Evil corporations buy shares of your wallet... and soul?

Thanks to the Industrial Revolution, the Internet, automobiles, television, McCarthyism, Chef Boyardee, Kraft, the Prohibition, the CIA, the FBI, and "The Man," American society has become increasingly mechanized, globalized, corporate, and inherently evil. Behind every commercial encouraging consumers to wear Old Navy clothes or drink Starbucks coffee, some anarchist screeches, "Don't buy Old Navy clothes or drink Starbucks coffee! They yse child labor, cut down the rainforests, and kill whales!"

THese contradicting messages are enough to drive any would-be socially aware consumer out of her gourd. She must constantly ponder, "Am I buying my books from the right independent bookstore? Do my clothes display an evil brand name? By drinking this coffee, am I paying for the destruction of another 5,000 acres of South American rainforest and bringing 10,000 more unidentified plant and animal species closer to their inevitable extinction?"

A less concerned citizen, however, would question the questioning altogether. This is a grievous error. Most reasonable people would tend to agree destroying animals so they can get their caffeine fix and forcing poor children to live with slave-labor conditions so they can purchase and wear and Gap T-shirt (which, incidentally, is like paying to be a walking television commercial) are wrong, so why do they continue to do it?

Part of the reason economics is a requirement for graduation entails an understanding of the concept of "dollar votes." Consumers "vote" for a product by spending money on one over the other, thus giving them the power to tell manufacturers what they should and should not continue to produce. This is also the mechanism behind boycotts--if enough people refuse to "vote" for a product they feel is somehow bad and encourage others to join them, the hope is the manufacturer will cease to produce it, at least in the offending manner. We all have an influence on the whole economy, and decisions we make, whether it is to buy a mocha at Starbucks rather than tea from a local cafe or choose which operating system we use on our computers, tell companies what they have to do to appease customers and make more money.

Of course, knowing all the ramifications of every little decision a consumer makes is nearly impossible. Because we live in a corporate-driven capitalistic society, avoiding corrupt, evil corporate products altogether is at least as difficult, but don't give up. One, it is not required that you care about every issue. Pick your battles. Two, do not feel forced into convenience. Shop, eat, drink, and wear things because you like them, not because they're all you can find at the mall. Three, have opinions and stick to them. This goes for everything in life, but then again, economics are often intrinsic to living. They may have your Visa number, but they do not have to have your mind.

(from The Olympus)