An undercurrent in my thinking for many years, nearer the surface some times than others, is that I need to research certain aspects of living, so that I may live well, which to me means encouraging positive facets of the world and hindering negative aspects through my choices. I tend to get impatient with people who show no interest in tracking down the root causes of problems, in order to best solve them; I should start with myself. What I mean is, I keep thinking about going vegetarian, for both health and philosophical reasons, and I want to inventory the stuff I use and make sure it's based as little as possible on the exploitation of people, animals, and/or wilderness areas.

I got to thinking about the latter this last week because of several things: a mention that Hanes shirts "have a sketchy international labor policy," another mention that Nike is trying to buy Converse, though fair labor practices aren't really the topic there. It just reminded me of how I felt guilty buying a pair of Nike shoes a few months ago, frustrated that in all the athletic shoe stores in my normal shopping area, the only pair of all-black walking shoes that I could find anywhere were a pair of Nikes, and only in one store (of about five or six) did I find them. I justified it to myself that I haven't done my research yet, so I don't know whether any of the other shoe companies do any better; perhaps Nike has simply been the biggest target.

But that's just using procrastination to justify inaction. Pfft.

So I thought, "hm. Converse. Let's see if Converse is better." And I did a Google on something like "converse socially responsible". And I found (among other things) a webpage called "Compassionate Consumption" which seems to have a lot of good information and links. The site is by a group of Franciscans in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Which reminds me of a sign I saw taped to a lamppost in San Francisco, that read "SAINT FRANCIS WAS A BEGGAR ON THE STREETS OF ASSISI." Which was another of the little tweaks that helped push me into this current cycle of thinking.

Any day now, I will have no more excuses.

copyright 2003 carrie lynn king.