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ghoti_mhic_uaitI find this really, really hard, and I don't have a good answer. But it's like everything I do - I try and work out what I think and then say it just like that. From there, they ask questions to work out what they want to know.
The big one for us is chocolate, so I say, the people who grow that chocolate take children from their families and make them work instead of letting them be free and happy. Or similar. So we buy chocolate that lets people be free. Or for Nestle, the thing about water is what I normally say 'this company steal people's water and make them buy it back, but I think water is a basic human right'.
I want to protect my children as long as possible. But to a certain extent they just don't ask until they're old enough to hear the answer. Andreas knows that I'll say yes if it has the FairTrade symbol on, but doesn't really ask why it needs that, whereas Judith is more inclined to ask more details. But on the other hand, keeping them safe is a privelige and we owe it to our brethren who don't have that privilege to be upfront and honest both with ourselves and with our children. It's a balancing act.
The big one for us is chocolate, so I say, the people who grow that chocolate take children from their families and make them work instead of letting them be free and happy. Or similar. So we buy chocolate that lets people be free. Or for Nestle, the thing about water is what I normally say 'this company steal people's water and make them buy it back, but I think water is a basic human right'.
I want to protect my children as long as possible. But to a certain extent they just don't ask until they're old enough to hear the answer. Andreas knows that I'll say yes if it has the FairTrade symbol on, but doesn't really ask why it needs that, whereas Judith is more inclined to ask more details. But on the other hand, keeping them safe is a privelige and we owe it to our brethren who don't have that privilege to be upfront and honest both with ourselves and with our children. It's a balancing act.
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no subject
Date: 2015-12-03 03:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-12-03 04:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-12-03 06:21 pm (UTC)http://onedifference.org/
You're helping your kids to understand that not everyone has what we have and that helping other people is important.
no subject
Date: 2015-12-03 06:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-12-03 06:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-12-03 08:20 pm (UTC)Also, thank you for saying because I think it is an important point, and it isn't one I made.
no subject
Date: 2015-12-04 09:36 am (UTC)In the specific case of ethical consumerism it only ever comes up because we are trying to *do* something - even if it might not make a difference, we're making the effort.
So, thank you again for making me think about it.
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Date: 2015-12-04 11:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-12-04 09:27 am (UTC)That's basically what I planned to say about chocolate, back when they were too young to ask. (Except it's usually more like "we don't know whether the people who grow that chocolate take children etc"). But I've never actually said it. I just end up saying things like "The strawberry flavour one looks nice, do you want that instead?"
I don't want B to lie awake at night worrying she's going to be kidnapped by chocolate slavers (and she probably would worry that) - but I also don't think it would teach the right message to allay that fear by saying blithely "it's OK, it only happens to children in other countries!"
Also, it never seems the right time to have that discussion actually in the shop or cafe or whatever, but I don't think of it at other times.
I guess I could bring it up in a more positive way in the context of buying or cooking with some actual fairtrade chocolate, and then just refer back to it if she's asking for some other chocolate in a shop.
no subject
Date: 2015-12-04 09:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-12-05 10:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-12-10 06:19 pm (UTC)(Alison)
Bye the buy, there was a Charlie and Lola book about chocolate, which included fairtrade. I don't know if you've seen it?
no subject
Date: 2015-12-21 09:39 am (UTC)