On the important French Fry Question (Individual consumption choices)

[John Thornton]

It's a matter of what's available. I can get a burger (If that's what I
want) at a locally owned diner or street vendor. I don't have to buy it from
satan himself to satisfy my lust for beef.  It's easy enough in most cities
to buy fair exchange coffee. If I want to buy a car it has to be made by a
giant multinational no one's building them in garages anymore. What I gain
by buying computer parts probably outweighs the negative aspects of the
source of the components. My computer is my main window on the news world. I
don't watch T.V. and news radio sucks. But what do I gain by purchasing crap
from McDonalds? Nothing I couldn't just as easily obtain without
compromising ALL my principles. It has less do with cleaning the whole world
than with cleaning my 'soul' if you will.  Your logic says fuck all and make
mine super size! Individual consumption choices do say something about your
value system. Would you by a burger made by slaves just to save 50 cents?
Would you by clothes PROBABLY made in a sweatshop if you believed it might
get you a job so you could feed your family? All consumption decisions do
not carry equal weight.
John Thornton

----- Original Message -----
From: "Doug Henwood" <dhenwood at panix.com>
To: <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 21, 2001 10:33 AM
Subject: Re: On the important French Fry Question


> John Thornton wrote:
>
> >On another note, what the hell are you people doing
> >patronizing McD's? I suppose you shop at WalMart too?
>
> Hmm, so where's it stop? The computer I'm typing on was made a giant
> multinational and assembled in Mexico. There's a stereo next to me
> made by Sony in China. The coffee I'm drinking came from Kenya, a
> country filled with poor and hungry people, and the beans were grown
> and picked under god knows what exploitative conditions. You don't
> really believe that individual consumption choices can clean an
> unclean world, do you?
>
> Doug