Capitalism Rule #1: Every Dollar Counts

While suffering through the majority of a poorly written article about the latest racist advertisement from Dove skincare, I stumbled upon a truth that is rehashed every time something like this comes into the limelight. Don’t buy from immoral companies.

If you haven’t seen it, Dove recently came out with a video portraying a black woman turning into a white woman. The intention was likely to show women of many colors using the product, however, it came off very differently and has triggered mass outrage.

Personally, I find the outcry projected at Dove to be perfectly justified. The tone of the ad comes from decades of Dove marketing. The predominant theme in the history of Dove ads is that white means clean. If you take a look back at nearly every Dove advertisement in the past two or three decades (perhaps longer), the starkness of the imagery clearly stands out. So it makes sense that when we see Dove turning a black woman white, it appears as if they are trying to “clean her up” by changing her race.

Many people have called for a boycott of Dove products in response to this poorly conceived video. Whether or not you think the Dove ad was insensitive is irrelevant to the issue I hope to address today.

How we spend our money matters.

We all know that the best way to support businesses is to buy their products/services. The entire “buy local” campaign is based on that premise. That’s great. You like a business for their ideas and practices, choose them. However it is just as important if not more so to avoid businesses that have consistently exploited either their workforce, their resources or even their customers.

It’s hard, I know. The truth is, we live in a pretty shit world.

Most international companies are guilty of exploiting underpaid work forces abroad. Essentially all major banks fund mass murder by laundering money through Mexican drug cartels. And it’s incredible how many food processing companies prefer to pay fines in order to keep their favorite lies written under the “Ingredients” label.

When you were a kid, did you believe that Juicy Juice was 100% juice? Because it’s not. Not even close.

I know that it’s difficult and often inconvenient, but becoming a conscious consumer is the MOST important responsibility of living in a capitalist country.

Here’s why.

The effects of “Special Interest” groups on our National policy

Have you ever heard the term “special interests” spouted off on the news and been a little confused as to what they’re actually talking about? Well, be confused no longer. “Special interests” means one thing and one thing only: money.

Technically, what it’s referring to is the groups of lobbyists who are paid by large corporations to sway politicians in their favor. In most cases, whoever has the most money wins. And whoever wins, gets to choose which laws pass and which laws fail.

If this sounds a little corrupt to you, then you’re an intelligent, thinking person. But that’s the way it is, and that’s the way it’s always been. Of course, every since Super PACs started funding political campaigns, this conflicting interest has greatly increased.

Politicians know that advertisements and campaign money win elections. Unfortunately, that makes them less likely to represent the interests of their constituencies (the people who vote for them), and more likely to cave to the wants of big business.

Yes, this political mumbo-jumbo is pretty boring, and it’s likely something that you gave up on a long time ago. But there is a reason to pay attention. It’s not completely hopeless!

I know that might come as a shock. After so many years of ordinary Americans feeling ignored by our government, the idea that we still have some power seems slightly ludicrous.

What can we do?

Let’s rehash some of these bullet points.

First off, most large corporations are horrible to the people they employ and the systems they’re involved with. They are even horrible to their own consumers.

Then, those large companies hire lobbyists and form Super PACs in order to influence our government.

Also, the more money a company has, the more influence it can have over the decisions our government makes for us.

So….

The most important political decisions you can make are not at a polling booth, they are at the store.

Every dollar that you spend is a vote of confidence to that company. You’re not only supporting the company for the product they make. You’re also supporting any political agendas that they support.

Scary, right?

Let’s face it, we don’t know everything these CEOs and board members support. There’s no way that we could know all of that. And even if we did, boycotting everyone who has beliefs different than your own would most likely mean growing your own food.

But there are always little clues to how the top dogs of multinational corporations think. The Dove commercials are a great example. Advertising is taken very very seriously. A lot of people have to “OK” an ad before it actually airs. If there are racist under-tones to that ad, and it still airs, there’s a very good chance that the higher ups at that company don’t give a crap about racial equality. Regardless of the apologies they make afterwards.

Unfortunately, it would be incredibly difficult to completely avoid all companies who antagonize, marginalize, exploit and lie. Which means that the key to being a conscious consumer is to prioritize.

What really matters to you? What do you want to protect? And of course, how do the companies that you support align with those ideals? These are things that you should be asking yourself every time you think about reaching for your wallet.

Because giving money to support thieves and murders is almost as bad as doing those things yourself.

How do you prioritize when there seems to be no good choices?

Ideally, one day, if we all make an effort to stop supporting horrible businesses, more and more good options will arise. Until that day, my default is: When in doubt, go small and go local.

Even if the owner of the local grocery store is an asshole, at least he’s an asshole who’s trying to feed his family. Rather than being an asshole who’s saving up for a new and better private island. Because that asshole has to make a living doing something. And if all he is doing is making a living, then there really isn’t a lot of damage that he can do.

Just remember that money is a corrupting force. So the more money a company has, the more likely it is that they have some corrupt or even evil practices.