The Economy and Morality

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What do these have in common? A lot! I heard that Starbucks and other companies support Planned Parenthood. So I thought about it. “Designer” coffee shops can charge a lot for some cups of coffee. If couples have large families would $4 for a cup of latte be on this list when you can buy a pound of coffee and make coffee for .25c a cup? Any connection between this and support for planned parenthood? You see, I think many put money above human life in this country. We Catholics can’t sit by and watch and feed into this economic and social system in which marriage and family life take a back seat to money and business while unborn children are being destoryed every day. Then at Christmas time what do these business do? They use the “holiday” season to make more money!!!

What about China. How many of us will pile gifts made in China under our Christmas trees? It’s hard to avoid products made in China and I buy them also. However, China has a forced abortion policy and perhaps slave-like labor. Is this not also economy above human life?

Catholics, avoid spending money with companies that support this evil economic system. It’s not always convenient and sometimes we might compromise but it’s not too difficult to find out which companies support Planned “Parenthood”. Make no mistake we are face to face with a real evil in this society and can’t ignore it. If every Catholic spenf their money with family and pro-life motivation I believe that alone may be enough to turn the tide. So let’s do it. Commit to sepnding your money in support of family.
 
What about China. How many of us will pile gifts made in China under our Christmas trees? It’s hard to avoid products made in China and I buy them also. However, China has a forced abortion policy and perhaps slave-like labor. Is this not also economy above human life?
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Let’s boycott Chinese products. Because economically devastating China wouldn’t potentially hurt millions of innocent Chinese, and the Communists didn’t take power at a time of economic and military crisis. No sir-ree.
 
I would be very hesitant in buying toys from China these days…we get press releases across our desk daily, because we have many China HQ’d businesses as clients, who are being sued left and right, because of their lead based toys, etc. Among other reasons, I would be wary about toys, etc from China.

Coder–you make great points! I totally agree.
 
Thank you Markstorm and whatevergirl.

In the Anchor magazine (a Catholic magazine) they give an example of how we can use our normal spending to promote family and life. If one goes through masscitizensforlife.org/ to Amazon.com (and not Amazon.com directly) 5% of the proceeds goes to Mass Citizens for Life.

This is one example. Others:

Don’t support comapnies that back planned parenthood. I think some current common ones are Pepsi, Starbucks, and Kraft.

Try to avoid pharmacies that sell abortion pills. I think CVS is an example.

Support Catholic hospitals and patronize Catholic fitness centers (e.g. Charitas Christi).

We Catholics need to get more involved in businesses. Start a business. Hire pregnant mothers (for jobs they can do safely of course). Advertise that you are Catholic friendly and that you support family life. Let’s be shrewd as serpents and take over this economy and restore this country to moral leadership instead of the filth that is so prevalant in this country.
 
Am I correctly interpreting your post as sarcasm?

I am, but Coder doesn’t seem to…
Markstorm said:
Let’s boycott Chinese products. Because economically devastating China wouldn’t potentially hurt millions of innocent Chinese, and the Communists didn’t take power at a time of economic and military crisis. No sir-ree.
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Until last week, I did not know that Starbucks was a contributor to Planned Parenthood. Now that I have been able to withstand from indulging in a year-long awaited Cranberry Bliss Bar, I can now tackle any boycot.

Merry Christmas to you all.
 
Hi, it may be that Starbucks matches employee contibutions to Planned Parenthood but does not directly donate. This is is still an issue. Also Starbucks has allowed a pro-homosexual statement and (somewhat) anti-religion statement(s) on their mugs.

The key is to avoid supporting abortion and other immorality. Use your judgement about Starbucks. They’re off my list. I’m not saying I would never make an exception but generally I plan to avoid patronizing them.
 
Ebay is next…which is basically my main source of buying makeup.

So, it’s all or nothing…no sense in being luke warm.

:blessyou:
 
Coder said:
What do these have in common? A lot! I heard that Starbucks and other companies support Planned Parenthood. So I thought about it. “Designer” coffee shops can charge a lot for some cups of coffee. If couples have large families would $4 for a cup of latte be on this list when you can buy a pound of coffee and make coffee for .25c a cup? Any connection between this and support for planned parenthood? You see, I think many put money above human life in this country. We Catholics can’t sit by and watch and feed into this economic and social system in which marriage and family life take a back seat to money and business while unborn children are being destoryed every day. Then at Christmas time what do these business do? They use the “holiday” season to make more money!!!

What about China. How many of us will pile gifts made in China under our Christmas trees? It’s hard to avoid products made in China and I buy them also. However, China has a forced abortion policy and perhaps slave-like labor. Is this not also economy above human life?

