Trade is not inherently bad. Societies have thrived on it for millenia. Where is becomes bad is when we commoditize luxuries. This is bad not only for economies but for societies and cultures. It is bad for the society that is victimized in order to commoditize the item because their environment is pillaged and their people are subjugated. It is also bad for the society that has commoditized it because they have become so accustomed to these things as commodities that they no longer supply the pleasure that they once did, they no longer have the cultural, spiritual or economic significance that they might once have had. There is a flattening of the life experience on both ends of the equation.
It's OK to have cinnamon, but do we have to have it on our toast every day or in our oatmeal or muffins? Wouldn't it be better if cinnamon cost more, If the people who live where the cinnamon is produced could make a living wage from it and protect their environment, culture and way of life? And wouldn't it be better for us if we experienced cinnamon as a wonderful treat that we enjoyed perhaps only a few times each year on special occasions?
Does anyone remember getting the orange in the toe of their Christmas stocking and what a special treat that was? Wouldn't it be nice if more things in our lives had that same special feeling? They could. It's a matter of our choices, of the rituals and meaning that we attach to things and whether we choose to treat things as luxuries or commodities.
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