The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
12 — Wednesday, December 2, 2020
statement
S
o, do you want me to buy a share
of a water buffalo or a flock of
chicks?” my friend Kat asked me
as we discussed what we wanted for the
upcoming holiday season. After a few min-
utes of searching the internet, we some-
how ended up on the website of Heifer In-
ternational, a global nonprofit that aims to
provide livestock and services to farmers.
According to their website, a donation
of $25 provides a tenth of a water buffalo
to help farmers plow their fields. For $20,
they can provide a family with the ability
to produce eggs to eat and sell.
There are countless charities like Heif-
er International, as there are countless
causes we can donate to. Though there
is research and philosophical debate on
which causes we should prioritize and
what organizations and interventions are
most effective, there is no consensus for
consumers to take to the bank. This is a
concept I’ve thought about and struggled
with before as a result of enrolling in Phil
250: From Climate Change to Poverty, I
don’t know which causes have the great-
est need on the grand scale of world issues
and further, what each organization can
do with a small donation. As a society, we
lack the necessary information and time
to determine which causes are most effec-
tive. There are no red flags on websites of
ineffective charities directing donors to
superior ones and the information avail-
able requires dedication and certain skills
to purposely sift through it (though there
are efforts to solve this problem, such as
givewell.org
and
charitynavigator.org).
Even with the necessary information, we
would require value judgements to deter-
mine which causes should have the utmost
priority. However, I do know that whatev-
er a small donation accomplishes for any
charity will do more good than the gifting
of another fuzzy blanket or tie dye sweat-
shirt.
Looking at the current state of the world
through the lens of my 19th holiday season,
it is easy to wonder why we buy and receive
gifts we do not want or need. We could
skip participating in Secret Santa at the of-
fice and instead send life-saving medical
care to a child in need. People around the
world are facing utter destitution, and we
continue to make frivolous purchases of
cheap jewelry and holiday scented lotions.
The fact these decisions are made every
day, when we drop by Starbucks and buy
products glorified by TikTok, makes this a
daily dilemma, though perhaps even more
so considering the increase in superfluous
spending during the holiday season. This
year, our consumption could easily be put
under more intense levels of scrutiny con-
sidering the exacerbation of hunger and
homelessness the pandemic has caused in
the United States alone, in addition to the
global consequences of COVID-19.
All things considered, finding a palat-
able level of generosity is extremely diffi-
cult, on both a personal and societal level
— intellectuals have debated this issue for
decades. Philosopher Peter Singer pro-
posed in a paper published in 1972, “Fam-
ine, Affluence and Morality,” that we have
a moral obligation to donate every pos-
sible dollar until we are in a similar state
of those we are donating to, or must sacri-
fice something of moral importance in or-
der to donate. Though many find Singer’s
standard for moral righteousness in terms
of charity too extreme, it is staggering that
we participate in any unnecessary and un-
fulfilling gift-giving in light of the grandi-
osity of the world’s problems and the fact
we can easily do something about them.
These ideas, combined with my enroll-
ment in Philosophy 250 — a course that
studies the effectiveness of aid interven-
tions and attempts to determine those
which we ought to prioritize — has made
me question my typical methods of gift-
giving.
W
hy do we give gifts in the first
place? To show our love, our
affection or the effort we put
into relationships and valuing the people
in our lives? If that’s the case, wouldn’t a
heartfelt note or gesture be sufficient? Is
the point of gifting to provide things for
people that they have great use or need
for, that they would not have otherwise? If
that’s the case, how have we come to buy
people their 14th pair of boots and niche
kitchen gadgets?
The practice of gift-giving has been
dramatically altered by the commercial-
ization of holidays and the transition into
a consumer-driven society, regardless of
whether these causes are inspired by com-
modities becoming cheaper, people spend-
ing more, people having more money or a
combination of multigenerational factors.
As a result of the changing culture, many
of us find ourselves buying unneeded,
unwanted gifts due to the idea that con-
suming and gifting something is an easier,
safer option than having slightly difficult,
awkward conversations about thought-
ful, meaningful generosity and kindness.
Gifting during holidays, birthdays, retire-
ments and graduations is complicated by
unclear obligations, confusing expecta-
tions and conflicting affirmations that in-
dividuals tie to receiving and giving gifts.
We ask ourselves whether we should bring
gifts to our partner’s parents when com-
ing over for holiday dinner and worry
about the message not bringing a candle
or a bottle of wine could send. We have
difficulties discussing spending limits on
gifts with people that are relatively new,
albeit important, in our lives, if we want
to purchase them a gift in the first place.
To no avail, “Friends,” “Gossip Girl,” “The
Big Bang Theory” and other shows have
comedically explored the conundrums of
whether or not to buy, what to buy and
how much to spend in an hour or less, usu-
ally leaving us with more questions than
we started with.
Regardless of these complexities, the
fact remains that the holiday season pres-
ents some of us with the opportunity to do
good, whether it be with our purchasing
power or our time. In fact, the holidays
may look very different for millions of
Americans and thousands of college stu-
dents this year, considering the financial
repercussions of the pandemic. We ought
to ask ourselves the tough questions when
it comes to the annual splurge on those
closest to us and reflect when people ask
what we are wishing for.
If we do decide to purchase gifts, we
ought to consider what to buy and where
to buy it from. Should we avoid Amazon
and look local? Is it mandatory to purchase
from a company with sustainable and fair-
trade practices, one with philanthropic
initiatives, instead of from whatever com-
pany provides free shipping or the lowest
total price?
Looking toward the holidays, I ask my-
self these questions while acknowledging
my family and I are extremely lucky to not
need groceries, a rent cut or new clothes.
If I do decide to purchase gifts, buying
from a company that pays its employees
a living wage and uses recycled materi-
als, carbon-offset shipping and fair labor
practices is the only option I can defend.
However, I know my mom does not need
another pair of earrings to clutter her van-
ity and my dad does not need another flan-
nel to cram in his closet. To them, agreeing
to a marathon of Westerns I cannot stand
or organizing my mom’s cassette collec-
tion is likely a greater expression of love
and gratitude than anything I could buy.
For my sister, who is in pursuit of a Ph.D.,
I plan on writing a note of encouragement
complete with a reimbursement for her
application to her dream school. In normal
times, spending time together or volun-
teering with friends would create memo-
ries worth more than a gift card. This year,
I hope to plan something my friends and I
can safely enjoy in the spirit of the season.
Though I love gorgeous, gold wrapping
paper and the way my mom ties her bows,
meaningful acts of thoughtfulness, charity
and generosity make a much more beau-
tiful holiday scene to me than mounds of
packages under our tree.
There may be a fine line between cau-
tious consumption and overthinking it,
there may be an answer to the decision
of whether to consume or donate. And if
there is, I have not found it in Philosophy
250, nor have I found it in personal pur-
suits, and it is highly unlikely I will by my
final exam or even by the time I graduate.
All I can do to move forward each day, and
through this holiday season, is critically
consider the countless social, philosophi-
cal and ethical questions that manifest in
decisions concerning my purchasing pow-
er.
At the end of the day, or rather at the
start of our shopping, the question is not
what is the absolute best, most effective
way to spend our money. The question is,
given the information we have and our cir-
cumstances of the holiday season, are we
doing the best we can?
To give
or
not to
give?
BY LEAH LESZCZYNSKI, STATEMENT COLUMNIST