In keeping with my propensity for going to extremes, my reaction to John Oliver's video on warehouses was not moderate in any way.
"This is horrifying!," I thought to myself, "I will never shop on Amazon ever again!"
I will, of course, shop on Amazon again, as evidenced by my ever-expanding Amazon wishlist:
I was never ignorant enough to believe that Amazon's warehouse workers had luxury break rooms, 401ks, and comprehensive benefits—on some level, way in the back of my mind, I was aware that working conditions for these employees were less than ideal—although I was not aware just how un-ideal they truly were. But in the same way that you can look at a chicken breast and disassociate from the chicken that was pumped with steroids and antibiotics, it's easy to turn a blind eye when the problem isn't staring you in the face. It's no coincidence that I started getting far more interested in Medicare for All as I got closer and closer to my 26th birthday.
Or, perhaps, you are brutally aware of the issue, but you've heard about 20 social causes in the past week, are working 3 jobs, and can't possibly imagine what you can do to stop the issue. The systemic change is too overwhelming to even begin to consider where you would start. Worse, you have such little time and so little money, you have to rely on Amazon for its convenient delivery and cheap cost while you work to feed 3 hungry children.
I don't have 3 jobs or any children, but I will be working on a graduate stipend and limited time. It's easy to mindlessly "window shop" online, go, "ooh, cute!" and experience the euphoria of getting packages delivered to your door, or the excitement of tearing open the box (it's like never-ending Christmas!). Rather than spend half an hour driving to and back from Target, plus 20 extra minutes of chasing down several employees to help me find a fake plant that I don't really need, I've just found the perfect item in two minutes, and purchased it in two seconds. I never have to even consider the exploitation and abuse of the working class—instead, I can do classwork.
So yes, there is a case for taking advantage of the convenience of online shopping. It's also true that we cannot dismantle a capitalist society by choosing to buy that plant at Goodwill. There will always be rich white dudes who are flying their dick-spaceships while their employees work 80 hours a week just to put rice and beans on the table.
We can also make the argument that in the digital age, we are aware of so many wrongdoings and social injustices, that we can feel overwhelmed by social justice. With so many opportunities to make a difference, we may feel torn and tortured by the fact that we can't do it all, and thus do nothing.
Migrant Children's Detention Facility
Undercover at Smithfield Foods
The Central Park Five: A Cautionary Tale of Injustice
One of the first things we can do is show up to vote for politicians whose platforms serve and advocate for underprivileged and minority groups, thus taking into account multiple social issues. Beyond that, though, how do we know which equally important causes to take on without feeling overwhelmed, or without shirking our own personal desires or needs?
What I've started to realize is that everyday, personal desires aren't necessarily antithetical to political justice. When making personal goals, it's important to consider which social issues reflect those goals. For instance, I both want to spend less money and better get to know people and places of Fort Collins. An easy way to do this is to seek out yard sales and thrift stores. While this comes at the cost of time, it's one symbolic gesture rejecting exploitative companies and embracing locally-owned businesses. Also, it's more fun to say "this desk was used by a 90 year old woman who spent the last five years of her life composing an epic tome about her life during war, loss, and illness," rather than, "this was on sale for $65 and I spent ten hours trying to figure out how to put the damn thing together."
I would also like to get more involved in the beauty community. This might seem like a consumerist practice (mostly because it is), but this is also a perfect way to gather knowledge about ethical and humane companies. Finding brands that do not test on animals isn't something I would have done had I not taken a greater interest in makeup. And when I align my personal goal with a social cause, I can then disseminate that information to other makeup-lovers and take the conversation to a deeper level.
This one's a little bit trickier, as cost can be a huge factor, but I would like to eat healthier. Eating lots of red meat and dairy tends to make me feel lethargic and heavy, and I've tried the vegetarian thing on and off for about two years. I can never fully commit to being vegetarian, and it's even harder when I'm trying to do it on a budget. I've also found that without some amount of meat, I lose weight and energy fast. After teaching a food-themed composition course for two years, I am highly aware of the ethical implications of mass production of meat. So, in attempts to align the issue of slaughterhouses and my own personal mission, I will strive to eat less meat, and despite the slightly higher cost, will purchase ethically-sourced meat.
When we try to consume information about every single social injustice every, we get burnt out, overwhelmed, and exhausted. We may not feel personally invested in every single issue. We may feel so scattered and inundated with information, we can't properly commit to any cause. And then, in response, we might say, "I don't care about anything. What does that say about me?" When we flip the conversation to "I'm personally interested in_________. How might that inform the issues I could get involved in?"
And for those working for corporate-owned businesses, feel free to post multiple copies of the Communist Manifesto on the break room walls.
Namaste.
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