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