The Story of Stuff - Annie Leonard [104]
Clearly, both good sense and ecological limits necessitate a shift toward local distribution systems and local economies. Buying, selling, transporting, and sharing Stuff locally as much as possible will help conserve resources and build community—two things we desperately need to prioritize.
That said, there is a dilemma when we consider the system at the global level. For centuries there’s been a global division of labor in which some countries specialize in providing resources and labor, while other countries specialize in consuming those resources and the goods of that labor. This was true as far back as colonial Europe’s heyday, and it’s still true now. One-third of U.S. imports come from poorer nations, a number that includes things we extract or grow or assemble there.132 Globally, many millions of workers labor in export industries. In the average U.S. home, the majority of our toys, clothes, electronics, and household appliances come from massive factories all over China. I remember when my daughter was just learning her letters. She was playing in her room and came downstairs to ask me, “Momma, what does C-H-I-N-A spell?” “China,” I told her (she knew what the word meant—she had friends from there). “So,” she asked next, “why is it written on everything?”
So, while moving to more localized economies is a good thing, we have to deal with the legacy of several hundred years of this colonial-style division of labor. It simply isn’t fair for us to suddenly say, “OK, we changed our mind. We’re pulling out of the globalized Stuff distribution system. Good luck. Ciao.”
At the heart of a true solution is solidarity, which writer Barbara Ehrenreich elegantly defines as “love between people who may never meet each other, but share a vision of justice and democracy and are willing to support each other in the struggle to achieve it.”133 International solidarity mandates that while we begin to extract ourselves from the destructive side of the global economy and invest in rebuilding healthy local economies, we also support the workers and communities in developing countries as they transition into (or sometimes, return to) local sustainability themselves. And we must have patience for the fact that their transition into a development model that works for them on their terms, may take more time than our transition. And since unequal consumption of global resources (like water and medicines and fossil fuels) is also limiting their options, we in the regions of the world that have been consuming more than our fair share will need to use less, figure out a way to repay our debts for having used more until now, and share equitably in the future.
CHAPTER 4
CONSUMPTION
So here we are. All sorts of Stuff is lining the real or virtual shelves of stores, ready to slip into our shopping carts or be assembled and shipped according to our desires. Enter the consumer. Stage left, stage right, storming stores and online shopping portals, armed with credit cards and freshly cashed paychecks. This stage of the game is What It’s All For—at least that’s what we’re told. For a moment, as the almighty consumer makes her selection from a long menu of choices, the entire world revolves around her. She experiences a surge of power as she trades her hard-earned money for a piece of Stuff and becomes its owner, either meeting a need, indulging a whim, shifting a bad mood—or maybe all three at once. “When things get tough, the tough go shopping,” as the bumper stickers used to say.
Lots of our favorite characters and cultural icons surround themselves with signature cool Stuff. Where would 007 be without his latest gadget, his perfectly