vintageanchor: Alexander McCall Smith on the etiquette of ‘regifting.’ It is the perennial Christmas dilemma: how to deal with unwanted presents? “For some, the idea of “re-gifting” those novelty socks and chocolate fondue sets is the height of bad manners. Others argue it is a kinder alternative to binning ghastly gifts or consigning them to the back of the cupboard for all eternity. Alexander McCall Smith, the author, has come up with some advice to guide people through the moral maze. According to the creator of the No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, giving away or even selling a rubbish present is perfectly acceptable as long as one waits a month to do so. Dispensing words of wisdom to his Twitter followers, McCall Smith wrote: “Christmas brings a major moral problem: what to do with unwanted gifts. Initial reaction: one must pretend to like them…” Read more in The Telegraph.

vintageanchor:

Alexander McCall Smith on the etiquette of ‘regifting.’

It is the perennial Christmas dilemma: how to deal with unwanted presents?

“For some, the idea of “re-gifting” those novelty socks and chocolate fondue sets is the height of bad manners. Others argue it is a kinder alternative to binning ghastly gifts or consigning them to the back of the cupboard for all eternity. Alexander McCall Smith, the author, has come up with some advice to guide people through the moral maze. According to the creator of the No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, giving away or even selling a rubbish present is perfectly acceptable as long as one waits a month to do so. Dispensing words of wisdom to his Twitter followers, McCall Smith wrote: “Christmas brings a major moral problem: what to do with unwanted gifts. Initial reaction: one must pretend to like them…”

Read more in The Telegraph.

@5 months ago with 12 notes
#economy #consumerism #others #gifts #holiday #christmas #author 

"We were not born critical of existing society. There was a moment in our lives (or a month, or a year) when certain facts appeared before us, startled us, and then caused us to question beliefs that were strongly fixed in our consciousness-embedded there by years of family prejudices, orthodox schooling, imbibing of newspapers, radio, and television. This would seem to lead to a simple conclusion: that we all have an enormous responsibility to bring to the attention of others information they do not have, which has the potential of causing them to rethink long-held ideas."

Howard Zinn, 2005 (via gutenachtjane)

(via progressivehumanity)

@5 months ago with 15 notes
#activism #activist #author #consumerism #historian #information #question #thought #writer #facts #consciousness #society #ideas 

"Whether it’s a big camera lens or speakers attached to the phone, these consumers want focal points, because they are the “face” of products. Chinese consumers call this quality liangdian, or “shiny points,” in the design. These exaggerated features attract the attention of others and explicitly state that those are what consumers have paid money for. Products become valuable partly through the confirmation of one’s peers."

Shanzhai | Patterns from IDEO (via iamdanw)

(via slantback)

@8 months ago with 4 notes
#patterns #products #consumerism #people #text #design 
Organic Consumers Association http://www.organicconsumers.org/

Organic Consumers Association

http://www.organicconsumers.org/

@3 years ago
#organic #consumerism #health #justice #peace #food #eating #information #blog #articles #news 

"Please grant the people with taste, money and the people with money, taste"

http://www.jerrykott.com/ordering.page.htm
@3 years ago
#quote #saying #text #consumerism #money #life 

"…the system was not set up for educated people who thought for themselves, it wasn’t to help customers make informed decisions. The system was designed to catch people off guard, to score a quick sale, to exploit people who were weak or uninformed."

Farnam Street – Confessions of a Car Salesman (via slantback)

(via slantback)

@5 months ago with 4 notes
#system #society #consumerism #people #words #text 
elledark: Consumer Society - “Too many people spending money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.” .. Will Smith

elledark:

Consumer Society - “Too many people spending money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.” .. Will Smith

@7 months ago with 19 notes
#quote #humor #funny #image #economy #consumerism #vintage #home 

(via socialuprooting)

@8 months ago with 216 notes
#media #news #education #information #author #life #people #activism #consumerism 

Food Routes 

Where does your food come from?

@3 years ago
#food #farm #agriculture #consumerism #organic #eating #cooking #kitchen 
vintageanchor: Alexander McCall Smith on the etiquette of ‘regifting.’ It is the perennial Christmas dilemma: how to deal with unwanted presents? “For some, the idea of “re-gifting” those novelty socks and chocolate fondue sets is the height of bad manners. Others argue it is a kinder alternative to binning ghastly gifts or consigning them to the back of the cupboard for all eternity. Alexander McCall Smith, the author, has come up with some advice to guide people through the moral maze. According to the creator of the No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, giving away or even selling a rubbish present is perfectly acceptable as long as one waits a month to do so. Dispensing words of wisdom to his Twitter followers, McCall Smith wrote: “Christmas brings a major moral problem: what to do with unwanted gifts. Initial reaction: one must pretend to like them…” Read more in The Telegraph.
5 months ago
#economy #consumerism #others #gifts #holiday #christmas #author 
"…the system was not set up for educated people who thought for themselves, it wasn’t to help customers make informed decisions. The system was designed to catch people off guard, to score a quick sale, to exploit people who were weak or uninformed."
Farnam Street – Confessions of a Car Salesman (via slantback)

(via slantback)

5 months ago
#system #society #consumerism #people #words #text 
"We were not born critical of existing society. There was a moment in our lives (or a month, or a year) when certain facts appeared before us, startled us, and then caused us to question beliefs that were strongly fixed in our consciousness-embedded there by years of family prejudices, orthodox schooling, imbibing of newspapers, radio, and television. This would seem to lead to a simple conclusion: that we all have an enormous responsibility to bring to the attention of others information they do not have, which has the potential of causing them to rethink long-held ideas."
Howard Zinn, 2005 (via gutenachtjane)

(via progressivehumanity)

5 months ago
#activism #activist #author #consumerism #historian #information #question #thought #writer #facts #consciousness #society #ideas 
elledark: Consumer Society - “Too many people spending money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.” .. Will Smith
7 months ago
#quote #humor #funny #image #economy #consumerism #vintage #home 
"Whether it’s a big camera lens or speakers attached to the phone, these consumers want focal points, because they are the “face” of products. Chinese consumers call this quality liangdian, or “shiny points,” in the design. These exaggerated features attract the attention of others and explicitly state that those are what consumers have paid money for. Products become valuable partly through the confirmation of one’s peers."
Shanzhai | Patterns from IDEO (via iamdanw)

(via slantback)

8 months ago
#patterns #products #consumerism #people #text #design 
8 months ago
#media #news #education #information #author #life #people #activism #consumerism 
Organic Consumers Association http://www.organicconsumers.org/
3 years ago
#organic #consumerism #health #justice #peace #food #eating #information #blog #articles #news 
Food Routes→

Where does your food come from?

3 years ago
#food #farm #agriculture #consumerism #organic #eating #cooking #kitchen 
"Please grant the people with taste, money and the people with money, taste"
http://www.jerrykott.com/ordering.page.htm
3 years ago
#quote #saying #text #consumerism #money #life