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June 2009 
My Reality Check Bounced
Posted on Nov 28th, 2008
by 
Spiritual Liberation
Spiritual Liberation
Okay people, so a dude was trampled to death at Wal-Mart (big freaking surprise there, huh? NOT!), and at the same time a pregnant woman was knocked down and trampled, killing her unborn child, and 2 rival gang bangers had a shootout and whacked each other in a Toys R Us over a freaking toy they both wanted. And yes, they both brought loaded guns to shop for toys. WTF?
Is the $5 Barbie really worth all this?
How about the $300 computer system?
The $50 microwave?
NOOOOOOO! It's not!!!!
People aren't starving and looking for food bargains, people just want STUFF. Junk. Trash. Landfill fodder. It's crazy.
The USA is having an economic meltdown that is affecting the whole world, and we don't know to take a clue and re-evaluate our values and priorities. We are still out there buying cheap plastic crap made in China.
I have a suggestion...Help humanity. Save the world. Bring peace and joy.
You can do it! And it's not even hard.
Instead of getting your mother-in-law yet another lavender bath fizzy set, buy a flock of chicks for a starving family in a developing nation. It's only $20. Or a cow, a buffalo, ducks, geese, llamas, goats, sheep...Go to Heifer.org and see how you can feed a village, maybe forever, with less money than it costs to take your family out to dinner.
Don't like the idea of livestock? How about choosing an actual person to give a $25 micro-loan to with Kiva.org? At Kiva.org, people from under-developed countries all over the world apply for small loans to help them grow their businesses so they can become independent and support their families. THEY PAY BACK THE MONEY! You can see a photo, learn why they want the money, and follow their story as it unfolds. You get to choose who to help. What a great gift for kids to learn the value of giving! Give them $25 Kiva dollars and let them find a beloved to support. When the money is paid back, they can re-invest in humanity, donate the money to Kiva, or take the cash out of the program.
Here is an organization based in the UK called World Gifts. Some of the gifts, especially animals, cost much less because they are so much closer to where the needs for the animals are (than USA companies). You can also buy a village a bicycle, or a vegetable garden, and their animals come with feed and training on how to care for them.
How about giving the gift of an EXPERIENCE instead of stuff? You can send a loved one on a bungee jump for just $150! They will not forget that gift! Or send them off to swim with sharks, drive a race car, take a hot air balloon ride, discover Pilates, or dozens of other AMAZING things that are probably on their 100 things to do before I die list.
And, if you absolutely have your heart set on buying stuff, please take a moment to look at OneCause.com, where hundreds of online stores (including Amazon, Target, and LOTS of others) have agreed to donate a percentage of the sales to this charity if they are referred through this website. Just go to this website, click through to the store you want, and shop as usual, and a portion of what you spend will be sent back and distributed to schools, non-profits, and other charitable organizations.
You can do a world of good.
(Please do!)
Please send these links to your friends and family. Let them know you'd like to have a goat for Christmas, or some trees for Hannukah, maybe some honeybees for Ramadan, a new water well for Kwaanza...Or that you want to go white-water rafting with them to make some memories that won't end up in a landfill.
Find a little stuffed animal cow for your niece, and print out some pictures and a certificate for her, and tell her how she gave a real cow to a little girl just like her in some dusty village in Africa so she could have a glass of milk and a chance to grow up and change the world. Tell her she's your hero, she's a fairy princess who is helping to save the world. She is so powerful!
Sure, it's possible that she might pitch a fit and demand a doll, but in a year, 10 years, 50 years, she will always remember the warm feeling in her heart when she thinks of that cow that changed the world. She won't remember the doll, but she will remember the cow.
I am interested in more things like this, and what you have done/are doing. Please stop by and leave a note if you know of more cool places like these.
Is the $5 Barbie really worth all this?
How about the $300 computer system?
The $50 microwave?
NOOOOOOO! It's not!!!!
People aren't starving and looking for food bargains, people just want STUFF. Junk. Trash. Landfill fodder. It's crazy.
The USA is having an economic meltdown that is affecting the whole world, and we don't know to take a clue and re-evaluate our values and priorities. We are still out there buying cheap plastic crap made in China.
