Sunshine and Light

On Money & Power

When I was in college, I went with a group of friends to see the "Last Temptation of Christ". Spurred mostly by the teensy little rebellious streak that I had which wasn't going to have those protesters telling ME what to do. Woo. Freakin. Hoo. Now looking back, and knowing what I know, it was dumb. Later on I found out that the director was purposefully slamming Christianity, and I took my cues from the wrong people. All I did was put money in the pockets of those who had contempt for me and mine.

And that's an area over the years that I haven't really invested enough thought on - what precisely am I buying with my hard earned dollars?

Some of this reflection started with my corporation's very large investment in China as a low cost country supplier. Some was prompted by watching "Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion" which touches on the Chinese role in Tibet. As Chris said after that movie, we're going to hell for our support of the Chinese government. Some was prompted by my brother telling me about men who graduated from the seminary 2 years ahead of him. They will be going to China where their life expectancy is painfully short because of their faith. And most recently staying at a friend's house and hearing her talk about her search to find new daily ware dishes that weren't made in China.

Another aspect of the reflection has been with regards to the Da Vinci Code movie. I've had friends tell me "I know the difference, who cares whether I watch it or not?"

And finally, some of this pondering was prompted in part by "CrunchyCons" by Rod Dreher, and some follow up reading about treatment of cattle from field to food. It also talks about efforts of local organic famers to develop sustainable local farms.

So the questions that I'm asking of late are...what am I paying for in addition to what I'm getting? Am I supporting a society that is anti-U.S. with horrible human rights and environmental violations? Am I supporting an openly anti-Catholic author in his 15 minutes of fame? Am I encouraging unnecessary use of pesticides & hormones in the environment or inhumane treatment of animals?

Don't get me wrong, while I'm pondering all of this, I also recognize that there are certain areas of life that just aren't going to be changed for me. For one thing, not having an infinite income, my organic food options are limited to CSA and maybe occasional grass-fed beef. Also, I only have so much time/week to food shop, so I can't get terribly crazy over the labels. For the same economic reasons, sometimes "Made in China" is purchased instead of "Made in Italy". But when it comes to areas where I have discretionary spending, I'm going to try to be more mindful of the other things I'm getting when I make a purchase. Hopefully that will lead to wiser choices in the future.

posted by MyHusbandRules @ 10:34 AM