28
2010
i heart justice?
An article by 
I’ve got an iPhone and an Apple mini-mac. Have you ever unwrapped a new, glistening, dripping-with-hotness Apple product?
But I’ve been worried by what I’m hearing about them (see Caleb’s recent post). I’ve heard that the casing for the new iPads already have a space ready for rear-facing cameras in the slightly-higher-retail-priced models to be put before our lusting eyes in the near, perfectly-timed future…
Evil.
But it’s not just Apple or other huge, handcuffed-by-dividend-production-goals type of corporations that are evil, is it? Here are two facts to illustrate:
- I want sexy technology while it’s still trendy.
- I want to pay as little as possible for it.
These two facts nearly single-handedly create the evil in such corporations. Even when the corporations set guidelines for how much their factory workers should be paid and let us know how corporately responsible they are, this doesn’t stop those factories from cutting corners (and wages) to satisfy the high demand.
It makes me think of a very inconvenient truth. One we (myself included) doesn’t want to think about for too long…
Whilst we should passionately push for better legislation to keep corporations (and their suppliers) accountable, we have to repent of our desire for cheap stuff. When we get a great deal on something we say ‘it was a steal’ – because it was.
We didn’t pay for it – the producers did, by not spending time with their family or by not eating.
Anti-consumerism laws are great, but the hearts of consumers need to be transformed as well if there is going to be any lasting change. As long as I try to accomodate my demonic lust for cheap stuff into my Christian worldview, I continue to ‘cross to the other side of the road’ to avoid inconvenient realities – like the Law expert and Priest in the Good Samaritan story. Disciples of Jesus are called not only to stop and care for those wounded, beat-up and discarded by the system, but also to do whatever it takes to make sure they are looked after.
Perhaps this would mean instead of complaining about how much our sexy toys cost, we should complain that we’re not being charged enough? Imagine: “In the name of Jesus, please charge me more for this!!!”
* * *
Dale Campbell is a volunteer advocate for TEAR Fund New Zealand. He is an Associate Pastor at Northcote Baptist Church in Auckland, New Zealand, is studying for a BappTheol at Carey Baptist College, and runs a blog that is well worth reading called Fruitful Faith.
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About the Author: Dale Campbell
Dale is an advocate for TEAR Fund NZ and also serves as an Associate Pastor at Northcote Baptist Church.
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Instead of insisting on charging more in the name of Jebus I think it’s wiser to buy carefully the first time and hang on to it for longer. I’m proud of my Nokia 8210! I bought it second hand in the UK in 2002 for ~$50 and it’s still going strong (replaced the batter once).
iPhones are for wannabes who can’t handle the cool of an 8210
Damian, that is the coolest thing I’ve read all week! You rock! Like literally, you go to a concert and hold that glowing Nokia in the air and rock out, those iPhone posers got nothin on you! <3
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by TEAR Fund NZ, Frank Ritchie. Frank Ritchie said: RT @TEARFundNZ: i heart justice? http://bit.ly/bRUeIG [...]
Great post, Dale. Thanks for speaking the truth. Learning to be satisfied and joyful with little things… a true spiritual disciplined. To live simply.
I retweeted the @TearFundNZ mention via the Compassion International Twitter account (@compassion) and shared it on our Facebook page. There’s a discussion occurring on the latter, about 20 comments so far. Right now, it’s the third item from the top of the page.
http://www.facebook.com/compassionintl
Thought you might want to read those and maybe chime in. Thanks for the perspective.
Chris,
Great to hear from you and thanks heaps for promoting this article – the discussion it has generated on the Compassion page is brilliant and it’s great to see people throwing their thoughts around.
I just left a comment – it’s a pity that because of time difference I was sleeping while most the discussion happened!
Dale will join the conversation when he gets a chance… he’s a busy lad.
We are getting cheep clothes, electronics and even food not because our economic systems are successful enough to supply them to us, but because other countries legal systems are too weak not to.
Slavery has sustained the rich and powerful for almost all of human history, never more so than today. It has to stop.
Great article Dale and like Damian i take pride in my hot pink Motoroller which i have had for 5 or 6 years. I have seen my kids and friends all change to upgrade the same model. Mine keeps truckin on! I believe in mending clothes when they get holes and fixing old bikes & appliances. And seriously happy to pay more for an item if in know the profits are going to the producers! But how to tell?
I know someone that doesn’t have a cellphone (gasp!). Can you beat that?
When I was in primary school I remember in standard 4 (Year 6 I think) our class collating figures about what families had what stuff – a TV, car, telephone etc. It was an early lesson in statistics, but for me it was a lesson in humiliation as my home did not have a TV, car or phone simply because my mum couldn’t afford those things. I was the only one in that situation and for a long time afterwards (and even now) I craved ‘keeping up’ because I didn’t want to be the one left behind and not up with everyone else.
That experience of our cultural expectations around stuff at a young age had a profound impact on me.
What I love about your article, Dale, is that it challenges that cultural norm and how it outworks itself. It challenges me and my approach to stuff – it demands that I align my approach to the values I hold dear.
Great Article Dale
thank you for opening such a hot forum! I think you really have scratched the surface of our cultures insidious need to feel acceptance through buying the right product.
You sparked my attention on the iPhone, please let me tell you about my campaign called “Trade your iPod for life!” January last year i started a campaign convincing people to give up there iPods (and hopefully iPhones) to be sold to provide clean drinking water for those in desperate need.
At the heart of the campaign are two words REVOLUTION and SACRIFICE. Revolution because it truly is a revolution of the heart to lay down a luxury in order to help save the lives of many. Sacrifice because it is a form of worship to the LORD, anything that is lasting and life changing requires sacrifice.
It wasn’t easy to give up my iPod, i practically worshiped it everyday, in fact i saved money and planned for nearly 2 years before i bought it. That single sacrifice has turned into 10 iPods and over $11,000 for water in India.
My challenge to you Dale and other readers is if you really want to have a Revolution happen within your heart please consider laying down that iphone or iPod for the poor….Truly it will set you free. It has for me.
Carl
http://www.ipod4life.co.nz
I know someone that doesn’t have a cellphone (gasp!). Can you beat that?