Okay, so I'm definitely not a person who plans way ahead for Christmas, I promise. But I got a catalog in the mail today. (Don't get me wrong; I'm not really a big catalog person either, except for certain things.) It was from one of my favorite organizations, the Syracuse Cultural Workers.
I immediately started making plans to do all my Christmas shopping from their lovely catalog full of cool, lefty t-shirts and enlightening children's books and educational calendars. And then I heard the voice of our little mayor in my ear saying, "When you shop online, all that money goes out of our community."
I would like to shop locally, really I would. But I don't like to buy stuff just to buy stuff, and I would prefer to buy things that are sustainably and justly produced. The problem is that you can't find a lot of that sort of thing around here, that is, things with meaning that actually support the people who make them and don't destroy the earth.
So I'm caught. Do I buy things from a catalog out of New York that fit my values? Or do I shop local? Here's what will make the difference: I hate going shopping. If I can do it over the phone, that's probably what's going to happen. Sorry, Mr. Mayor. And yes, family, you can now probably figure out what you're getting for Christmas!
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2 comments:
If your concept of community is broad enough, it will be very hard to spend so that money leaves it.
I love, love, love, LOVE the SCW catalog.
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