Attention: Kirsty Paul
Complaints Manager
PayPal Australia
23/1 York Street, Sydney NSW 2000
contact phone: 02 8288 0040
14th February 2011
RE: Hold on Account: case ID - PP-001-126-192-966 RXI000
Hello Kirsty
Introduction to ethical purchasing – Christian context
Some ideas/ themes include:
Ø Justice - our global neighbors
Ø Connection - all creation sacred
Ø Identity - being and having - give to Caesar
Ø Contentment and sufficiency - more or better
Ø Conformed or transformed - agents of change
Ø What would Jesus buy?
Why are we here today?
Ø There's a Story behind our stuff – wider impact – real cost
As Christians:
Justice
Ø called to Love our neighbors – their fingerprints are on everything
Ø World agriculture produces 17 percent more calories per person today than it did 30 years ago, despite a 70 percent population increase. This is enough to provide everyone in the world with at least 2,720 kilocalories (kcal) per person per day.
Ø Despite this, the number of undernourished people is estimated to be over 850 million, most living on less than $1 per day. A child dies each 5 secs. A principal problem is that many people in the world do not have sufficient land to grow, or income to purchase, enough food.
Ø Does our present global food system encourage or help alleviate poverty and malnutrition?
Connection
Ø All creation valued – sacred - parts of the body (1 Cor)
Ø we need the earth – damage it, damage us. Part of the earth. Breathe 3 mins.
Ø We tread heavily upon the earth. An illusion is maintained that the things which we consume and that keep us alive have no relationship to the environment around us. The rest of life is seen as peripheral to our existence, rather than central.
About us too
Ø Then Jesus said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's." And they were amazed at him. - Matthew 22:21.
Ø who shapes our identity?
Ø “No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. - Luke 16:13”
Ø two masters – very much a battle – advertising taps into our desire for acceptance, identity
Ø “The Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:13-21) - no-one’s life is based on the abundance of possessions. Jesus draws a sharp distinction between life and possessions, between being and having. The man is rich because he has a lot of possessions but he’s a fool because he assumes that those possessions will secure his life. And life cannot be secured by possessions.
Contentment
Ø The market economy flourishes in an environment where 'wanting' is a more powerful force than 'having' — 'contentment' is the enemy of the market.
Ø It is the very gifts of God’s call upon our lives — the call to identity, community and meaning — that we see mimicked and going cheap in the consumer marketplace: “Yours for the purchasing, on the easiest of terms, and with no talk of sacrifice, suffering or self-denial.”
Ø There is perhaps nothing more counter-cultural, nor more difficult, than the defiant expression of contentment: ‘I have enough; I don’t need anything more.’ “If we’re already satisfied, amazed, delighted and fully engaged with life, how can anyone sell us something we don’t need?”
Ø “Since Australians’ real income per person has risen by more than half in the past 20 years, you’d expect most of us would finally have attained that goal, However, almost two-thirds of Australians believe that they can’t afford to buy everything they really need.”
Ø "There are two ways to get enough. One is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less." G.K. Chesterton
Called to live differently
Ø called to be agents of change – better world – active not passive – more than voyeurs
Ø “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” - Romans 12:2 ESV
Ø we are part of wider systems that oppress (egypt, babylon)
Ø The Christian tradition is rich in values, beliefs, narratives, symbols and practices that emphasise simple living, social justice and care of the earth.
Ø Notions of contentment and sufficiency (Do not worry, Matthew 6:19-34, for example) and of redistribution of wealth to the vulnerable (prompted by, for example, Mark 10:17-31) have been lived out in Christian communities through the ages.
You are not your culture...
Ø "... the measure of a civilization's growth is not to be found in the conquest of other people or in the possession of land. Rather, true growth is the ability of a society to transfer increasing amounts of energy and attention from the material side of life to the non-material side and thereby to advance its culture, capacity for compassion, sense of community and strength of democracy. We are now being pushed by necessity to discover freshly the meaning of 'true growth' by progressively simplifying the material side of our lives and enriching the non-material side." - Duane Elgin, Voluntary simplicity
Follow Jesus.
