Start buying ethically. Now.
What does buying ethically mean? It means to spend your money on products that represent the ideals you claim to espouse. Don’t support the continuation of usage of fossil fuels, but still own a car? Then buy your gas from BP, the largest solar energy company in the world. Don’t want your shoes to be made from leather or made in a sweatshop? Don’t buy Converse All-stars (Nike bought them), rather either pre-order a
pair of blackspot sneakers, and in the meantime, buy some shoes from iPath, Vegetarian Shoes, New Balance or even Doc Marten’s.
But why do this? After all, we all know that one person’s actions don’t make a difference. No, that’s wrong. It’s true, your actions alone probably aren’t going to be enough to convince Nike not to use sweatshops. But en masse, people demanding change get it. It may be slow, it may be tedious, but it happens. And there’s no better way for people who aren’t interested in being on the front lines of politics to contribute than to spend their money in a responsible, ethical way.
Gandhi once said “to be the change you wish to see in the world,” and I wholeheartedly believe that. You can’t rally for international workers rights if you are buying clothes produced by those same workers in sweatshops. You can’t fight for ending oil dependency while driving your SUV. It’s not just an issue of ideological hypocrisy, but the reality of grassroots action. Grassroots political activism is only as effective as the amount of people who are truly being active and following through on their dedication to their purported ideals. Thus, if you are looking to create a change, you can’t expect others to do so, if you aren’t. Don’t talk the talk unless you’re willing to walk the walk. Not walking the walk only weakens your cause on a practical level, regardless of a theoretical one.
I’m using these fairly common “liberal” items for examples because I’m familiar with them and happen to believe in most of them. But this applies to anything. It applies to
the conservative agenda. It applies to the liberals. It applies to
free software. It applies to supporting your local farmers. It applies to supporting American workers. It applies to opposing
war and violence. It applies to opposing
racism and homophobia.
That last one is especially important. Equal rights are being sought after by homosexuals right now, similar to blacks fifty years ago. And I support them. Wholeheartedly. In fact, I support them so much, I wish I had the money and someone to go apply for a same-sex marriage liscence in an act of civil disobedience. There’s another way you can help the cause for equal rights though.
Stop using the implication of homosexuality in a derogatory fashion. We all know that a lot of us do it. “That’s so gay” or “Fag” are common phrases, regardless of walk of life or alignment on the sociopolitical spectrum. So if homophobic and non-homophobic people do it, then why should it matter? Obviously those who are pro-gay aren’t trying to oppress anyone by saying such a thing. However, in using the word to insult someone, you’re implying that being such is a bad thing. Think about it this way. Do we let people say nigger anymore? Is it an accepted word in modern society, one that does not categorize the
user as a racist? No, it’s not because we realized, as a society, that we cannot use a word that carries with it a connotation of hate and still claim to be an enlightened one.
In this case, talking the talk
is just as important as walking the walk, because language has an incredible impact on how we perceive things. In the end, it’s just important to believe in what it is that you claim to believe. Social awareness isn’t a way to be popular, it’s a way to be involved and alive. This isn’t my condemnation of everyone who may slip on these, because we’re all human, we’re all struggling to live up to our own ideals, and this is all a process. This is nothing more than my plea for honesty in the midst of conviction.
justinª