Catholics, avoid spending money with companies that support this evil economic system. It’s not always convenient and sometimes we might compromise but it’s not too difficult to find out which companies support Planned “Parenthood”. Make no mistake we are face to face with a real evil in this society and can’t ignore it. If every Catholic spenf their money with family and pro-life motivation I believe that alone may be enough to turn the tide. So let’s do it. Commit to sepnding your money in support of family.
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OK, but what if the company that processes the coffee that you buy to make it for $.25 a cup also supports an immoral cause? (I do recall a boycott over Maxwell House coffee some time ago). We’re getting to the point where we cannot find a company that does not do something that we find objectionable, and if take a “duty to boycott” to a scrupulous extreme, one of two things will end up happening to us: either we will become neurotic from being afraid to buying anything for fear of not honoring a boycott (I can just imagine being at the grocery store and calling home every 2 minutes asking 'Honey, this is on sale, but could you look up if we have to boycott this?")…or we will become Amish.

I even suspect the Catholic Answers Forum would have to shut down because one of the hardware or software makers does something objectionable, whether it is donating to Planned Parenthood or giving its employees domestic partnership benefits!
 
whatevergirl said:
I would be very hesitant in buying toys from China these days…we get press releases across our desk daily, because we have many China HQ’d businesses as clients, who are being sued left and right, because of their lead based toys, etc. Among other reasons, I would be wary about toys, etc from China.
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Granted, checking to see if “Made in China” is an easy thing to do. I have been avoiding buying a new light for my deck because every one I find that I like is made in China, and I’m concerned over the lead safety issue, and when I bought a nativity set for my front yard I did check and it was made in the USA. And I’m also one of those that wants to support jobs of the American worker if at all possible, but in some cases it seems that manufacturing of some products have all gone overseas. Example: electronics - are there any TVs made here in the USA any more? There used to be a Zenith plant not too far from me, and Motorola used to employ a few aunts and an uncle (I still remember him talking about the “works in a drawer”).
 
There is certainly a point at which we will become neurotic if we take this whole thing too far. However, there are some thing we can do that aren’t too far out. For example, there are some companies whose entire corporate culture leans towards anti-life causes like domestic partnerships or giving to Planned Parenthood. As we come across those, we can look toward alternatives. Of course, the best step is to cut down on what we buy period. Stop making all those impulse or feel-good purchases. That gives us more money to put toward positive things like supporting our local crisis pregnancy center.
 
Economy used to be a part of ethics, together with law. That’s how it looked at universities in the old time.
 
Economic ethics might be justified as a branch of economics. However, economics as a science is positive and should be kept that way.
 
Positive science as so defined is predated by economy. Economy was a part of ethics because it dealt with division of property, which is by all means a moral concern. It directly affects the social order and choosing a particular order to establish or further is also a moral matter. There’s clearly a link. Economy does not equate amoral cash-making. 😉
 
Sr_Sally said:
For example, there are some companies whose entire corporate culture leans towards anti-life causes like domestic partnerships or giving to Planned Parenthood. As we come across those, we can look toward alternatives. Of course, the best step is to cut down on what we buy period. Stop making all those impulse or feel-good purchases. That gives us more money to put toward positive things like supporting our local crisis pregnancy center.
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All good points. We should not be surprised to find that we are in conflict with the “world”. I think this is part of carrying our cross. We cannot ignore that unborn children are a main victim in today’s society. I try to avoid patronizing drug stores that sell pills that end the lives of unborn children. As for contraception, even supermarkets sell that. I think we should work to have businesses that are run by Catholics. Initially at the least we should work toward businesses that give Catholics an option to spend their money without also supporting establishments that are involved in the death of the children before birth.

Perhaps a fund could be started to invest in such businesses. I would contribute. I also ask any Catholics with large financial resources to start such businesses.
 
I think before we even get to the issue of charitable contributions, the OP overlooks several facts about how Starbucks operates its core business…

Starbucks is one of the very few employers of hourly employees that offers health benefits to its employees. (an extremely expensive and entirely elective business cost). It also actively supports free-trade and environmentally-friendly growing practices (i.e. fewer forests destroyed, water polluted) for the coffee it purchases from generally underdeveloped/3d world economies~all of which result in a more expensive raw product and makes coffee a more attractive crop to grow–which in turn diminishes the appeal in some markets of growing illegal (drug) crops.

Is the company making a profit? You better believe it! What a great idea it’s been…the new gathering/meeting spot…no alcohol…wired for computers…open all hours…in all locations…and great tasting beverages. They didn’t get into this for charity…this is a b-u-s-i-n-e-s-s.

So, even if we appreciate some of the reasons behind Starbuck’s pricing, the OP still doesn’t like its charitable/community donations. The beautiful thing about an open marketplace is…you can vote with your feet! Anyone who thinks Starbucks puts out a good product and is willing to pay the price for convenience, taste, and/or wants to support their efforts to pay a living wage, support 3d world farmers, etc., can pony up $4 for a latte. If not, or some of its community support rubs you the wrong way, head over to Mickey D’s or brew your own Folgers. You don’t really need to boycott and probably don’t have a prayer of getting one off the ground.
 
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