My cousin argued that her $12 Shein haul was 'ethical consumerism' at a family cookout

We were at my aunt's place in Phoenix last summer, and my cousin, Chloe, was showing off a huge bag of clothes. She said she got 15 pieces for under $60. I made a comment about how that price felt off, and she got really defensive. She said she was 'voting with her wallet' and supporting a brand that gives poor people like her access to fashion. She told me, 'At least I'm not dropping $200 on one shirt at some fancy store that probably uses the same factories.' It stuck with me because I see her point about cost, but I also know those prices don't add up for the people making the clothes. Is buying a lot of cheap stuff really more ethical than buying a few expensive things if the supply chain is still a mess?

4 comments

4 Comments

jenkins.elizabeth3mo ago

Her argument misses the point that ethical consumerism is about reducing overall consumption. Buying fifteen disposable items creates more waste than one durable shirt, regardless of the price tag. It's not just who makes your clothes, but how much trash you're making.

colescott3mo ago

But @jenkins.elizabeth, it's just a shirt.

fiona_carr263mo ago

Right, because the planet is saved when my one expensive shirt outlasts the fifteen I bought for the same price. Tell that to my bank account after it gets a red wine stain. Guess I'll just wear a stained potato sack for ten years to really lock in those eco points.

-1

marybutler24d ago

and honestly that whole argument with Chloe is just scratching the surface of something bigger I've been seeing everywhere. it's like people are so desperate to be a good person they'll bend over backwards to defend any choice they make, as long as they can slap a label on it. @colescott made a good point earlier but it's deeper than that - it's like we've turned shopping into a moral test where you just pick the right excuse. you see it with grocery hauls too, people buying a whole bunch of processed stuff but calling it budget-friendly and sustainable because they saved a buck. it's all just mental gymnastics to avoid facing the fact that we're all part of the same broken system and nobody knows how to fix it, so we just shout at each other about our shopping carts.