Journal 21: Answering Tima's Questions
Back in November, Tima asked me a list of 20 questions pertaining to my project. I found her questions to e ones that made me realize some possible flaws in my project and the message I'm conveying with it. For this journal, I will be answering some of her questions most relevant to my project as it stands.
"What is your main goal for this project? To derive the price of one’s beliefs?"
My main goal for this project is to highlight the gap between what we say we care about and how we represent our beliefs in a consumer setting. If people wouldn't kill a cow on their own, what makes them feel okay buying a steak at the grocery store? If people are aware of the injustices of Forever 21's sweatshops, why is it still one of the nation's top-ranking stores economically? I want to explore what appears to be hypocrisy and find the root of it, free of assumptions or bias. Deriving the price of one's beliefs also plays a big role- I want to know how cost factors into what we consider morally just.
"Is your goal to change the value of ethics in consumers’ mind? Or do you want to merely observe?"
Yes! I want to observe as well as educate, and hopefully persuade others to shop more ethically. This requires a lot of differentiating between what I see as ethical and trying to find a universal set of ethical standards. The goal of my symposium presentation as well as some of my future SDA's will be both to educate and persuade.
"How will you judge one’s morality? Through your own lenses? How will you minimize your own biases in the project?"
I like this question a lot because it made me realize that what I consider ethical may not be ethical to others based on how other people were raised, culture, level of knowledge, and so on. I will be taking a look at the standards set by national associations dedicated to ethical consumerism, doing as much research as I can about injustices and unethical practices in consumer scenarios, and really getting to the root of each injustice. I realize that as a vegan feminist with fairly strong political opinions I might run into some bias, but I want to push past that knowing that I will be a better thinker for it. I plan on doing this by continuing to question my own beliefs the same way I will research the aforementioned injustices. I will also write from the center of the spectrum rather than provide one-sided information.
"Do you intend your research to be economic or philosophical?"
Although I am more philosophically-inclined than I am economically, I think both of these play an important role in the research I have cut out for me. The philosophical side of ethical consumerism is most interesting to me but I also find great importance in backing up feelings with fact, so to speak.
"How will Whole Foods prices change now that they have been acquired by Amazon? Will they have to loosen their standards to match Amazon’s low price strategy?"
Before the Amazon purchase went through, it was predicted that Whole Foods prices would drop approximately 43%. On my last trip to Whole Foods, I did not see a significant decrease in prices, but this article from Business Insider states that "an identical basket of items from a Whole Foods location in Brooklyn went from $97.76 pre-acquisition to $75.85 post-acquisition. It is my understanding that Amazon can lower prices at Whole Foods for some products and raise the prices on others: everyday staples like bananas or milk can be lowered in price with an increase in the price of more unusual products.
Some questions I have for myself after answering Tima's questions:
- Where are some areas in my research where I need to minimize my bias?
-Are philosophy and economics equally important to ethical consumerism? How do the two interact?