BOYCOTTS -ARE THEY AN EFFECTIVE FORM OF PROTEST?
Do any of our boycotts impact the industries we despise?
I have been boycotting a huge range of products and services for so long that I can't remember why I started doing it, in many cases!
I boycott every business which profits from war, big P-Harma or Big Oil-n-Gas. I won't consume any product that is saturated in glyphosate or is known to be GMO. I avoid all main stream media (BBC, CNN, Guardian (spit), Sky, GBNews etc) My money does not darken the doors of Amazon (spit), any major supermarket, new clothes stores, Nestlé products, Coca Cola, fast food franchises, most chemical soup hygiene products, plastics, Black Fridays and I distil all water to boycott fluoride. I boycott products from Israel in solidarity with Palestinians.
I gave up dyeing my hair, wearing makeup, driving a car, watching tell-lie-vision, cinema, gigs, pubs and listening to radio. I see no adverts of any kind online due to using a Brave browser.
'Crikey!' I hear you gasp! 'What DO you buy, Fran? You sound like a nun!'
I laugh and think: None of this, that or 'the other'!! 🤣😂
Recently, I bought a cheap but tidy 3rd-hand mobility scooter from a local vendor. Meet the very pretty and efficient Spiffy McZoom:
I am disabled, so my son does most of the shopping from the local co-operative shop and we get rare online deliveries from Ocado for special occasions like Christmas. Even our local quality butcher delivers, if the order is large enough. We indulge in Indian or Chinese meals once a week from small local businesses which are also delivered.
I only very rarely buy 2nd-hand clothes from charity shops or local market stalls. I do not wear shoes at all. My feet are too swollen and cannot bear to be touched by unwieldy leather etc. Everything else comes via Ebay. (I am waiting for a 4 ft fibre optic Christmas tree and snowflake window stickers this week! So exciting - I love twinkly lights!)
To be fair, I have never been a shopaholic, even when I was young and fit. I always preferred to make things myself from scratch, especially home improvements, food and clothing.
The most recent of my boycotts came about over aspartame. 😝
Ribena blackcurrant cordial used to be a regular in my cupboard until the bloody idiotic UK government decided that we should all eat less sugar. Ribena obeyed by replacing the sugar with aspartame and it tastes like a toxic chemical soup to me. I wrote to them and said I was prepared to pay more for the original recipe product but, OH NO MISSUS, came the haughty response. "Our studies show (yawn) that most of our customers prefer the low sugar formula." They discontinued the all-natural ingredient product I had been consuming for 60 bloody years! Tossers!
Do any of my boycotts impact the industries I despise?
I doubt it. My miniscule, tight-fisted existence is but a penny against their billions, no doubt. However, my soul is unsullied by the guilt of perpetuating their poisonous fakery, their sweat shops and their multi-billion rip-off international enterprises.
Tis the best I can do, given the circumstances.
ps
Do you know where I can buy sackcloth and ashes?
Do they deliver?
I have been boycotting for years. I think what matters is standing on principle regardless of whether it really makes a difference in the big scheme of things or not. With a population as large as we have now, I don't think these huge corporations care at all whether we buy from them or not. But the mom and pop places do.
"My miniscule, tight-fisted existence is but a penny against their billions, no doubt. However, my soul is unsullied by the guilt of perpetuating their poisonous fakery, their sweat shops and their multi-billion rip-off international enterprises."
There's nothing miniscule about a determined soul who demands integrity between her thoughts and actions. Good for you. Could we multiply your efforts - and we so easily could! - we'd have a much better world.
The answer to your question is of course, yes. Vote with your dollars and let your conscience be your guide.