I have a suggestion...Help humanity. Save the world. Bring peace and joy.
You can do it! And it's not even hard.
Instead of getting your mother-in-law yet another lavender bath fizzy set, buy a flock of chicks for a starving family in a developing nation. It's only $20. Or a cow, a buffalo, ducks, geese, llamas, goats, sheep...Go to Heifer.org and see how you can feed a village, maybe forever, with less money than it costs to take your family out to dinner.
Don't like the idea of livestock? How about choosing an actual person to give a $25 micro-loan to with Kiva.org? At Kiva.org, people from under-developed countries all over the world apply for small loans to help them grow their businesses so they can become independent and support their families. THEY PAY BACK THE MONEY! You can see a photo, learn why they want the money, and follow their story as it unfolds. You get to choose who to help. What a great gift for kids to learn the value of giving! Give them $25 Kiva dollars and let them find a beloved to support. When the money is paid back, they can re-invest in humanity, donate the money to Kiva, or take the cash out of the program.
Here is an organization based in the UK called World Gifts. Some of the gifts, especially animals, cost much less because they are so much closer to where the needs for the animals are (than USA companies). You can also buy a village a bicycle, or a vegetable garden, and their animals come with feed and training on how to care for them.
How about giving the gift of an EXPERIENCE instead of stuff? You can send a loved one on a bungee jump for just $150! They will not forget that gift! Or send them off to swim with sharks, drive a race car, take a hot air balloon ride, discover Pilates, or dozens of other AMAZING things that are probably on their 100 things to do before I die list.
And, if you absolutely have your heart set on buying stuff, please take a moment to look at OneCause.com, where hundreds of online stores (including Amazon, Target, and LOTS of others) have agreed to donate a percentage of the sales to this charity if they are referred through this website. Just go to this website, click through to the store you want, and shop as usual, and a portion of what you spend will be sent back and distributed to schools, non-profits, and other charitable organizations.
You can do a world of good.
(Please do!)
Please send these links to your friends and family. Let them know you'd like to have a goat for Christmas, or some trees for Hannukah, maybe some honeybees for Ramadan, a new water well for Kwaanza...Or that you want to go white-water rafting with them to make some memories that won't end up in a landfill.
Find a little stuffed animal cow for your niece, and print out some pictures and a certificate for her, and tell her how she gave a real cow to a little girl just like her in some dusty village in Africa so she could have a glass of milk and a chance to grow up and change the world. Tell her she's your hero, she's a fairy princess who is helping to save the world. She is so powerful!
Sure, it's possible that she might pitch a fit and demand a doll, but in a year, 10 years, 50 years, she will always remember the warm feeling in her heart when she thinks of that cow that changed the world. She won't remember the doll, but she will remember the cow.
I am interested in more things like this, and what you have done/are doing. Please stop by and leave a note if you know of more cool places like these.
Access: Public
Ooh, already there is more! How about the Girl Effect? It's just like what I said, but an organization is actually DOING IT! Yeah!
http://www.girleffect.org
http://www.globalgiving.com/girleffect.html?rf=girleffect2008
http://www.youtube.com/girleffect
In our home, we strike a balance between giving to others and exchanging presents. We match dollar for dollar everything we spend on each other and donate the money to the local food-bank. I agree with you that many things people buy at Christmas are unnecessary and end up in the dump or at a garage sale. However, the stuff we buy to give to each other provides others with jobs, etc. “Conscious consumption” is the best way to support the economy and care for the environment and the less fortunate at the same time. I think it's important to consider the source of those goods and not buy things produced by child-labour, etc. too.
Here's an interview which you might find interesting. It was on CBC Radio's, “The Current.” (scroll down the page to “part 2” and you can access the audio-player). The interview is with author Benjamin Barber who wrote the book, “Consumed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults and Swallow Citizens Whole.” Here's the link:
http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2008/200811/20081128.html
http://www.etsy.com/ Handmade & local to you stuff. Or just handmade if you don't care about local.
www.tenthousandvillages.com/ Fair trade stuff.