Given everything I've observed over the course of the year, I've decided that in 2013 I will readjust my charitable giving downward somewhat and spend the difference doing as much shopping as I can at local businesses and buying American-made, preferably union-made products.
I'm not going to absolutist about it. Chain stores are more convenient at times and have longer hours. I don't live in New York where I can go to Fairway or West Side markets a 11PM. And there are some things, like office supplies for instance, where the small businesses have completely disappeared, at least around here and there are some things specifically made for chain stores that I like. This all necessarily means buying more organic, or at least locally produced items, and that's fine with me as well.
I do not kid myself into thinking this will work for everyone. I am very fortunate to have both the financial flexibility and the variety of local outlets to do this. But I am very worried about the future of my country and I owe it to myself and everyone involved to put my money where my mouth is.
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2 comments:
There's simply no evidence that organic food is good for the environment (or the country), but it has contributed to world food shortages and is, at the very least, a tremendous waste of resources.
Similarly, buying local or focusing on "small" businesses is a horrible idea. Food and other goods are imported because they're efficient. Transporting things in bulk takes very little energy, even across continents; you spend far more energy and emit more CO2 driving the extra distance to Whole Foods than it took to ship that delicious imported tomato to the United States. (And this doesn't account for the extra energy it takes to grow local foods out of season.)
Things are created non-locally and traded because it's more efficient to do so, even accounting for the relatively small costs of transportation. If the entire world decided not to trade and to favor "local" businesses, the primary effect would be to make the entire world significantly poorer. Similarly, large businesses exist because some things are done more efficiently in economies of scale. Distorting the market towards small businesses (which the tax code already does in some ways, excluding particular large industries that benefit from tax loopholes) also creates inefficiencies. Both large and small businesses employ real people at almost all wage levels. (And even the tiny percentage of corporate profits that go to CEOs that make more than any small business employee still gets passed on to the less wealthy indirectly.)
Have a good non-Luddite New Year! Don't waste your money and your good intentions on these counter-productive fads.
In spite of the insulting tone, I'll stipulate to most of what you say, though it's not entirely on point. The trickle-down argument is unserious, but even those making the argument know that.
Efficiency is a worthy goal but it is not the only goal, and the term is unfortunately abused by those who wish to extract every last penny for themselves at the expense of everyone else.
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