On Being Fair

I was just thinking about Daylight Savings Time yesterday and how much I loathe it...

A few days ago, my wonderful wife went to the laundromat. She's a brave soul, to say the least. I guess she doesn't want us smelling like skunks at school, though, so it makes sense. And because she was busy making sure nobody stole our clothes, I was left alone to run some errands.

The first thing you need to know in this situation is that the idea of me "running errands" (a.k.a. going to the store) is a terrible idea. I don't know my right from my left at the store. My wife does all of the shopping and does a mighty fine job at it. Why mess with a good thing?

In this case, though, desperate times called for desperate measures. You see, I ran out of coffee Friday morning. And although my wonderful wife brought me a cup from the Kwikshop down the street, that wasn't going to cut it past that morning. I can't help it - I tend to be a coffee snob most days.

So I braved the journey to Dillon's, where I proceeded to walk to the wrong end of the store for the coffee. After finding my way back to the aisle of liquid gold, I started searching high and low. For what? you might be asking. Well, you see, coffee buying is an art. It takes time, precision, a good eye, and patience. Okay, so maybe it's not that difficult - I just make it that hard.

Seriously, though, I did have to look pretty hard for some coffee that I could purchase. You see, Goal #62 on my 111 in 2011 demands that I look high and low: I'm only supposed to buy Fair Trade coffee this year.

So what's the big deal with Fair Trade? Well, think of it this way...

I have something I want to sell that I've hand-crafted. Let's say I built a time machine and I'm trying to sell it (YES!). I search high and low for people to buy my time machine, and since I'm ignorant of the market for such things, I latch on to the first buyer I can find. The company offers me what seems like a pretty fair price, so I take it, happy to have made a few dollars so I can feed my family.

In the process, I think this whole time machine business might actually be viable, so I decide to build another. Except it seems like, oddly enough, that I have even less money than I did before after I finish building my second time machine. Something isn't quite adding up here...

But I sell the second one to the first buyer because, once again, I need to feed my family. And again, I go to build another time machine with even less money.

So maybe the time machine example is a bit outrageous. But you get the point. If I build time machines, but have no way to know how much they're selling for, I have no leverage. And frankly, putting food on the table for my family is much more important to me than anything else, so I'll take any offer I can get for those things. People can take advantage of my family and me without me ever knowing.

This is where Fair Trade comes into the mix. If I decided to begin participating in Fair Trade time machine building, I would be given a reasonable, sustainable offer on the work that I do. There's a global standard set so that people can't rip me off. This allows my business to become more sustainable while allowing me to feed my family. Heck, this might even let me send one of my kids to school this year instead of staying home to help out with those wretched machines!

Per the Fair Trade USA website:

Most small-scale coffee farmers live in remote locations and typically have no access to the world market, nor knowledge of trends in their industry. Farmers often sell their coffee at a fraction of its worth, which leaves them unable to invest in sustainable farming methods and forces them to lean heavily on their own children of help. When children are required to work, instead of going to school, the cycle of poverty perpetuates.

Now I realize that counter-arguments exist. And I don't have answers for all of them. But here's what I do know:

• I'm one the richest people in the world.

• With great power, comes great responsibility.

• Thus, I must consciously choose to be responsible with every dollar I spend, because every dollar is a vote for something. If I am lax in my responsibility as someone with such great power in this world, somebody will be impacted, and most likely not for the positive.

My line of reasoning may seem futile to some, but I believe that true change begins with one person. If I, as on person, choose to vote with every dollar that I spend, instead of passively spending and hoping everything turns out alright, change will eventually come. I believe that choosing to spend my money responsibly is better than choosing to ignore my responsibility. Especially as someone whose belief system says to care for the poor and the oppressed.

Now I'm not really one to beg, but I'd ask you to at least consider what I'm talking about here. Consider what you're voting for with every dollar you spend. Consider the impact of your spending habits. Consider the fact that you could effect positive change in the lives of others simply by being more aware of the products you choose to buy.

Here are a couple of resources to help you in this:
Better World Shopper 
Fair Trade USA 

Question(s): What do you think about the idea that every dollar you spend is a vote? Have you ever considered responsibility in your spending habits? What's something tangible that you can do this month to spend your money more responsibly?