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Consumer Guilt
So, I am experiencing a bit of consumer guilt. No, let me get this straight, I do not feel guilty about being a consumer, rather, my guilt stems from how I am supporting the economy.
I know that spend, spend, spend is a mantra for many people hoping to boost the economic status of our country. Okay, at least that is what I am hearing from the lawmakers. My problem right this moment is whether it is better to strengthen my local economy or to just add to the consumerism of our country from where ever I need. For instance, I have been buying a lot (way too much) of digital books. Either on my Kindle, or on my iPhone through iTunes audiobooks. Does this help our economy as much as, say, buying from a local store would? We buy our groceries from the local co-op. And I feel good about that. I like the people who work there, and they try to get as much local product as they can, and I try to consume it as much as I can. (No, that probably sounds worse than it actually is) But regardless, we try to shop local and buy local products. However, I am not stocking up on paper books the way I once did. Does that drag the economy down? If I shop at McKay’s used books and buy an audiobook from someone local, would that help things here more? Do I even want to do that? Do I want to support local structures that are not advancing our Tennessee structure? If I stop buying from these local places that hire low wage workers, will that help our economy grow to support higher wage jobs? I know that we will always have people who will work at McDonald’s and any fast food place and will not have any desire to move to a more lucrative (read higher stress) position. I am just befuddled. I would like to live in a more tech savvy city. And the thing is, I see it coming in Knoxville. Tennessee. But… Not fast enough? Not big enough? Just NOT ENOUGH!!!
My husband last night asked if I would move with him to San Francisco or Seattle if he could find work that he loves there. I answered fairly immediately that I would. I know that is probably a no-brainer for a lot of young marrieds, but probably 5 years ago, I would have said I don’t know. I feel like I am finally ready for that. I really love my city, but I feel like it lets me down. Forget the fact that in many instances our local government would like to keep us all in the farming and manufacturing era. Or at least it feels that way. And to be honest, I would say that a majority of our citizens (denizens?) would totally support that. I even support the farming part quite a bit.
I guess what it comes down to is that I am becoming more and more dependent on technology thanks to my techy husband, and now that I am, I am becoming more and more despondent to this city that seems to lag and lag. But really I just want it to catch up.
What can I do? Is there any small thing that I can do for/in this city that I love to help it grow in a good way? Will my spending habits contribute to growth? I will always be a consumer. It makes me feel good. But I want it to be meaningful. I am searching for meaningful ways to contribute to my society, and I am coming up empty. So are there any suggestions out there on the internet? Any people struggling like I am to make something good where they are without getting involved in the governmental power struggles that all seem to just increase the status quo?
I am guilty of being a consumer, but I don’t think I deserve the guilt.
September 24th, 2010 at 10:21 am
I’m sure you probably know I’ve thought about many of the same things. Why buy music online when I could buy from The Disc Exchange? Why buy digital books when I can buy from The Book Eddy? Since Knoxville is a little behind, there are probably no digital book or music sellers with a presence here. It ultimately comes down to an issue of practicality. When I weigh shopping for groceries at the food co-op versus Wal-mart, the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. The only significant disadvantage is the added cost. The foodstuff still occupies the same space, takes the same amount of effort to consume, and takes the same amount of effort to acquire.
When I’m choosing to buy a digital good over a physical one in the case of music, I’m not patronizing a local business, but I gain a number of other advantages: I don’t have to go anywhere to acquire the item; production of the item does not create physical waste; I don’t occupy any space in my house to store the item; I don’t need to decide what to do with the item when I’m finished; and the item is typically cheaper than the physical counterpart.
Its a very personal and intuitive decision. I have to weigh the pros and cons for the given item and decide what is best. As long as your reasoning is thoughtful, you shouldn’t feel guilty about it. If the local businesses want to survive, they will ultimately have to evolve with the direction of their respective product. The beauty of the Internet is that, anything which doesn’t necessarily have to take a physical form will not in short order.