Tuesday, May 25, 2004
Informed consumerism at the pump?
Something I just heard on Air America Radio makes me wonder: Wouldn't it be good if petrol stations made the source(s) of their petrol publicly known? That way we could, say, choose to buy leftist, socialist Venezuelan oil rather than oppresive, sexist Saudi oil.
Or perhaps we'd prefer, even pay, not to know how our purchases are violating our personal ethics?
Come to think of it, there was a time where I didn't use Total Garages because I was told that they used Burmese oil...
From Chichester Terrace, Brighton
Something I just heard on Air America Radio makes me wonder: Wouldn't it be good if petrol stations made the source(s) of their petrol publicly known? That way we could, say, choose to buy leftist, socialist Venezuelan oil rather than oppresive, sexist Saudi oil.
Or perhaps we'd prefer, even pay, not to know how our purchases are violating our personal ethics?
Come to think of it, there was a time where I didn't use Total Garages because I was told that they used Burmese oil...
From Chichester Terrace, Brighton
Comments:
The idea of paying extra to hide the truth of any moral violation implied by our purchases is great ... except for one detail.... it would implicate all luxury goods.
Now, maybe that's not far off the mark ... but somehow the market appears to usually work the other way around. You pay a premium for the extra information that proves that a given purchase is in line with your ethics. So, being ethically consistent is valued as a luxury.
Of course the other problem is that most products have a kind of ethical ambiguity, or 'contamination' ... 80% oil from Saudia Arabia .. 20% Venezuela. Then there are no easy choices.
Oli
Now, maybe that's not far off the mark ... but somehow the market appears to usually work the other way around. You pay a premium for the extra information that proves that a given purchase is in line with your ethics. So, being ethically consistent is valued as a luxury.
Of course the other problem is that most products have a kind of ethical ambiguity, or 'contamination' ... 80% oil from Saudia Arabia .. 20% Venezuela. Then there are no easy choices.
Oli
Oli, you mistyped your first sentence, right? "Paying extra to hide the truth"?
I think oil is such a massively important special "luxury" that it is worthy of singling it out for consideration. It is not its luxury status which makes informed decisions involving it so essential. Rather, it is because it is so non-exclusive and everyday for most Western consumers that it is crucial to get the ethics of it right.
I don't think the 80%/20% issue is a problem. You just buy the petrol that has the least amount of Saudi petrol in the mix. Of course, there will be more complex situations that might require a judgement call rather than following a simple rule. But that's how it always is with ethics. Nevertheless, that isn't a justification for making uninformed decisions.
Post a Comment
I think oil is such a massively important special "luxury" that it is worthy of singling it out for consideration. It is not its luxury status which makes informed decisions involving it so essential. Rather, it is because it is so non-exclusive and everyday for most Western consumers that it is crucial to get the ethics of it right.
I don't think the 80%/20% issue is a problem. You just buy the petrol that has the least amount of Saudi petrol in the mix. Of course, there will be more complex situations that might require a judgement call rather than following a simple rule. But that's how it always is with ethics. Nevertheless, that isn't a justification for making uninformed decisions.
