In previous years, I have embarked on holiday shopping with the sort of abandon only available to the shopper with limited funds who adopts the temporary understanding that spending money you don't have is excusable when it's an expression of love and appreciation for those important people in your life.
This year I wanted to simply buy a Heifer International goat for my family and be done with it.
But I missed the cut off date to get a cute gift card that is sent to the individual/group in whose name the donation is made. I still may give this gift, but I think that I will feel guilty if everyone doesn't have a tangible little something from me to add to their pile of gifts.
Normally, a couple quick trips to lotion/beauty products shops, World Market, some bohemian clothing store, Macy's and Best Buy would cover all of my bases. In addition to the usual dilemma of limited funds, this year there are some new obstacles:
1) Chicago offers so much wonderful shopping that the decisions of what to purchase and where to purchase it become limitless, thus confusing and overwhelming me so much that I don't go anywhere.
2) I have decided that will not incur debt buying Christmas presents. I will give within my means, however lowly they might be.
3) Guilt.
This is a two-part problem. The first comes from generally spending money on shopping. This may be easy to understand for some readers, and more difficult for others. I'm sorry if you're one of the latter because I don't currently have the time to delve into a discussion on capitalism. The second cause of guilt is related to that discussion, however, because when it comes to purchasing clothing, beauty products and the like, I am not longer decidedly ignorant of the unending problems with mass-produced clothing and beauty products, with all of the environmental and socio-political problems the industries perpetuate.
The New York Times published a piece on this guilt "problem" today: A World Consumed by Guilt. While I completely identify with the mentality and feeling that the writer describes, I don't share the Manhattan-lifestyle that would even allow me to come across a $7,000 dress. I have, however, fingered the tag of the eco-friendly jeans at the Levi's store, debating the $100+ price tag.
Then the question becomes: which guilt wins? If I had guilt about the latter and not about the former problem, then I could go wild at Whole Foods (which I recently learned that some have given the moniker "Whole Paycheck"), buy all of my hair products produced with only wind-power from Aveda and wear more responsible, organically dyed and living wage-produced clothing. But for those of us with a conscience and a thin wallet, we will have to find a balance between the two and decide at what point to let go of the heavy, heavy burden that each individual is responsible for the terrible mess this global market has created.
3 comments:
This may not help for gifts, but I really think the solution is to stop following the American trend and buying everything new. An easy way to stop supporting rampant consumerism is by using sites like Craigslist and Freecycle, both to get things you need and to get rid of things you don't.
Obviously, for some things this is impractical, but for other things like furniture or a vacuum cleaner or something, it's completely absurd for people to always buy new.
Think of it this way, instead of choosing between cheap work done by sweatshops, and expensive work done by fairly-treated workers, instead choose the one where no more work has to be done at all.
Yes, I completely agree. I have used Craigslist and second-hand clothing shops to resell and recycle my own items and occasionally pick out some some for myself. I hadn't thought about trying that for gifts! As you said, for some items it would be quite a challenge, but I like the idea of considering this option. A thoughtful gift is always best, and that doesn't always mean that it comes with price tags intact.
I ended up buying used books for my whole family (6 people) this year. They loved them, I spent maybe $50, supported my favorite used book store and the only environmental footprint was 2 plastic bags and some wrapping paper. I think I'll be giving people used books for a long time. It also promotes reading, my favorite subject!
Post a Comment