The Harsh Realty of Holiday Shopping this Year

Talk about rich people problems

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry when I see headlines like this in reference to recent disruptions in the supply chain. For decades organizations like Institute for Local Self Reliance (ILSR) and Resilience.org have been warning us that the long and intricate supply chains that make our consumer lifestyle possible are “brittle.” They do not bend or have layers of redundancy or resilience. Any one piece of the complex puzzle can stop the whole thing.

This is the exact reality we are faced with today. Covid-shuttered factories, clogged ports and a shortage of truck drivers are making retailers sweat. The flow of cheap goods from Asia is compromised.

And what does that mean to you, the American consumer? The “harsh reality of holiday shopping” is that movie toys, designer handbags, and the latest smart phone may not make it here in time for gift giving. I wonder what sort of population has been trained to consider this a harsh reality?

A harsh reality is when basic needs are impacted by supply chain issues. Food, transportation, heating and cooling fuel, and, yes toilet paper, are basics- not toys, handbags and new gadgets. No one is going to suffer for lack of a new smart phone. The constant media trying to whip up panic over the impending gifting gap seems ridiculous.

Not only does it keep us locked in a narrow role of consumers, instead of citizens, but it also trivializes the potential for true shortages and true harsh realities connected to our brittle supply chain structure.

Truck driver and other worker shortages can leave food in fields, instead of shelves. Reliance on one fuel source, oil/gas pipelines, can leave people without heat or cooling, as we saw earlier this year. During the pandemic we saw how a lack of health care in one factory, could produce meat shortages all over the country.

The lesson to be learned from the continuation of supply chain challenges is not to shop early. We need to be looking at how our systems work, both personally, in our community, nationally and globally. Do we have multiple ways to meet our own basic needs? What can we fix instead of replace? Do we know where to get food from a local CSA? Can we create joy and connection during the holidays without piles of factory produced consumer goods?

Supply chain disruptions are real. Extreme weather, global health crisis, and worker exploitation will lead to continuations in these disruptions. We need to turn this harsh reality into an opportunity to claim an identity beyond consumer.

What role can we play in a resilient, local community? Producer, connector, repairer, healer, tinkerer, entertainer, grower … There is so much more to who we are than consumers panicked about not living up to a commercial holiday expectation.