Are poor folks and the middle class on the same side?
21st March 2009
The people who make that case are mostly affluent, upper-middle class folks. They want to eat local (preferably organic) food, buy stuff that isn’t made by children or slave labor, and avoid supporting activities that deplete fisheries or promote global warming. Their choices are limited, though, because there aren’t enough people like them. In order for the choices they want to be readily available, they need to expand the market–by getting the poor, working class, and middle class to buy into the whole “vote with your dollars” notion of supporting local production of food and crafts.
Think AlGore. Think the Obama Nation.
Yes, the folks shopping at the big box stores and eating at chain fast food restaurants are sending out of town money that local businesses might have used to hire them or buy from them, but they’re still coming out ahead. And that’s especially true of the poor and working-class folks.
Yes, if everyone tried to buy local, the money would stay in town–ready to be turned around to buy other local stuff and hire other local folks. The production wouldn’t end up in China or India or Bangladesh, and the profits wouldn’t end up on Wall Street. But the young couple trying to furnish their first apartment would have to sleep on the floor for months to cover the difference between a bed from Ikea and a bed made by a local woodworker. How long should they eat out of cooking pots to save up enough money to buy ceramic dishes produced by a local potter when they could buy some Corelle for just a few dollars? I’ve seen stainless steel flatwear on sale cheaper than plastic–what local producer could come close?