No Sale
I received my “economic stimulus” check last week. I guess I’m supposed to run out to the shopping mall and buy things I don’t need in order to show my patriotism… in order to keep the economy growing and corporate America rich. But buying more stuff isn’t the answer. A consumer driven economy is unsustainable. And most of our consumer goods are imported… so whose economy are we really helping when we make our purchases?
I have had the great fortune in my lifetime to be able to travel to many far-flung destinations of the world. With each international experience, I became more aware of the excessive nature of our American culture, and of my own complicity in that consumer culture.
While traveling in India, I took a walk outside the ancient walled city of Jaisalmer in the warm afterglow of a desert sunset. I watched a dark-skinned man beside a dusty road, carefully cutting narrow strips of rubber from an old tire to repair another man’s sandal – the flip-flop kind we wear to the beach or swimming pool and throw away at the end of summer. I looked down at my own feet, at the sturdy brown leather walking shoes that I wore, knowing there was another pair of shoes in my bag at the hotel… thinking about all the shoes that sat on my closet floor at home, shoes for any and all occasions, shoes to match every outfit, shoes that go out of style before wearing out. When was the last time I actually wore out a pair of shoes? For that matter, who repairs shoes anymore? It was not so much that I felt guilty that I had more than these two men who squatted in the desert dust repairing a plastic sandal with bits of rubber tire, although I did; it was that I had more than I needed… a dozen pair of shoes for one pair of feet – and handbags in colors to match. The slender man with turbaned head slipped the newly repaired sandal onto his bare foot, tested the black bands of rubber, smiled at the “shoe repairman” and turned to walk home.
We cannot buy our way out of the mess that we are in. Consumption is not the solution… it is the problem. My rebate check will sit in the bank, waiting to be needed.
... PLM
I have had the great fortune in my lifetime to be able to travel to many far-flung destinations of the world. With each international experience, I became more aware of the excessive nature of our American culture, and of my own complicity in that consumer culture.
While traveling in India, I took a walk outside the ancient walled city of Jaisalmer in the warm afterglow of a desert sunset. I watched a dark-skinned man beside a dusty road, carefully cutting narrow strips of rubber from an old tire to repair another man’s sandal – the flip-flop kind we wear to the beach or swimming pool and throw away at the end of summer. I looked down at my own feet, at the sturdy brown leather walking shoes that I wore, knowing there was another pair of shoes in my bag at the hotel… thinking about all the shoes that sat on my closet floor at home, shoes for any and all occasions, shoes to match every outfit, shoes that go out of style before wearing out. When was the last time I actually wore out a pair of shoes? For that matter, who repairs shoes anymore? It was not so much that I felt guilty that I had more than these two men who squatted in the desert dust repairing a plastic sandal with bits of rubber tire, although I did; it was that I had more than I needed… a dozen pair of shoes for one pair of feet – and handbags in colors to match. The slender man with turbaned head slipped the newly repaired sandal onto his bare foot, tested the black bands of rubber, smiled at the “shoe repairman” and turned to walk home.
We cannot buy our way out of the mess that we are in. Consumption is not the solution… it is the problem. My rebate check will sit in the bank, waiting to be needed.
... PLM
posted by Looking for Hope | 7:54 PM
1 Comments:
I enjoyed the piece about the tree carvings and your dead on assessment of this consumer culture. I also used Google Earth to "fly over" the area where you have settled. I can follow the trip to the store and back across the railroad bridge but you disappear into the wilderness after that and thats the way it should be. As a lover of nature's solitude, your writing gives me a sense of the peace you both have found. Take care, Kevin
Gig Harbor,WA
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