With the dark cloud of recession looming large, current economic policies remind me that voting with my wallet is the ballot they have to count. I find myself asking friends and family – what are you boycotting?
Boycotting Target after they changed their policies did take a bit of effort; I was shopping there at least monthly if not weekly. We have two Target stores in Culver City, and like to keep my economy as local as I can. I realize that nothing they sell in Target is made in Culver City (maybe some DVDs of television shows kinda-sorta count as locally produced) but shopping close to home is priority. And sales tax is an important revenue source for our city.
Not spending money on companies that are not respecting civil rights is a bigger priority.
Multiple media sources, including Forbes and USA Today, offer that the boycott on Target is having an effect. Foot traffic is down, the price of it’s stock has fallen by more than a third, and predictions are out that the drop will continue.
In a recent story in Newsweek, Target CEO Brian Cornell spoke about an “exceptionally challenging environment” with numbers down on both traffic and sales. “We faced several additional headwinds this quarter including …declining consumer confidence, uncertainty regarding …tariffs.”
Why do business with people who are working against you? At a very basic level, it’s not good business.
Which brings us to the Cancel Your Amazon Account plea. I’ve never had one. ( I compare this to the reaction I used to get when I did not have a television. People seem even more shocked that I don’t do Amazon than they did when I did not watch TV.) When Amazon first started, I was an employee of Barnes and Noble. They were literally the opposing team. If I can resist the temptation to have books delivered to my doorstep, I feel that people can leave their house to get the pet food/lawn tools/protein shakes. Unless you think Bezos is a force for good, stop paying him. Anything you can get on Amazon, you can get somewhere else.
I often refer to a story from Ruth Reichl, the food writer and magazine editor, who recalls her time at UC Berkeley in the 1960’s, living in a house full of room mates. “It was good that we did not know anyone being oppressed by bagels, or we would have had nothing to eat.”
Living in this moment in time, it’s not possible to have a life that does not impose on someone, somewhere. But keeping it local, being mindful of who is supporting the Republicans and who is not are important standards to hold.
Being a smart consumer is about more than the price you are paying. It’s about the bigger cost.
Judith Martin-Straw