I cancelled everything. Amazon, Walmart, Netflix, ect… I have a costco account and I shop local when I can. Learn to sew and fix your clothes. Maintain an older car instead of buying new. Vote with your wallet. The only power we have is our money.
There is another power we have, but it requires organization. Voting with your feet. Walkouts, strikes.
Seeing a nationwide general strike is extremely unlikely, but my god it would be magical to see.
There are a lot of fake options in this country. Most of stores probably have mostly same things.
Dumping shopping would be the real statement.
I’m a huge advocate of using “ugly but serviceable” stuff. That said, my-day-to-day shoes are wearing to the point that I can tell what the ants had for lunch. Not sure I can get away with making my own leather moccasins.
It doesn’t have to be an all or nothing approach though. No one is going to blame you for buying day to day shoes.
That’s the most powerful, non-violent action we can take. The oligarchs and CEOs are falling in line because they think it’s the best move for their bottom line. Show them they’re wrong.
But I like, need food, almost every day
My wife and I have been boycotting Target which is a really a bummer because we were going to use target to boycott Amazon. We were doing really well about not buying from either until we needed clothing quickly. So we ended up doing Amazon because we could get it fast and knew what they had. I guess you have to just make a choice and nothing is going to be perfect.
Its so hard to avoid because most stores don’t have any inventory. So you can go to a store to grab your clothes and they are all sold out so you just buy them online after wasting your time. This is especially true for basic items.
It’s not fast, but you could try Ebay if a Goodwill isn’t stocked enough for you
I used to use eBay a lot when I was younger. I haven’t used it in a while though. Not a bad idea
I’ve been having good luck with Mercari. It’s an online flea market where individuals sell their stuff. It helps that I dress boring and know my size in a few specific brands/items.
Doesn’t Elon Musk still benefit directly from Ebay?
Nope. No ownership in Ebay nor PayPal.
“Since then, Elon Musk has had no part in PayPal’s ownership. However, he does still hold a sizeable amount of stock in the company. He has sold off a large portion of it over the years, but as of 2021 he still owns over $10 billion of PayPal stock.”
https://www.ceoinfluencers.com/is-paypal-still-owned-by-elon-musk/
Not sure, but this thread is speedrunning why there’s no ethical consumption under capitalism.
I guess you have to just make a choice and nothing is going to be perfect.
No ethical consumption under capitalism. Just do what you can.
Yes indeed.
I watched The Good Place. I learned important lessons
Dumples figured it out? Dumples? This is a real low point. Yeah, this one hurts.
I’m degoogled, deappled, no more amazon. There’s a website and boycott app to tell you which companies to dump and also buy nothing days.
This has been good for me overall because I looked into ethical consumerism and feel a lot better about how I spend. I used to do this stuff years back but I’d gotten lazy.
What are these apps and websites? Really struggling to dump Amazon…
Not alternatives, but the apps I use to see what companies own what and who they donated money to are GoodsUniteUs and Buycott. As far as getting rid of Amazon, depending on where you live and what you’re looking for, you might be able to find the store or product on amazon and then go to their website if it isn’t some dropship scheme or finding a local place that has an alternative, hard to beat that same day shipping, but might be viable.
How much faster we could’ve change the world if we only were as smart as these Americans and stopped shopping at certain stores.
What a revolutionary act that will destroy fascism in no time!Besides, Americans will do this for a week and then feel it is too much effort.
Or when they get a good deal on a vat of Coke.Honestly, I don’t want to buy anything at all anymore because I don’t know which of the lot voted for Trump
That’s a very large amount. I’m impressed.
I think that everyone who is in a position to stop driving should do so, and everyone else should reduce as much as possible. There could be a no-drive Sunday (assuming that’s the day the least amount of people have to drive to work). Electric cars are still unaffordable for most of us, but everyone buying bikes in a short span of time could send a message.
Trump can’t “drill baby drill” if demand plummets.
China has insanely good and affordable EVs, US is so backwards
Heck. Can we just do that anyway? Bikes (and ebikes) are the future. Anything else is borrowing from our future to pay the past.
I love bicycling, and used to commute on bike almost exclusively. But I don’t do it so much anymore because I’ve had too many close calls.
Buddy of mine was intentionally hit with a car while cycling. He was lucky, only permanent damage is some missing teeth. There’s real fucking psychos out there in the way of better bike infrastructure.
That doesn’t surprize me in the least. I try to commute on bike wherever feasible, but these days I almost entirely stay off roads. Biking has taught me that 99% of people do not deserve their license.
The things that matter in this country have been reduced in choice, there are two political parties, there are a handful insurance companies, there are six or seven information centers… but if you want a bagel there are 23 flavors. Because you have the illusion of choice!
George Carlin
Well I mean, it’s usually one company making 23 bagel flavors. Look at toothpaste. There’s Colgate and then 15 Colgate variants. But if we go higher, the parent company owns 2-5 toothpaste beands, and those toothpaste brands have multiple variants.
And then we go even higher, and those parent companies are actually owned by the same group of people.
I mean if we want to get real about it, do we really want that fake choice either?
Yeah that’s the “illusion” .
You know, I didn’t pick up that he was pointing that out too. George Carlin still hitting us from the grave.
partner and I have been gradually modifying our consumption habits to favor what we see as more ethical models such as pro-labor entities & environmentally-minded ones
Please if you have the opportunity to start buying from small businesses. It may be a bit more inconvenient and probably a bit more expensive but it is a great way to help out your neighbor.
