Well, it seems to be the week for eyebrow-raising comments from Triangle university students. Earlier this week I blogged about the UNC student who, in an astonishing disconnect, discusses students’ right to “our tuition money” while claiming no connection to “their deficit.” Today, in a story about a “fair trade” store, a business management student offers her view about when it’s okay to make money and when it’s not.
But according to Carly Fulton, a freshman in business management, the colorful goods the shoppers see when they visit the store aren’t even half of the reason why after one visit she applied for a job at Sugar Magnolia.
“With fair trade, everyone is working hard and the money is going where it’s supposed to,” she said. “People here benefit with beautiful products and people in countries where they’re not as lucky as us get paid for their work. I’ve worked for companies before where it seems like they get money for the wrong reasons.”
This student clearly embraces her freedom to patronize a store she likes and supports, and she also embraces the freedom of the store’s owners to sell the products they like at whatever price they like.
I’m with her so far. I say yes to capitalism and applaud the store’s owners for their entrepreneurship.
However, she seems not to understand that everyone else has the same freedom to make buying decisions and business decisions for themselves, even when they do things that, to her, means “they get money for the wrong reasons.”
If we follow the “wrong reason” logic, then, what would she think if the store she likes is deemed by others to “get money for the wrong reasons” or perhaps that she is attending a university “for the wrong reasons.”
Yes, I know that young people should get a break because they’re, well, young. But it does make me wonder what they’re being taught about economics.
