Comment on What can US citizens do to fight/prevent their country enabling genocide?
ryan_@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Vote with your wallet. Money is the only thing that matters to the people in charge here
Voting with your wallet is a lie, like recycling plastic
You can’t do collective action individually. You can make the house hurt a little bit, but you’ll never force them to change through what you buy. The house always wins, unless you get together to change the rules
I disagree with this. You can already see a recent example of Canadian consumers avoiding US imports, creating pressure on US companies, and the US government reacting by making moves to curtail the original tarrifs proposal.
Obviously the Canadian boycott was only one component but I believe it did have a meaningful impact.
Kind of agree with you re:plastics. Last time I read about it they could only be recycled once into inferior quality plastic. Ironically in this case I’d suggest voting with your wallet is a solution to the plastic problem since businesses will react to more consumers switching to responsibly packaged products like paper bags for fruit + veg from a local grocers. One of the large supermarket chains in the UK, Waitrose, switched to paper bags due to public pressure in the past few years.
The Canadian boycotts are not “voting with your wallet”, they’re collective action.
Canadians, together, decided to boycott American goods. Their leaders cancelled deals. Their local stores and suppliers decided they’d rather source from anywhere else. The Canadian government started working on trade deals with everyone else
The nation of Canada as a whole is boycotting American goods. They’re not doing this individually, they have an organized response
Encouraging people to vote with their wallet creates collective action. How do you think these things start? You telling people not to bother is exactly how you prevent it.
Can you give some examples?
Where possible, avoid buying from companies that are complicit.
I’ve used apps like this to help make decisions:
Where possible, avoid buying from companies that are complicit.
Unless you buy from local creators/farmers, EVERYONE is complicit.
Simply existing is destroying the planet, so, like many things, you practice harm reduction. If I need to buy hardware or tools, and there’s no local shop, I go to Lowe’s. Not because Lowe’s is awesome, it’s a shitty corporation. But because Home Depot donates money to groups that practice gay conversion therapy, which is worse than anything I know of that Lowe’s does.
Pretty much every decision you make can be about harm reduction on some level. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of better.
But your local farmers likely voted for the more genocidal candidate. Does that count as being complicit?
Also, their seeds likely have to rebought every year from some corporation, due to patents BS, meaning you are still indirectly supporting evil.
Ah fuck, we’re all gonna end up in The Bad Place.
Buy local, in cash.
Every card transaction benefits the big credit card companies, all of which are complicit. Local businesses are some of the ones hit hardest from all of this and will need your support.
Avoid chains owned by local folks, too. Those big chains still benefit even if it’s your neighbor that owns the local McDonalds.
Support things the government is trying to destroy, like your local library, and your local stores that sell LGBT positive merchandise.
Make friends with your neighbors. Grow things in your yard that they need and trade for stuff you need. Many folks that seem in agreement with all of this really aren’t if you know them. We are stronger together.
In regards to home gardens, Not everyone needs everything, but everyone needs something. If you can get chickens or some kind of egg laying fowl, then that’s a possibility as well. Guineas are fighters and do well in areas without a lot of brush or low trees.
Bike as much as you can. Avoid gas as much as you can. Ride the bus or a train. Don’t fly anywhere. Install solar panels if you are able. Capture rain water and use it for your garden.
But used as much as possible, especially clothes.
Replace your single use materials in your home with reusable ones. Rags instead of paper towels, glass containers instead of plastic ones, metal straws, and a water pick instead of floss.
Make things. Anything. Don’t monetize your hobbies, share them instead. Trade homemade goods and art for other stuff.
Avoid the dollar as much as possible, and use cash when you can’t.
Thanks for attempting an answer. I’ve got to say this feels laughable in light of what’s going on.
“vote with your wallet” while our wallets are empty
the_q@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
This but big. Large scale disruption to the economy would do a lot toward fixing problems.
69420@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Exactly. Here’s a thought… and I’m just spitballing here: tariffs. Then take them away. Then add them again. Then take them away. Then add them again. /s
StupidBrotherInLaw@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Someone get this chap to run for office!
mjhelto@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
Look, we don’t just elect anyone, here. How many pussies have they grabbed? How many bankruptcies? These kinds of things are the bedrock of our election standards, established in 2015, and cannot, in good conscience, be unanswered.
FriendOfDeSoto@startrek.website 3 weeks ago
That’s some cool stable genius shit!
AreaKode@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
The harmful corruption must be torn down before peaceful negotiation may take place.
Nomecks@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
So just sit back and let Trump do his thing?