 3rd world countries. The True Cost is perhaps the most encompassing composition when exposing the effects of fast fashion. The documentary breaks it down to the point of cotton seeds being genetically modified to keep up with the demands of fast fashion, leading to toxic customized pesticides to deal with the infected soil, which leads to poisoning the water and environment in villages of cotton farmers causing extreme birth defects of children being born.
Thrifting may be a bit more work than skipping into 1 of 2,200 Zara stores, but you could find something of much better quality for lower prices and know you’re not contributing to the horrifying neglect of the factory workers Inditex exploits. There are also some really great men’s winter coats at Goodwill. Even the amount of textile waste we produce by throwing out clothes freely/inundating Goodwill with rags ends up in landfills in various countries such as Bangladesh.
For those who don’t absolutely need to go with the cheapest options, there is a vital responsibility to be acknowledged. Responsible consumption comes down to each purchase we make. My former roommate, Christina, slowly phased out harsh chemicals and unethical purchases in our apartment. Even the dish-sponges we used were made from recycled materials. It’s not cheap to buy from ethical brands, but for those of us who don’t absolutely NEED to buy the cheapest options, there’s no excuse to not care. The information is out there. Even within our own country, Amazon prime shoppers contribute to the horrible treatment of workers in the warehouses crippling the standard of living contributing to the diminishing middle class degenerating down the poverty line. But it’s also a hard matter with Amazon Prime considering underserved areas. I’m not only referring to underserved neighborhoods but states which don’t have thriving cities and the closest grocery store is a 2 hour drive.
Yes, there is onus on the heads of American corporations, but to blindly pass off responsibility and further enable these monstrous entities with our $6.99 basic-tee purchases makes a difference.
A great way to ease into responsible consumption is the app Buycott. It’s phenomenal in use of UPC tags ( Universal Product Codes ). You scan the barcode in a store and the app reveals what (un)ethical practices the company has exhibited. There are campaigns running on the app such as boycotting companies which have contributed to the NRA. It’s a free app and definitely saves a lot of time doing individual research into products that have become fixtures in your life.
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The more consumers show an interest in ethical sourcing, the more brands will be pressured to at least pretend they care and make the switch. It’s been very trendy within recent years for brands to seem progressive. But honestly even if they don’t legitimately have souls and care for the betterment of humanity, if consumers demand for them to care, they’ll take steps in making progress. Even BMW, one of the car dealers proven to have been a dirty vehicular termite with a cheat device to deceive carbon-dioxide emissions tests back in 2015, now has fucking hybrids.
Which leads into my favorite forsaken PR progressive ruse. Bill O’Reilly wasn’t fired because there was truth in the PR answer of younger Murdochs giving a shit about women’s issues — he was finally fired because advertisers pulled out. Consumers had written into the brands which aired during O’Reilly’s show saying they would no longer support the brand if the brand continued to support Bill. Ol’ atavistic Bill, was the face, lucrative demon spawn hag of Fox since 1996. Bill was always blatantly sexist and despite being the white father figure of Pleasantville America, he persisted with shameless lechery on his shows when speaking to women. With all the sexual harassment allegations rolling in, Fox did not show any interest in firing him. They actually renewed his contract with a pay raise from $18 mil to $25 mil. But then along with 21st Century Fox’s bid for Sky, the advertisers no longer wanted to be associated with Bill’s arrant lack of human decency in order to maintain their own consumer base. Below is a wonderful timeline (provided by iSpot.tv) of the brands that’d been associated with Bill and clawed their way over themselves to jump ship.
The impact that active consumers had by writing into brands should weigh heavy on our smartphone driven arthritis fingers. If we are not willing to together admit to our mindless purchases and preference of immediate convenience as vicious activity, we must individually face the consequences of being a part of a system that sinks us to the depths of a morphed tumor in the well-being of humankind.
Here’s a hastily edited video I made a year ago inspired by the charms of Billy boy
