This isn't so much a "success" story, but what the hell. It's all about awareness, right?
My partner needs to replace a little pump in this outdoor fountain he has. Before I know it, we're at Home Depot (an Olympic sponsor)---didn't even register, even though I had posted about it earlier. So, the choices of pumps that will fit the fountain are limited, but we buy one, head home and install it. Only to realize: Made in China.
A few days later, I needed some basic white craft paint for something I'm working on. At the craft store, again, limited options. This time I do check the label: Made in China, of course. But I gave in. I didn't feel like scouring the entire metropolitan area or the Internet for a teeny bottle of white paint that isn't made in China.
Again, awareness. We are indeed an interconnected world, dependent on each other for some of the most basic things. I've been tough on China because of its human rights record, but I feel like I need to state (which I haven't done yet) that I mourn for those suffering and in pain from the recent earthquake there. Now the death toll is close to 50,000. Whatever your faith tradition, or even if you don't have one, let's hold the Chinese people and its government in our hearts and minds and help in whatever way that might present itself.
5/22/2008
Olympics/China Boycott: Day 52 (pumps and paints will be your downfall!)
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3 comments:
A big tenet in Buddhism is Right Intention and so we do our best to boycott but sometimes we can't always stick to it.
This demonstrates a reason why we need higher tariffs with China. Way too many of our jobs have been shipped to China while shipping all the goods across the Pacific generates way too much CO2.
Handsome: Yes, I like to think of these kinds of things as "experiments," which helps alleviate my tendency to descend into crippling guilt!
Libhom: Good point. I'm reading a book now about Cuba and how part of that country's historic economic problems has been caused by importing so much of what they use rather than making it at home. I know the U.S. and Cuba are quite different economically, but I still think there's a lesson to learn there.
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