9781626569768

possibilities, and creative possibilities unfold.
Every single time!
Unapologetic Inquiry #14
When was the last time you made a purchase because you didn’t feel
“good enough”? Did the purchase change how you felt? If so, how
and for how long?
Best-Interest vs. Detriment Buying
Divesting from the Body-Shame Profit Complex requires us to imagine
what a radical self-love economy might look like. Manifesting such an
economy entails observing our personal impact in the worldwide
marketplace and asking ourselves, “What kind of consumer am I?” I
propose that most of our purchases generally fall into two primary
categories: best-interest buying and detriment buying. Best-interest buying
is a model that asks us to allow our economic investments, whether they be
lattes, lipsticks, neckties, or stock portfolios, to reflect our commitment to
radical self-love for our own lives and for the lives of others. Best-interest
buying furthers our radical self-love journey by connecting how we spend
our resources with what we truly want for our lives, not simply in the short
term to avoid feelings of not being “enough.” In this model, we ask
ourselves if what we are buying is a desire rooted in radical self-love. Being
a best-interest buyer does not happen overnight, and is not a zero-sum
proposition. Given how rarely we are in control of how products are
sourced and made, it is easy to make purchases that pass muster in regard to
our personal motives for buying them while subsequently being a source of
harm because of exploitative or unethical practices at the hands of the
product makers. These systems of oppression are intricately woven together
and will be hard to fully divest from. When we are unable to do no harm,
our work is to do as little harm as possible. We do not become best-interest
buyers by being judgmental jerks toward ourselves about our purchases or
flagellating ourselves for being suckers conned by the BSPC. Instead we