What a tragic and gloomy week it was; the unspeakable tragedy that the right-wing hatred of decent control allowed to happen. Then an NASA engineer was shot dead, few days after Nagasaki mayor was shot and killed during an election campaign. A right-wing "effort to chip away at a right declared again and again by this court" (Justice Ginsburg) called "Partial Birth Abortion" Ban Act ended up successful, endangering the Roe in future. On Friday Hitler's birthday was celebrated; in Wellington, of all places.
But in the end, there is also a brighter side in the world; I found a piece of a lovely, inspiring article that I would love to share with you. Britain's staff-owned department store, John Lewis, decided to combat "Beauty Myth" from the retail places, the bastion of commercialism. According to the Observer article, "John Lewis set to revolutionise the way high street stores use models to sell clothes". They are "by pledging to use a diversity of women in all its advertising in a deliberate attempt to convey a 'realistic' image of what British women really look like. While the average British woman is a size 16, most models are a size 8, 10 or even 6."
If you live in Britain or visit Britain, buy everything you need at John Lewis (or grocery store Waitrose, owned by John Lewis) as much as you can. If you have a friend in Britain, recommend him/her to shop at John Lewis to commend and reward the effort with spending money, your vote in the capitalist market. You can find location of your local John Lewis store at here and Waitrose supermarket at here. Write a letter of support to them.
Amid the news that makes me smile, however, one thing concerns me; the Observer is the only media that's reporting John Lewis's progressive spirit and action. I googled "John Lewis"; I could find no other article on this topic. The media's report on company's ethical standards is crucial for the public to be able to choose to shop with socially conscious business. When the public is well-informed about which retailer cares about women's self-esteem, it prompts other retailers to follow them for the sake of profit; after all, this is the strongest motive to do something for most commercial operations. If such a commitment to social justice is ignored by the media, it diminishes the commercial attractiveness for businesses to behave ethically.
I believe that John Lewis's nature as staff-owned company enabled or encouraged it to happen. I had never heard of the trust-owned retailer before, but what a fantastic idea! Then news stories on their efforts are only told by the non-profit media (the Observer and the Guardian are owned by non-profit Scott Trust). Welcome to the world of alternative capitalism.
