“Man is not an arithmetical expression; he is a mysterious and puzzling being, and his nature is extreme and contradictory all through.” -Fyodor Dostoevsky

The second quarter of the Bottom Line Podcast will be more of a philosophical discussion concerning the paradoxes that are associated with the ethical shopping movement. These next thirteen weeks will allow the listener to consider their own individual struggle of weighing the difference between certain divergent incongruities and ascertaining the practicality and reality of what constitutes their personal value system.
 
Podcasts 14-17 will explore the dilemma of the convoluted shopping environment which we currently inhabit. We will investigate both sides of the issue when it comes to who is culpable for the deplorable conditions of exploitation and labor abuse practices. In the latter of these two podcasts the issue of how convenient or inconvenient it may be to become an ethical shopper and the question of how connected we really are to those who produce the products we consume is scrutinized.    

Podcasts 18-21will begin it’s focus on the matters of whether one should look to purchase locally produced products versus globally produced products. The latter two podcasts in this series will look at the pendulum of trying to balance economical considerations versus ethical considerations when it comes to a consumer’s purchasing power.

In podcasts 22-23 the heart of the philosophical quandary of what is actually pragmatic for modern day consumers to realistically do in this area versus what their conscience actually mandates they should do is mulled over. The final three podcasts in this quarter then asks the question what should we expect from consumers, business, and government when addressing this issue.