conscience consumerism

CONSCIOUSCONSCIENCE

CONSUMERISMDANIEL F SCHOENBERG ESQ

RABBI DR. ELLIOT SALO SCHOENBERGBETH SHOLOM SHABBATON

TEANECK NJ JANUARY 2017

THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU BUY

COMMERCIAL CONSUMERISM A SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC ORDER, AN IDEOLOGY THAT ENCOURAGES THE ACQUISITION OF GOODS AND SERVICES IN EVER-INCREASING AMOUNTS.

NOT ANTI CAPITALISM

• The goal of this presentation is not to get you to dislike capitalism, feel guilty or even buy less .

• We are asking you to think about things a little differently. More 21st century

WHY ARE WE BUYING

• Do we need it? Identify what is most important to you.

• Simple Life Manifesto • Advertisements• What my friends do/

Social Pressure• Local Culture – Two

Sinks

LIBERTARIANISM

• Economic freedom• Market Forces• Unbridled capitalism • No restraints on

corporations• Anti safety net

THE TRUE VALUE OF OUR PURCHASES

• Actual Monetary Value

• Social Value/Prestige• Internal Personal

Value

ECONOMIC FORCES

• Products that are supported succeed

• Ideas behind the product are also rewarded

COMPANIES ARE NOT MONOLITHIC

• Companies may support some of your values, but not all.

PUTTING IN A NEW KITCHEN - MATERIALS• Where are cabinets

made?• Much of the raw

material comes from China

PUTTING IN A NEW KITCHEN - CONTRACTORS

• Contractors• Price• Reputation• Record• References• Customer Service

IN GOD’S IMAGE

• And God created HA-ADAM in God’s own image (tzelem), in the image of God, God created him; male and female God created them.

• Genesis 1:27

CONSCIOUS CONSUMERISM WHEN WE DO NEED TO BUY SOMETHING, WE CAN TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE IMPACT.

INFLUNCE THEORY

• Companies follow the market

• Companies change their behavior to fit the market

• Companies react to Social Media

DATA: MORE RAW MATERIAL AVAILABLE TODAY THAN EVER BEFORE

HOW MUCH THOUGHT DO YOU ACTUALLY PUT INTO A

PURCHASE• Where are they

from?• Who do they

support?• What tools do you

have?/ app for cheapest cost.

• How much time are you willing to take?

“I DON’T KNOW” NO LONGER APPLIES

• Transparency and outside organizations

• Easy to discover • Bar Codes/ Labels/

QR codes• Internet searches

KITCHEN- DECISIONS TO MAKE

• Island or Peninsula • Sustainable

Hardwoods• Conscious decision

not buy any product made in China.

SUSTAINABILITY

• "The human being was placed in the Garden of Eden to till it and to tend it

• Genesis 2:15

CONSCIENCE CONSUMERISM

SOME VALUES TO CONSIDER

• Environment• People• Gender equality • Animals• Politics• Product

sustainability

WHAT VALUES SHOULD YOUR MONEY REPRESENT?• Personal Values • Jewish Values• Local economy• Local community• Global economy• Global community

JEWISH VALUES – SUPPORTING ISRAEL

• BDS - Boycott Divest Sanction

• Olive oil made in Canaan but Fair Trade

POLITICAL AFFILIATION

• What issues or politicians do the companies behind the products support?

• Kraft foods opposes the legalization of marijuana

LGBTQ

• Does the corporation fire people for being gay?

• Allow same sex benefits?

THE HIDDEN COSTS OF PRODUCTION

• Child labor• Environmental

impact• Gender inequality

JEWISH TEXT

• "And you shall love your neighbor as yourself." -- Rabbi Akiva Said, "This is the great principle of the Torah.  

• NEDARIM 30B JERUSALEM TALMUD

CORPORATE GREED

COMPANIES HAVE KILLED TO KEEP PRICES LOW

COMPANIES WILL DESTROY THE ENVIRONMENT

CHILD LABOR

• Once they have been taken to the cocoa farms, the children may not see their families for years, if ever.

• Most of the children laboring on cocoa farms are between the ages of 12 and 16, but reporters have found children as young as 5.

WORKING CONDITIONS

• Bangladesh factory collapse

UNSAFE WORKING CONDITIONS

• Big branch West Virginia Mine – 29 Miners

• Chile – Atacama Desert – 33 rescued

• India – Lalmatia 17 died (January 1, 2017)

WAGES

• Living Wage• Minimum

Wage• No floor

EXTERNALITIES

•What goes into goods?•Supply train

MODERN SLAVERY

WATER AND AIR POLUTION

• Retail manufacturing pollution is only surpassed by oil and gas

KITCHEN – MADE IN AMERICA

JEWISH TEXT

 A widow may only collect [the debt owed from her Ketubah] from the property of orphans if she swears an oath [Shavua]. They stopped swearing, so Rabban Gamliel the Elder instituted that she may promise whatever they desire, and she can then collect her Ketubah. Witnesses sign on a Get, because of Tikkun Olam. Hillel instituted the Pruzbol because of Tikkun Olam Mishnah Gitin 4:3

CHOICE

FINITE PLANET, FINITE RESOURCES

• From oil to precious metals, most of our natural resources are limited and non-renewable.

• The broad availability of cheap consumer goods can hide this fact.

• Energy trumps safety?• Biodiversity is for sale

CAN YOU GET THE GOODS YOU WANT REPRESENT YOUR VALUES AT THE SAME

TIME?

• All about choice• Always?• Sometimes?• Never?

DOLLAR VOTING

• “Every time you spend a dollar you are casting a vote for the kind of world you want. “ – Anna Lappe

• Companies follow the dollar

• Every dollar every day

DOLLAR VOTING

• Every time we spend our cash we are making an active choice about the companies we support and the products they produce

• Positive buying• Moral boycott

DOLLAR VOTING

DOLLAR VOTING

• Demonstrates alignment with your Values

INFLUENCE THEORY

NOT TZEDAKAH - THIS IS EMPOWERMENT

• Inclusive of others living in difficult circumstances

• Dignity of work - A.D Gordon

• Ladder of Charity - Maimonides

KITCHEN - CHOICES

• Every day a decision• Big decision push out or

keep within the footprint• Small: What size cabinet

door handles?• Anxious each time• Others even hire someone

to make these decisions for them to lower anxiety

HIGHEST LEVEL OF CHARITY

CHANGE

CONSUMER AS HERO

TOOLS TO HELP YOU BE A CONSCIOUS CONSUMER

JUST THINK

• Shades of Grey• Pay Attention

MINDFULNESS

THINK COFFEE

• End child labor• Fight human

trafficking every day • Preserve the bird

migration routes

THINK CHOCOLATE

• Fight human trafficking

• Fight child labor • Gender equality

THINK FASHION

• Protect the environment from poisoning

• Protect the worker from poisoning

RABBI YISRAEL SALANTER

• When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world. I found it was difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation. When I found I couldn't change the nation, I began to focus on my town. I couldn't change the town and as an older man, I tried to change my family. Now, as an old man, I realize the only thing I can change is myself, and suddenly I realize that if long ago I had changed myself, I could have made an impact on my family. My family and I could have made an impact on our town. Their impact could have changed the nation and I could indeed have changed the world

THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU BUY