Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

It's easy to feel disenfranchised and powerless in modern society. We hear about all these massive problems and think, "Well, that's truly awful, but what can I, a single human being, really do about it? Nothing I do will have an effect, anyway. Might as well just forget about it."

That is deceptive thinking. I don't believe in the devil as such, but if Satan really is running around putting thoughts into our heads that will mire our souls in an existential bog, then those are the kinds of thoughts he is working with.

We all make choices. Some of them are big, obvious choices -- voting comes to mind. But other choices, although smaller, are just as significant. We can choose where to shop and what to buy there. We can choose what brands we support. You get the drift.

People often ask about my wedding ring because it's unusual. I didn't want a diamond -- not only because my dad told me that diamonds are the most overpriced gems on the planet (they aren't rare, but most of the world's diamond mines are controlled by a single company, DeBeers, so it's quite easy for DeBeers to set the price on diamonds and the rest of the world will blindly follow along), but also because diamonds are the source of a great deal of bloodshed and calamity on the other side of the planet. People say that maybe the rising divorce rate has something to do with the advent of the third wave of feminism and the rise of women in the workplace, (b.s.) or our culture's increasing tendency toward instant gratification, or pick your argument.

But what if it's something more insidious and subtle than that? (I'm about to start sounding like a freaky New Age hippie right about now. Fair warning.) There are many people who believe gems and minerals have the ability to absorb energies. What if you're using something to symbolize your commitment and your union that is literally dripping with negative energy? What if that diamond you're wearing on your finger is slowly but constantly poisoning your interaction with your loved one by mixing your energies with the energy of pain, of death and of loss? And do you really want to carry around a chunk of stone on your finger that someone shed blood over? That might have been used to purchase an obscene amount of weapons that will be used against innocent people just trying to dig a life out of the dirt?

I don't. So I have my moldavite ring, which has one of the highest energy resonances out of any gem (probably the highest, actually), and nobody died to put that gem on my finger. It's a symbol of love that is untainted by negative energy. You don't have to have a diamond engagement/wedding ring. You can choose something that's more personal and better reflects your own tastes, or you can go with a diamond. Whatever. But you do have a choice.

Believe it or not, I don't spout my opinions about diamonds and other things outside this blog unless I'm asked directly about them. People ask about my ring, and I tell them what moldavite is and why it has significance for me. If they ask why I didn't want a diamond, I'm happy to share with them. But if they don't ask, I try to just keep it simple. My choice is between me and the universe. I remember going ring-shopping with my buddy who was getting ready to propose to his wife. Once the diamond-seller figured out who I was and what I was doing there, she started in on me: "Do you have a boyfriend? When is he going to propose? Have you thought about what kind of diamond you'd like?" And since that wasn't the time or place to go into it, I demurred, and later told my friend he was lucky that the saleswoman didn't get to hear my diatribe on blood diamonds, since she was being pushy about it -- trying to get another sale.

I guess I just think it's sad that so many people feel so powerless to effect change in the world, when all it takes is intelligent consumerism. I was buying green products before you could find them on the shelves of your friendly neighborhood grocery store. I had to go out of my way to get them, yes. But it was that important to me, and it still is. I'll happily pay a few cents more for the product that's safer for the environment. Soon (I hope!) there will be a label available that designates whether products are slave-labor free. When that label is available, I will seek out those products that carry it and use my choice as a consumer to make it more difficult for people to be sold on the black market as slaves. If the people buying those slaves suddenly can't sell the fruits of that slave labor to any corporate entities, they might start looking for easier ways to make money. Because people don't buy and sell slaves to be evil. They do it because it's lucrative.

Tangentially, that's also why I don't shop at Wal-Mart. Let's just say I don't agree with their operating practices, at all, because to detail why I don't shop there would take up a whole nother blog. I can't even remember the last time I bought something at Wal-Mart. It was probably seven or eight years ago. And more than one person has said to me, "Big deal, YOU don't shop at Wal-Mart. It's not like they're losing money, there are plenty of people still willing to shop there." That is very true. But just think for a moment ... if I were in the habit of buying everything I could at Wal-Mart, they would have made thousands upon thousands of dollars off me in the past eight years. Instead, they don't have a dime of my money. And in every consumer survey I've taken that's asked about such things, I have noted that Wal-Mart will never get any of my future money, either, unless the company makes some serious changes. At least I know, when I read a horrible story in the newspaper about something Wal-Mart has done to an employee, that my dollars did not contribute to Wal-Mart's legal defense. And when people are interested in my reasoning and ask me about it, I happily share with them. Maybe I've even converted one or two. I don't know. It doesn't matter. It's my choice, nobody else's.

And, in my opinion, it's the responsibility of each and every consumer to examine their choices and to choose wisely. I think it's safe to say that nobody reading this blog has ever bought a human being (did you know that the market for people has actually dropped -- you used to have to pay the equivalent of $40,000 to buy a person, now they go for about $300) and forced them to work without pay, under the threat of pain or death if they try to stop or leave. But how many of our cell phones contain materials that were mined using slave labor? How many of our cars? How many of our clothes?

It's hard to say, because that special little label hasn't been made available -- yet. But in a perfect world (okay, in MY perfect world), everyone would take these things into consideration before making a purchase. Nobody would knowingly buy something that was created using the blood and sweat and tears and suffering of another human being, just because it costs a few dollars less.

There is a high cost of low prices. Someone always suffers when we decide we want to cut corners and have this great style of living but not pay quite as much. Be aware. Think. Choose well.