True, so true !

I've started buying jewelry and other items online from fair trade and nonprofit sites instead of department stores; I want to know my money is going to support the artisans and organizations they work with.

In answer to your question: I don't know if she could ever handle world attention, or want to cope with her new status, but I was as awed as anyone when she began singing. She is definately a wall flower that has bloomed.

Hi Ralitsa,
I completely agree, people seem to be much more concerned with the value of what they are buying in terms of the financial and social costs of a product. I think during this 'economic period' those who can still buy luxury items might be influenced by a sort of guilt in that they are, for example, spending $5000 on a new bag when so many people have lost their homes and jobs. At least such a poor time in the worlds economy has had one good aspect in that it has signalled a shift in the public towards a more social way of thinking.
Big fan of your reporting (and your tweeting!)

James, Nottingham England

i enjoyed your post today and have to agree with you. Things are changing around the world, it will be a different world very soon. Look forward to see all the positive changes.

I grew up thinking that everything coming from the US, be it products, artists, movies among many other things, just had to be better and more correct than anything from my own country. After the past few years I woke up to a new reality. The Susan Boyle effect is here to show us that the world is not what it appears to be. It's a pleasant wake up call.

I applaud this new-found desire for quality of life. When we come closer to the issues of survival, those otherwise mundane activities become more profound. Sadly I think that once the good times roll again we'll see people going back to indulgence, casting aside the joy of simple life and the happiness from seeing and experiencing quality. "tis human nature.

Oh you know what's in the air!! :)) From my point of view, "Shopoholic" came out one bit too late.. My guess is that we are all into farytales and 70% discounts right now. Maybe we are becoming healthier consumers?
Just a year ago in Moscow where I leave, I saw a $4000 bag that in Rone u can buy for $1000. My question: "I just been in this brands flagship store and it was 4 times cheaper, why so expensive" was answered in a very peculiar way: "Hon, why sell for $1000 if they'll buy for $4000?!"
All the best for those who buy it, but maybe in these times when we are into farytales and Susan Boyle, priority in spending will be not given to $4000 bags, but to charities and all the sentimental things that for better or worse we seem to think about nowadays.

How do the numbers actually shake out on this? Seems to me that the "trend" may be more aspirational than not.

Living within one's means and being frugal have always been in style. Living in decadence and for appearence only have always been obscene. It should not take P.C. to choose the path, only common sense and common good which comes from within the heart. Leave the world a better place after our departure, be concerned about justice and fairness rather than narrow self worth.

Sadly one does what one is used to do and if no one else stop doing it things goes on and on, right? Fifteen years ago I was in the middle of the nineties crash and what I did learn was to hold back on everything worth of money and that was a new experience, I'd just bought a house for me and my family. Holy cow what a mess! That era ended around 2004-05 and then my economy was fairly stable and has been since and if the consumption of unnecessary items of any kind continues, people doesn't have a chance and thats the point. Buy only the right things and you will survive.

Have a nice evening!

Unfortunately i don't think consumption with a cause is here to stay. Many fair trade products are cheaper than their brand name equivalents. In this tough economic period people are happy to purchase the fair trade products because they are cheap, not becaause of the cause they contribute to.