question_answer 7)

Think before you shop          

Answer:

 A model answer has been provided for students' reference. It is strongly recommended that students prepare the answer on their own.   Think before you shop and you can change the world you live. Thinking before shopping is all the more important as our shopping behaviour influences many important issues of the world we live in. Our shopping behaviour has far reaching effect at the individual, regional, national and international levels. In fact, the adage 'think before you shop' is advocated by the Policy makers, the ecologists, the economists, the philosophers, the medical experts and many others.   Interestingly, Gandhiji used this adage 'Think before you shop' during the swadeshi movement. He gave the clarion call to boycott foreign made goods to promote indigenous industries. Because of the use of foreign made goods by the Indians unemployment was rising in our country and national income was being drained to England. This created an imbalanced situation in the economy. In this context, there was a need to change the shopping behaviour of the Indians. In fact, this historical phenomenon shows the importance of the adage 'Think before you shop'.   In the present scenario, 'Think before you shop' has been advocated by ecologists to warn that indiscriminate behaviour on our part may effect the environment adversely. In fact, the market is flooded with products made from animal parts making the  animals vulnerable. In other words, we should think twice before buying any product. We should consider the possible environmental effects before buying any product.   Economists want us to think before shopping as our shopping behaviour has many economic implications. Our shopping behaviour effects local, regional, national and international economics. If, for example, we start buying imported goods then this will lead to unfavorable balance of payment situation in the country. This will deplete our foreign exchange reserve.   Medical experts and psychiatrists advise us to think before we shop as the products we buy may have negative effect on our health. We may become fetish if we start buying products only for products sake. Social activists advocate us to be very cautious while shopping as the products we are going to buy might have been produced by child laborers.   To conclude, the adage 'Think before you shop' is loaded with implications. It is indeed a very important directive for all of us as our shopping behaviour has multidimensional impact on the world we live in.