A Day Without "A Day Without Shoes." Maybe you noticed that #hardwithoutshoes was trending on Twitter on Monday. It was part of a social media campaign built by the for-profit company TOMS shoes, which promises that "with every pair you purchase, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need." The idea of #hardwithoutshoes was to get Americans to go barefoot for a day because a) poor people in the Third World have a shortage of shoes b) getting First World people walking to work without shoes would constitute "a HUGE impact," as the front page of the TOMS website says.
Many people in the aid community disagreed, and they pulled together the video above, "A Day Without Dignity," in response.
I reached out to Tom Murphy, one of the people credited with pulling together the video, and asked him what he would say to someone who was thinking of buying a pair of TOMS. He told me that, in the likely affected countries, "the core problem is lack of economic opportunity (aka jobs) that will pay well enough so that people can otherwise afford the shoes. Rather than buy more expensive TOMS, buy a pair of shoes that are of the same quality and cost half the price. Then donate the difference to your favorite NGO. That money will be more effective."
-JN
[A Day Without Dignity, @viewfromthecave]