It wasn't that long ago that the act of “gift giving” didn't require a maddening trip to Walmart or a desperate online search for this season's must-have toy. Rather, a gift implied something from within, a little piece of yourself, no matter how small, showing you care.
Could that old-fashioned concept possibly become new-fashioned? Yes.
With today's working-class depression severely restricting the ability of most people to splurge on “stuff,” and with the public's rising unwillingness to keep shoveling their money at narcissistic corporate profiteers, a return to a more modest — but also deeper — spirit of gift-giving seems to be spreading.
Realizing that buying globalized corporate crap is not really a gift, more and more people are putting their money where their values are. They're buying from local artisans, fair-trade merchants, certified sweatshop-free manufacturers, recycling shops, co-ops, farmers markets, homeless centers, church bazaars, charities and other sources of the burgeoning non-corporate economy. And what if you used your gifts as a way to inspire the recipients of your presents to tap into their own generosity? This is surprisingly easy to do. As proposed by a Methodist church group in my town of Austin, Texas, just send a bit of cash to that grandson, niece, mother-in-law or whomever — on the condition that they must donate the money to a charitable organization of their choosing. Yes, they might very well donate to some group that you don't like, but stimulating the philanthropic impulse in today's self-focused society is itself a radical act. Five dollars, 50, 100 or whatever can make recipients think beyond their own possessions — and that alone is a big social advancement.
This year, I finally mastered the art of finding perfect gifts for people on my list — gifts that rise above crass commercialism and are genuinely appreciated by the people who receive them. I wholeheartedly recommend such gift-giving to you. For example, I gave a goat to my mother, Lillie. It was for her birthday, so I even named the animal after her. Although she was raised on a farm, Momma is now in her 90s and really doesn't want to tend to a goat — but she loved getting it. That's because the critter wasn't delivered to her, but to an impoverished family in Nepal that desperately needs the nutritional, economic and life-affirming benefits that can flow from something as basic as a goat.
Her gift — which indeed will keep giving — was made possible by Heifer International, a terrific charitable organization based in Little Rock, Ark., that copes with global poverty one animal at a time. Heifer publishes a gift catalogue that allows you and me to make a donation that purchases anything from a flock of baby chicks ($20) to a water buffalo ($250). Heifer then distributes the animals to families around the world who put these living donations to work, lifting them and entire villages out of abject poverty. Not only does Heifer connect us to specific needs, but it also has teachers and development experts on staff who work directly with the recipients to … well, to make the gifts work.
There are dozens of good groups that offer such “gifts that matter.” For example, my Christmas gift to Momma came from the catalogue of The Nature Conservancy. She is now the symbolic “owner” of two acres in Appalachia that are part of the group's conservation efforts. For her — and for me — this kind of giving is a lot more satisfying (and a lot truer to the spirit of giving) than buying another “thing” that she doesn't need.
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
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