Corporate Choice

One of the things I've been thinking about lately is how consumer culture harms political movements and perpetuates the problems of the world. Part of the struggle, of course, is that the products we buy have planned obsolescence built in as a rule. Part of it, too, is that we can't always tell whether the company we're buying from is ethical or not.

This weekend I stumbled on the BDS movement, which is specifically targeting companies that do business with Israel. It stands for boycott, divest, sanction and it's a good thing to follow, in general, if you're against the ongoing genocide of Palestinians. But it's also been a gateway for me in trying to purchase more mindfully. I live in a region rich with choice when it comes to small businesses. Small-er anyway. My local grocery chain is still local, and not owned by Kroger or Albertsons (which might still merge, no decision has been made yet). I've been shopping there for years because it's close to me. Wikipedia has a list of grocery chains in the U.S. Literally anything not owned by Kroger, Albertsons, or Amazon is probably fine? You will have to do a little digging into your regional chains.

Either way, it's going to be a little bit of work to find things that aren't supermegacorps. Maybe you subscribe to a local farm CSA, or even find a hyperlocal thrift store instead of going to the Salvation Army (historically anti-LGBTQ organization) or Goodwill (wildly shady business practices and massive amounts of waste). For me, this week I'm going to be looking for a local kitchen store that sells locally-made items. It would be very easy to just go on Amazon to buy a new pan, but Amazon is problematic for too many reasons to list, but primarily, they're just another megacorp whose political donations put the recrudescence back in office.

Sorry it's a longer one today. But, consumer culture is an important part of why we're in this mess. The go-go-go-buy-now-new-things-all-the-time mentality is dooming us all, and has been for decades. Whether you join the boycotts for overseas justice or stop buying from right wing donor companies, just find one alternative today. 

Be kind to your neighbors, too, always.