Save the World this Christmas!

This is a short little article I wrote for a class, and I thought I'd post it in here to see if I could make a difference. I just bullshitted the whole thing in like ten minutes, so I'm sorry if it's unorganized or anything. Please read and try to help out!

Save the World this Christmas!





Wanna be a hippie, or just act like one? Christmas is the perfect time to stray from the norm and sock it to the man by boycotting lousy commercialism and unethical business practices by screwing the retail stores and supporting the little guy who does all the real work.



You’d be surprised how easy it is to get started….. I have acquired for you some links to online stores… so you don’t have to get up off your ass or use up any of your sweet Iraqi blood to drive to the store.



The first one is The Rainforest Site, which also links to additional charity site, such as the Hunger Site, The Animal Rescue Site, The Child Health Site, and a couple of others… something for everyone! In addition to having a bunch of cool shit in their stores, a portion of your total purchase price is given to the said charity so you can help someone out! For example, if you buy one of the really awesome Recycled Silk Scarves (like I want for my birthday….) for $19.95 from The Rainforest Site, you will preserve 1145 square feet of land in the rainforests. Way to go! You’re my new hero!



Secondly, is the Boycott Made in China site. I first became interested in this crap when I edited a Tibetan Freedom newsletter in high school, because I’m a big dork. The American economy has become disgustingly dependent on the import of Chinese products… not unlike the import of oil from the Middle East…. But I won’t get into that. There are thousands of reasons to boycott Chinese goods… far too many for me to even touch on right now….. but they have a terrific FAQ page with all the answers to all of your questions…. And they will certainly convince you that you are doing the right thing by boycotting China. And if you’re into activism, they have a page where you can download flyers and brochures to spread the word. It rocks.



Lastly….. If you know me at all, even a little bit, you know I’m a Wally World hater. Years of destroying local economies, treating workers like shit, and fucking with small and large business owners alike has pissed me off and sent me on a lifelong mission to take them down. The link I have here is to an Adobe PDF file with some information… TRUE information….. about Wal-Mart and its shady dealings and how much it hurts every town it moves into. And this is just a little sampler. You could write 20 volumes on how dirty these folks are. I won’t, but you could.



Thanks for your time. I hope you guys look into some of this stuff and try to do a little to help this Christmas. Even just buying from a local business or artisan or something will help a lot. And you don’t have to do it all year round! Just doing it for a couple of months over the holiday season makes a big difference. Please help out. Make your own Christmas cards! Everyone will love you more, and you’ll be getting laid so much that you’ll have to hire a stunt double or something. I promise. Look at me. J


Links:

The Rainforest Site (as well as The Hunger Site, The Breast Cancer Site, the Animal Rescue Site, and more: http://www.therainforestsite.com



Boycott China: http://www.boycottmadeinchina.org

Wal-Mart boycott:
Adobe PDF: http://ideamouth.com/politics/walmartflyer.pdf

Boycott Wal-Mart Meetup Groups (find other folks in your area to hook up and take action with!) : http://boycottwalmart.meetup.com/

 

Cool post. Bring back true giving.

 

Thank you! Every year I try to buy as much as I can from people who have handcrafted their stuff, because I think that people so often disregard the kind of effort that goes into making things of real quality. Yeah, you can buy a bar of soap for a dollar at Walgreens, but you don't appreciate it... I always get mine from this Amish guy who lives south of here, and it makes me appreciate it more and I feel healthier because I'm not using a lot of crap on my body. If you only do it for Christmas....even if you only do it for one year!.... you'll always look at it differently, I think. I just don't believe that going to Dillard's and spending $1000 on someone really lets them know how much you love them..... give them something that someone cared for and worked hard on and I think they'll be prouder of it than they would a new watch or something. Unless you know the guy who made it....

 

here in rochester there is a peace group called metro justice that holds an alternative craft fair at one of the unitarian universalist churches. there are non-competivie games for the kids, fair trade imports, and local crafts like pottery, jewelry, and felt and weaving by the rochester fiber arts guild. food is provided by my co-op, and groups like the rochester area vegetarian society, the women's bean project, roots and wings (a local waldorf school), and genesee valley organic community supported agriculture all have booths there too. this year i'm hoping to get some games for my son, a sweater or two for my daughter, and maybe some jewelry for me, if i have the money.

 

I dont remember where but I recently read an article where the former president of Greenpeace was actually criticizing companies' policies such as "Buy this brand and save 1145 acres of land in Brazil". He says they are becoming dangerous for they kill individual activism. He in a way says that they are placebo brands to make you think that you're activist enough. It may be a controversial issue.

 

I could see that in light of some of the other tactics used. The issue of environmental/spiritual awareness has landed on the tables in the boardrooms and they're definitely gearing towards a fresher, more wholesome, 'image'. Image being the key word in that it generally isn't going any deeper than that.

 

"Governments are the boardrooms of corporations"
Karl Marx.

 

Good stuff...but damn, did you hand that in? The foul language and the randomness of it would surely earn you a failing grade, haha.

 

I'm only buying a couple gifts this Christmas I think. And they will be handmade.

 

handmade gifts are definitely the way to go.

says she who just finished making many many bars of soap

 

Hey, I'll buy some! haha

 

Some of the coolest gifts I've gotten and given all came from second-hand stores or garage sales. Stuff you'd never be able to just go to the mall and get it.

 

no way! i need it all for gifts for my crazily enormous extended family.

i keep going to craft fairs and buying stuff for myself. all these yummy handmade goods only seem to come out this time of year. i dont want to give any of it away.

 

well, i went to the alternative fair, and got lots of gifts for the kids. for my son, i purchased a cooperative game called "homebuilder", in which he works with the other players to "build" houses and give them all kinds of safety features to withstand natural disasters - he's facinated by both building & natural disasters so he should enjoy it. i also got him a CD & coloring book set of 2 tibetan folktales, which i picked up at the amitabha foundation's table to help tibetan refugees. for my daughter i was able to find fair-traded guatemalan hand crafts: a puppet made from a recycled thread cone, an adorable embroidered sweater, and some hair scrunchees. i'm probably going to finish up my shopping at the stores along monroe aveue - i got my son a watercolor set, and a wooden box from india to hold incense. i'm trying to figure out where i can find recycled watercolor paper. i'm hoping to make my daughter a doll bed. no wal-mart for me, thank you very much, and no malls either!

 

Lucky kiddos!

Tell me about it. I went shopping with some friends and they decided to go to the mall, I was miserable. I just hate malls. Yuck. And it was annoyingly crowded, grrrr....people can be really annoying! I only bought lunch.