A lot of current hipster/liberal/indie kid thought is centered around what I consider to be a fallacy. This myth that it's somehow automatically more noble, more ethical, and more pure to support the little guy. From Grateful Dead parking lots, to Etsy to Farmer's Markets this idea has been tenacious- but it's not true. Buying crap is buying crap, regardless. Sure, you can dress it up in words- be it "Luxury" or be it "Fair Trade"- but the naked fact is still- you're exchanging money for goods and/or services. Now, your job in this transaction is to meet your demand- to get the best, and most for your money that you can. The seller's job is to get as much of your money as they can. How each of you do that is up to the individuals involved. So, if to you, it's more important that you buy a hemp watchband than that you buy a cheaper nylon one- that's your demand, not anything else, right? So, when sellers use a term like "hand made" or "local" as marketing terms- they are preying upon demand every bit as much as the proverbial used car salesman using the words "cheap" or "sale".
I'm pretty self aware, and, yes, environmental concerns are pretty big for me- I do try to eat fairly local, because I don't think it's a good idea to ship corn across the country to put it on my plate- and I do try to keep my own driving down. But, if I were to only shop local for say CDs, I wouldn't have much to choose from. My solution to this is to buy a lot of downloads from Amazon, and Bandcamp and so on- but that means it's a little less direct than going out to see the bands, and buying CDs from them- but at the same time- sometimes that can be a good thing too- ever meet some rocknroll guy who comes across all kinds of "right on" on the record, but is a total ass in real life? I bet you have. Because it happens a lot. The same thing goes for buying local, or hand crafted. For every gem, there has to be at least 50 jerks.
So, an example- recently I conducted an experiment- I wanted to gauge the customer service for several boutique guitar effects companies. So, I wrote and called several. Guess what? I found a goodly percentage to be utter jerks. Some never contacted me back, some were rude in their replies, some gave out prefabricated "form" responses. So, how would that be better than going to the guitar store, and paying less to get the same metal box, that does roughly the same thing as their little metal box? Now, there was an exception-as I said last post- Noisemaker Effects. Oh, and they charge roughly the same as the mass market folks- maybe even a little less But, again, it's the exception that proves the rule. Likewise, I used to go to the "Crafty Bastards" giant craft fair in Washington DC. No longer. I got tired of being herded around like I'm shopping at Best Buy on Black Friday, and being overcharged for "Art" that came from a kit. I used to go, to see some friends- but now, I'd prefer to just chat with those friends, and buy crap online.
Think about Ebay- supposedly, sometimes you're buying from an individual, right? Ever have one of them rip you off? Or, how about this- ever have one of them bid on their own item at the last minute, to raise the price beyond your perfectly reasonable bid? Individuals suffer from greed and dishonesty at least as often as major corporations.
So, your hemp watchband? You got that because you wanted a hemp watchband. The nylon one probably has about the same moral weight as your hemp one.
This same thing applies towards services, by the way. I've watched, with frustration, as my Parents have gone to a string of bad mechanics because those mechanics were "friends" I've seen many a young girl get just horrifically bad tattoos from their boyfriends who are "apprentices" at some parlour or another. I've watched neighbours get ripped off by their "christian" plumber.
What I'm saying is that if you really wanted the nylon watchband, don't let anyone guilt you into the hemp one. I'm saying if you really wanted to go to the Ke$ha concert, not the Neko Case one, go and do. Most importantly, don't put up with a seller who tries treat you badly, like there's something wrong with you, unless you buy exactly what they want you to. It's up to you to satisfy your needs. Don't let people tell you that you're bad for it. Unless you're eating Big Macs. Those things are horrible!
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