What Do Economics, Marketing and Glee Have In Common?

One of the liveliest Discussion Boards this semester in my ECO course was “What about all my stuff?” It concerned supply and demand, why we buy goods and services, the satisfaction derived from those goods and services and whether the owner of the greatest amount of stuff is the winner. Is happiness determined by who has the most, or who needs the least? More than a few people pointed out that all the stuff requires a place, even to the point of renting a storage unit. We discussed when is it enough, what drives us to buy so much and the role of marketing in our decision-making process.

Throughout the semester, the Marketing Discussion Board questions took on many of the same issues. Does marketing help us to make choices or are so many choices created to drive consumerism? Is marketing about satisfying needs and wants, or does it create what we think we need and want? When does it become out of control or greedy?

This brings us to Glee. I admit that Glee is one of my guilty pleasures. Each episode is a morality tale enveloped in great song and dance routines. The 12/13/11 show was about the true meaning of Christmas, and it is not Santa, expensive gifts and excessive consumption.

As you celebrate this holiday season (Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Bodhi Day, Solstice, Festivus, or any other significant day in your winter calendar), why not take the opportunity to reflect on what is important? Gifts and toys are nice to give and receive, especially for young children. Yes, your daughter wants an iPad and your son wants an iPhone. Your grandchild really wants an Xbox. Do they need ten other things as well? Should you overextend your credit?  Are you comfortable or able to spend so much money?

Perhaps you can give some gifts to your loved ones and donate one or two to a local charity? Maybe, instead of more stuff, you can give the gift of time or experience to your spouse, significant other or parent. Go to a cozy B&B for the weekend; take your mother to a nice show; clean your grandmother’s garage; take your child to a sporting event. For the person who truly has everything, make a donation to his or her favorite charity or cause.  If the economy has hit you hard, you are getting by or you are doing well, the gift of yourself is priceless.

When I was PTA president, we started a book donation program to the school library in honor of a special person. The librarian gave us a wish list, and we suggested that parents donate the book in a teacher’s name instead of giving a holiday or end of year gift. A fancy bookplate identified the honoree. Despite Kindle, Nook and the iPad, a real book still makes a nice gift but there are many other options. I am sure local community centers and programs have wish lists of their own.

This post is by no means a Bah, Humbug to the holiday season. It is a suggestion to take a deep breath and not be caught up in the gimme frenzy. You have control, not the marketers!

Best wishes for a happy, healthy and peaceful end of 2011 and start of 2012.

Low Wage Workers and Christmas

I was seven years old when I found out Santa Claus did not exist.  Up to that point I had been a very good boy, always treading carefully to make sure that I’d be on the good list at the end of the year –as if getting some dispensable presents was the most important thing in the world.  It was in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve when I lay quietly on the floor behind our living room couch and watched my mother put the presents under a Christmas tree.  And the next day when I opened my gift –it was a remote control car –she proceeded to tell me how much Santa loved me and how he had come in the middle of the night to deliver the toys for my brothers and I.

I was never tricked into believing Santa existed ever again, but since then I have often thought about what a simple toy can do for a child.  Those who have very little to survive on, cannot afford to give their children the simple toys that I scoffed at as a child.  But a toy can brighten a kid’s life in such enormous ways.  Children’s imagination allows them to make something out of nothing –and that is a fact that I can attest to, having spent a good deal of my childhood coming up with creative ways to entertain myself.

I recently saw a news clip where a young boy was talking about a program where he was given the chance to pick any gift to give to his family members.  I thought it was interesting that he’d pick gifts for his loved ones and not himself –I suppose he knows more about Christmas than I ever will.

But with all thoughts about Christmas and toys, a few moments must be spared to think about those who make the toys that mothers fight over at the stores and people line up for.  Most toys are made by low wage workers in under-developed countries and developing countries.  Their cost of living might be lower than ours –and one can even make the argument that at least they have a job –but there is a certain level of demoralization that comes with being a low wage worker.  Low wage workers don’t get the respect or the adoration that high earners get, and one has to imagine it is worst in countries where the focus is on production at all costs.  Worst of all, they don’t get the benefits afforded to others.

Labor laws are not the same in all countries, and we cannot expect others to hold the same standards in terms of the treatment of workers, but when this time of the year comes, it is perhaps a minimal gesture to think about the things we buy, where we buy them from, and the conditions under which they were made.  Whatever our interpretations of what Christmas means, we cannot hide away from the fact that while we drink our eggnog and unwrap our gifts, the majority of people who make those items have a hard time getting through the holidays.

Charles Hedji is pursuing a BA in Communications and Culture.  He is the author of “Fields of Discovery”, and “On the Eve of Departure”.  He is also an avid Arsenal and Real Madrid fan.