Ø What would Jesus buy?( .. if anything?)
“small things have such massive consequences that I am tempted to think that there are no small things”
GVESHO Program Team
Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities
GPO Box 787
CANBERRA ACT 2601
25th July 2011
Re: Sustainable Living Foundation Application to GVESHO 2011-12
To whom it may concern
I am writing in support of the application from the Sustainable Living Foundation to the GVESHO Program.
The Ethical Consumer Group has been involved with the Sustainable Living Foundation (SLF) since our inception in 2004. At the time, SLF assisted us with use of phones, internet and office space, as well as direct support for our work.
I support this grant application because I believe that the SLF provides a unique role in developing the network of environmental and social businesses, community groups and individuals. Over the past 10 years plus, SLF has shown itself to be a key organisation in moving the conversation of ‘living in a more sustainable way’ into the mainstream.
The annual Sustainable Living Festival has been a significant entry point for many people exposing them to issues related to living more lightly and giving practical alternatives through products (exhibitors) and information (presentations). With a grass-roots ‘what can I do?’ focus it has facilitated community involvement and seen the promotion of practical tools to help people move towards household sustainability. The festival has significant prominence as a cultural event in Melbourne, and has been refined over the past years responding to changing issues, urgency and perceptions.
Online resources such as the SLF Calendar and Directory provide everyday people with ways to becoming involved in the emerging culture that takes ‘care for the planet and it’s people’ seriously.
I have no hesitation in encouraging support for the wonderful work of SLF.
Please contact me for further information.
Cheers, Thanks for the information given on the phone on the 25th January.
As explained then, we are concerned that PayPal has placed a hold on our account since the 15 December 2010, with a view to ‘confirm our identity’. We have not been able to access the amount of $1, 448.14 since that time. We provided the requested Photo ID and Proof of Address documents on the 24th December, but then received a request for further documentation on the 19th January 2011.
We are a community based, not-for profit, incorporated association. Who we are and what we do is made clear on our website www.ethical.org.au. We are set up to provide everyday consumers with information on the companies behind common brands. Accountability and transparency are key principles behind what we do. We have no associations with terrorism. Rather we seek to help people navigate through a world that is increasingly controlled by large corporations who have great power and yet often do not wield this power with the necessary responsibility.
We are able to provide Rules of the Association, Certificate of Incorporation, Bank statement, and Letter of Appointment for the Verifying Officer; however we are unable to provide the Schedule of Details of Primary Contact and all office bearers due to significant concerns as to our own rights to privacy and the possibilities of misuse of such information.
The request for the ‘current residential addresses’ and ‘dates of birth’ of the primary contact and all office bearers crosses over the line from professional to personal. It is of concern as it opens us to the risk of future identity theft. Our six committee members did not accept the position with the understanding that they would be disclosing such information to a third party like PayPal. In fact, no other organisations with whom we deal request such information. This includes the Department of Consumer Affairs (who oversee incorporated associations), the Australian Tax Office, and any of the banks with whom we have accounts.
Additionally I am concerned that we were not aware of this possibility (our funds being frozen) when signing up for PayPal in the first place. I am of the understanding that these funds are ours, and PayPal is acting as a third party to facilitate the transfer. You mentioned on the phone that if this situation is not resolved with the submitting of the necessary documents, our account will be closed and the funds will be given over to the Australian government. This would be remarkable behaviour on the part of PayPal given we have not acted in any way other than that which is proper. PayPal’s denial of access to our funds for the purposes of extracting private information to which PayPal has no right or need seems deliberately intimidatory and undermines the credibility of PayPal.
Please inform us why PayPal specifically need the personal residential addresses of the members of our committee, what PayPal will do with this information, and what guarantees PayPal make for the protection of this information. Also, please inform us by what legal basis PayPal can freeze our accounts, requiring us to meet terms that do not exist in our contract.
I look forward to your responses to my concerns.Yours sincerely
Yours in faith,
Nick Ray
Coordinator (secretary and primary contact)
Ethical Consumer Group
Phone: 0417 114 492
Email:
Ethical Consumer Group Inc. www.ethical.org.au