Consumers.

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The Tsaritsa posted a Tide commercial the other day of a mother complaining that her daughter preferred to wear olive green instead of pink and wasn't girly enough. While I thought the commercial was really distasteful, it led me to think about other things. While I may not express all of my opinions on my blog, I have very strong ones, on most every subject. I have strong opinions on religion, politics, morality, sexuality, etc. What does that have to do with a Tide commercial?

We are a large nation, filled with many voices and opinions. We are also a nation of consumers. We purchase things on a daily basis ranging from necessities, such as food, to complete randomness like jelly bracelets. I’m trying to live a lifestyle where I’m conscientious about how and where I spend my money. I don’t want my lifestyle to have a negative impact on the planet or society. I want to do what I feel is right and so oftentimes I try to create rather than purchase. Obviously I can’t make everything and so I have to go the store for certain items, wherein lies the problem. 

In purchasing items, from any store, we are supporting an agenda which is not our own. The companies we purchase from donate large amounts of money. I’m not talking about their donations to charities. I’m talking about their donations to lobbyists, political parties and groups, religious organizations. They all have an agenda and they’re using the money I spent on the goods I purchased from them to further their agenda and that doesn’t sit well with me. The idea that I’m inadvertently supporting causes that I am adamantly opposed to makes me queasy.

A lot of times a product from one brand is owned by another brand, which is owned by another. It’s hard to know where the money is actually going and what it’s being spent on. You can do a lot of research and still have no idea, so in addition to trying to live a greener lifestyle, I’m also trying to spend less and live my life in a more thoughtful manner.

That's not the only reason I'm trying to purchase less. As consumers we spend exorbitant amounts of money on items we don’t need. I’m not even talking about things that could be argued over whether we need them or not (television for some), I’m talking about junk. How many extra toys have you bought your kids that they don’t actually need, how many hundreds of colors of nail polish do you own, did you go buy a bunch of junk at the 99 cent store just because it was 99 cents? How many times do we walk into a store to pick up only certain items and come out carrying 3 other things we just had to have? This is why we’re becoming a nation of hoarders and I want no part in it. If there is an option between purchasing an item and making it myself (within reason) I’m going to make it myself. I am only purchasing necessities.

I realize that not everyone has the same value system and strong opinions that I do and that some people will read this and think I’m nuts, like that girl on facebook the other day whose status was, “I need to buy an ice cream machine.” I asked why she didn’t just use a plastic bag and some ice like we did in Chemistry class one day. Her response was, “Why would I do that if I can just buy it?” I realize that some people think being able to purchase the luxuries in life, like the latest technology, is what makes life worth living. That is not the point I’m trying to make. I just think we need to be more conscious of not only what we’re spending our money on and how we’re spending it but of whom we’re spending it with. I’m not trying to tell you how to live your life; I’m just sharing something that is important to me.