From picket signs to check out lines!
Posted at 12:15 PM on April 10, 2007
by Sanden Totten
(1 Comments)
So maybe the majority of my generation aren't quite the rabble-rousers our parents were. But I hear more and more from folks my age that where you spend your buck is the new political statement. You can find all sorts of examples of how shopping can be a form of activism. Buying organic and fair trade are probably the best known practices. And in some ways this is inspiring. After all, no matter what party you vote (or don't vote) for, money talks.
But sometimes I wonder how well this method works. When big companies start co-opting the style and language of fair-trade and organic products, shopping-activism can get confusing. For example, Hershey's chocolate is releasing some new bars that look suspiciously like a fair trade product, complete with little pictures of exotic countries where the cocoa was grown. But you can't find a fair-trade logo on them anywhere. It's not the first time companies have tried to confuse the market.
So if my generation is going to speak out with their pocket books, then I want to encourage them to be smart about it! Check out the products you buy if you are shopping to make a statement. If you like to take your activism to the bank, you still have to put in a little effort to make sure you're getting what you paid for.
Comments (1)
Another sign that America's "RULING CORPORATE CLASS" is trying or helping to dumb down Americans by lowering wages.
Lower wages = more worktime to keep up
= more tired after work
= less time OR will to keep up with what's really going on around the country.
Which is wht the NASCAR and WWF croud did not figure it out until MUCH later. Some still haven't, no matter HOW many Bush Admin officials are either embroiled in FRAUD, DECEPTION, AND THEFT or leave and turn whistle-blower.
Don't get me wrong- Clinton helped immensely in allowing re-monopolization of the corporations that Dems and OLD REPUBLICANS FORCED to break up because they were gouging Americans.
Notice long distance got almost FREE? The electricity de-regu'joke was written to fail with Enron sitting in on the rule-making in Cal.
In college in the 70's we determined that the US would be at a 3-4 day work week because of technology.
ONLY the US Congress and President work 3-4 days per week, the rest of the US workers are now the MOST EFFICIENT workers in the world. YEA!!
Which means they work harder and longer than anyone else in th world for less in industrialized countries. Instead of 3-4 days they are working 5-7 days a week, as evidenced by the BNSF railroad with jobs that work a mandatory 12 hours a day for 6 days a week. If ou try to make it a 5 day a week job with 12 hours they will fire you.
Is taking off the extra days legal? Yes, according to decades old union agreements. Does that matter? No.
24 years on one railroad really opened up MY eyes to how corrupt the largest of the corporations can be, sometimes just because some one wants to make a good impression. I can't count how many times I've had to call or write VP's or other officials to demand that people get paid their "normal" pay.
This is the reason huge corporations are going to third world countries, where unions have zero clout, wages are in the "dirt" category, air/water quality issues are non-existant, and the US government SUBSIDIZES them!
Halliburton is a prime example, no-bid billion dollar contracts from BOTH Bush administrations, ZERO TAXES paid for the last 5 years, yet HQ'd in the Vortex of Evil, Houston, Texas. (Used with permission from a military ex-Texan) Now moving to zillionaire Islamic country Dubai!
Why the Vortex? Do the names Arthur Anderson, WorldCom, Global Crossing, Halliburton, Enron sound familiar? The list is MUCH longer.
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