"Real People"
Sep. 8th, 2012 05:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rowynI enjoy buying things from individuals more than from large companies. When I go to a crafter's fair or a farmer's market, I'm much more likely to get things I don't need, or to buy expensive versions of things I consume (like pricey foods), than I am from Walmart or Costco. In the last year or so I've bought more books from self-published authors than from traditional presses. Almost all the art I've purchased, be it prints or originals, was either bought direct from the artist or through a convention art show.
Part of this is because it feels good to support people I know, people with a face. Real people.
Real people?
That thought bugs me. Are the people who work at WalMart not real? Am I not a real person because I work for a large company? Teenage Bank will really collapse without customers, just as surely as any sole-proprietorship would. Are Costco's stockholders not real people? Are the people who work in India or China or any other country manufacturing goods not real people? Are they not worthy of jobs and support? Why is that a person who runs her own business making her own goods is "real", but when thousands of people work together to form a corporation, they become fake?
I know some of the arguments here. Some people feel that the profits a large corporation makes go to people who are wealthy already, who don't need the money. (And yet without those corporations, where would all those employees work?) Wages in developing nations are poor and conditions are bad, and perhaps we shouldn't support companies who treat their workers in such a fashion. (But will wages magically rise and treatment improve when there's even less demand for those employees?)
I don't plan to change my spending habits; there's a quirkiness to products that aren't mass-produced that I also like, after all. But I want to remember that large businesses are also made of people. People with faces. People just as deserving of a livelihood.
Real people.
Part of this is because it feels good to support people I know, people with a face. Real people.
Real people?
That thought bugs me. Are the people who work at WalMart not real? Am I not a real person because I work for a large company? Teenage Bank will really collapse without customers, just as surely as any sole-proprietorship would. Are Costco's stockholders not real people? Are the people who work in India or China or any other country manufacturing goods not real people? Are they not worthy of jobs and support? Why is that a person who runs her own business making her own goods is "real", but when thousands of people work together to form a corporation, they become fake?
I know some of the arguments here. Some people feel that the profits a large corporation makes go to people who are wealthy already, who don't need the money. (And yet without those corporations, where would all those employees work?) Wages in developing nations are poor and conditions are bad, and perhaps we shouldn't support companies who treat their workers in such a fashion. (But will wages magically rise and treatment improve when there's even less demand for those employees?)
I don't plan to change my spending habits; there's a quirkiness to products that aren't mass-produced that I also like, after all. But I want to remember that large businesses are also made of people. People with faces. People just as deserving of a livelihood.
Real people.
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no subject
Date: 2012-09-09 12:26 am (UTC)When you buy from an individual, the whole of your post-tax purchase goes to that individual's business. If they've got a sensible business model (not a trivial concern), a significant amount of that will go to them.
When you buy from a Walmart ... I don't know for sure, but I would venture that only a tiny fraction of your purchase contributes to the livelihoods of the people who work there. Presumably a lot of it will get to the livelihoods of people somewhere, like Walmart's advertising department, and the factories who supply Walmart, and so on, and yes, those are certainly people too.
I suspect that, in the end, nearly all of the money you spend will get spent again and thereby contribute to someone's livelihood. But if you want to have a measurable effect, go for the individual.
A fourth dimension -- and that's plenty -- is joy.
When you buy from an individual crafter at a fair or online shop or something, they know you're buying from them, and have picked them out. I've been behind sales tables often enough to know that it's a distinct happiness to make a sale. Now, with specialty books, sales are scarce, and with crepes at a farmer's market, sales are pretty constant, but I daresay that even the crepe-guy I bought from this morning got some personal happiness from a day of solid sales.
I don't think there's a comparable joy for Walmart employees. Not that it
never happens, but I daresay the people who find it mind-numbing outnumber the
people find it exhilarating (This is unfortunate. Everyone deserves joy in
their work, as well as a livelihood. (But, if it is anyone's responsibility
to provide joy, it's probably Walmart's. (And perhaps the business world
would be improved greatly if businesses thought it was incumbent upon them to
provide joy to their employees. (And some few do. (And some few of those do
it well.)))))
So if you want to increase the joy in the world with your purchases, individuals are the way to go there.
Having said that, I often buy at big box stores, especially for things I can't
get from individuals, or don't want to pay specialty prices for. I think
that using your money get stuff you need is a sensible and sufficient use of
your money. Worrying about secondary and tertiary effects isn't always
necessary.