Additionally the money you spend locally usually stays local and not go to a CEO or Chairman of the board that really doesn’t need another vacation home in Italy or Aspen.
I struggle with this narrative, because it’s just not that simple. This is pretty much just something that small business owners like to say to guilt people into buying their stuff. Small businesses still need to compete on price and quality.
Large retailers still employ local people, and your pension fund probably owns shares in them, or you can buy shares directly yourself.
Some small local retailers have very shady employment practices. I don’t think employees are necessarily paid or treated better in small businesses. Some might be great, others are terrible.
Having said that, buying locally produced seasonal food directly from growers makes a lot of sense. Fresher, more nutritious, fewer food miles, less middle men.
Basically, local Butcher baker and green grocer.
I have had a lifetime of listening to people say “I vote on my wallet not your party” … well then let me spend on my politics not your bottom line.
the cool part about voting with your wallet is 99% of your mandatory budget spend where you are locked in and have little to no control over what company you use (power/water/garbage utilities, rent or mortgage, internet, health insurance) all goes to companies that support the fascists anyway!
That’s what happens when you privatize public utilities (well that and the power cutting out during winter, or burning down half the state). Get ready, they are coming for public education and the post office next.
And when you allow creditors to buy and sell loans amongst themselves, with no recourse for the borrowers to choose who they do business with short of immediately paying off the entire balance. Like, even if you went out of your way to take out the loan from a company you liked, they can just immediately turn around and sell it to some borderline scammer who will try to screw you at every turn.
Dumped Amazon in November for Costco or local retailers. We are saving literally hundreds a month for slightly less convenience. Wish we had done it years ago. Highly recommended.
Yeah, Costco is great. One of the few places I don’t feel bad shopping at here in a red state.
Goods Unite Us is a free app that tells you which political party companies donate to
I tried this out by searching for Amazon, and if this website was all you knew, you’d come away thinking it was a rather left leaning company, with a donation distribution of 68% Democrat and 32% Republican. That may or may not be true, but it ignores all of the hostile working conditions and anti-union behavior they are responsible for.
Just saying, don’t rely solely on this app for evaluating companies.
Not to mention Bezos lining up for the Broligarchy
This app still has Sears in it. No way is it properly maintained.
I prefer the no thanks app
In response to the executive orders, the activist and Baptist minister Rev Al Sharpton announced in January that a council with his organization, the National Action Network, would conduct a study on companies that are ending their DEI policies. By May, the council will select two companies to focus on. Sharpton and his organization will then publicly scrutinize the companies for backing away from their DEI goals.
“Donald Trump can’t make us buy your stuff. The Senate can’t make us buy your stuff,” Sharpton said at a speech last month. “In the name of Dr [Martin Luther King Jr], we’re going to do what King did.”
This is my huge takeaway from this entire article. Another opportunity has risen for Sharpton to run his big fat mouth and be the two-faced individual that he is. He’s not here because he legitimately cares about the DEI programs, he’s here because he knows he can be racist himself in a subtle matter against white people, as he has long been for years.
The irony.
Sharpton might have a history of putting his foot in his mouth on occasion but your accusation of anti-white racism seems to be a bit much.
Yeah be selective.
What is racist about what you quoted? Help me understand.
Al Sharpton is a racist. Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X he is not.
You cannot advocate for the rights of your own race while turning around and taking opportunities to speak in public forums about how bad you think the white man is. Can’t have it both ways.
Oh, we got some people who don’t think so?
Here’s proof: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-106hconres289ih/html/BILLS-106hconres289ih.htm
Now try and tell me he isn’t a racist. I’ll take downvotes as admission of guilt.
You messed up your links, but I went and looked up the URLs anyway. It was pretty weak sauce. Undated descriptions of events and some short, undated, out of context quotes.
I’m going to go ahead and assume most of the quotes were from a long time ago. People evolve, and we should let them. Malcolm X did too, before he was assassinated. I’ve seen a lot of evidence that Sharpton isn’t racist based on his recent appearances, but not much evidence to indicate he is, and of what I’ve seen here, it was probably from a long time ago since all the references are devoid of context.
Oh so we’re in an age where we shame people for 10+ year old twitter statuses and cancel them. But because a black guy said some things then you decide it’s undated? Double standards, much?
Dude, I don’t give a shit about your crusade or Al Sharpton. Your links were weak and now you’re mad that one of the few people who actually took the time to read and comment on them wasn’t cornered into sharing your opinion. Sorry. It’s like the 10,000th most important priority right now. Maybe take a look around.
Linking a ten year old article about someone to judge what their doing now seems a bit off. If he’s such a racist is there any proof that isn’t a decade old?
Yeah you guys can play the selective game all you want. It’s hypocritcal that you’re the same people who probably cancel others for years old twitter statuses, but because a black man said racial things, then it’s a different outcome? Where’s the consistency?
Wow, right to making assumptions to justify yourself. Assuming I am for cancelling people at all (I’m not, it’s stupid), and assuming I don’t want to cancel him because he’s black (who cares about race like this, it’s telling that is the first thing you jumped to though).
Is this how you from opinions and world views? Just strong baseless assumptions then accusations based on those assumptions, really?
