Guest guest Posted March 15, 2001 Report Share Posted March 15, 2001 Deirdre suggested buying as much a possible second-hand, and this is the partial " solution " we've settled on as well, although we seldom find adult non-leather shoes used. One of our favorite family outings is a morning of garage-saleing in the summer. It is a problem getting small kids in and out of carseats, but with two adults along and a spirit of adventure, it is not too bad. I confess, though, that I try to save the resale stores for times when my kids are in school (now that they're older) or when my husband is home to watch them--I do find shopping in them a lot of fun, myself, so I don't mind the time spent. Still, I often feel worn-out trying to figure out which products I dare buy given my various ethical stands...Susan p. ______________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 15, 2001 Report Share Posted March 15, 2001 While sweatshop conditions may be deplorable, consider that the people who are in those conditions may have no better choice. If their little factory closes because there is no market for their product, they may be in a worse situation. Remember when musicians refused to perform at a resort in Africa because the people were mistreated? Paul Simon played there because he said that avoiding playing there hurt the workers worse than protesting about it might help them. Ethical choices are not always simple and obvious. Is it more ethical to pay middle class Europeans to make your Doc Martens, or to pay poor orientals to make cheap sneakers? Is it more ethical to have shoes made from natural latex from tropical trees, or synthetic latex from pine stumps or petroleum? Eventually petroleum will be less plentiful and it will be cheaper to make fuels and plastics out of plants. Today it is possible to minimize the use of leather and other animal products, much easier than it was 100 years ago. In 100 years it is possible that animal suffering may be merely a fact of history. In 100 years it is possible that fusion or some other process may make energy available cheap enough that no one in the world has to live in poverty. -- Be kind. Be of good cheer. Dick Ford Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 16, 2001 Report Share Posted March 16, 2001 > While sweatshop conditions may be deplorable, consider that the people who > are in those conditions may have no better choice. If their little factory > closes because there is no market for their product, they may be in a > worse situation. Remember when musicians refused to perform at a resort in > Africa because the people were mistreated? Paul Simon played there because > he said that avoiding playing there hurt the workers worse than protesting > about it might help them. And the rest still refused to play. My research into and understanding of the situation has led me to believe that I am doing these people and the workers in our own country a better service by avoiding using these products, especially when there are organized boycotts in place (as there are in the case of Nike and the Gap and it's subsidiaries). We each have to look at the information that is available and do what we feel is best. Deirdre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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