Its the ‘holiday’ season, which means its time for most Americans to spend lots of money. On presents, on food, on travel, whatever you like. At the root of all of this buying is supposed to be the idea of giving. Giving is also one of the key tenets of any Progressive political agenda to the extent that living a Progressive lifestyle is a commitment to personal giving. We believe that government should be of and for the people, but that does not diminish the profound impact that an individual’s actions can have. There are many types of giving, but I want to concentrate on the most popular way, monetary giving.
We live in a capitalist system and denying the great impact money has over our lives and society would be about as delusional as one can get. The most basic form of giving is donation, giving without receiving something material back (beyond a super cool button, t-shirt, or bumper sticker). As soon as someone begins to having some disposable income, they should try to save at least a small percentage of it to donate. Give within your means, of course, but give. Pick an organization you support and work in giving them a dollar a day, a dollar a week, a dollar a month. Odds are, if you’re reading this, you can probably afford one of those options. From birth, materialism teaches us that spending money is a means to a personal end. The progressive response must be to try to spend money in support of causes rather than a products. Think of it as a ‘I wish my tax dollars went to support x‘ option task. If you do not have a specific cause you want to support, lend a hand to support independent, publicly controlled media. Supporting old-steadies like NPR and PBS are fine ideas, but also look into the wide range of (more truly) Liberal podcasts like The Majority Report, The Best of the Left, or The David Packman Show among others. Or give to your friendly cyberhood political blogger :).
In a capitalist system we (at least the 99%) spend most of our money through purchasing products. Every dollar that we spend can be seen as an endorsement of the merchandise we are buying and a rejection of its competitor. When its 8 in the morning and I’m craving a bacon egg, and cheese, I head to a cart a few blocks away from me rather than stopping at any of the delis on the way. Why? Because I have a somewhat inexplicable love of street food. I drink Pepsi rather than Coke partially because of the baseball teams they endorse. I will always pick a green toothbrush if given a choice. Always.
We make value judgements with our purchases every day. It is important to understand just how much power your dollar, and thus, that judgement, can have. Let your socio-political beliefs consciously influence where your money goes. This may mean buying organic food, not supporting companies that have ongoing labour disputes, or choosing to shop at a local business rather than the nearest Walmart. Above all it means making more of your decisions consciously thought out, including your humanitarian and political beliefs in that decision making process.
Once again, this does not have to be just for liberals. After all, there’s very little easier in America than to use your purchasing powers to support gigantic multinational corporations. If that’s your politics, go ahead, make some investments in Canadian Oil Sands and buy the biggest cars you can find to help burn that gas. The only thing required to start using your purchasing power to further your political goals is a little work. Transparency is still the exception to the rule, but you can still find a bit of background information on almost anything you buy. Spend even half an hour a week clicking around the web and you will find yourself fantastically more informed than you were before. If you are reading this blog, odds are you can find that kind of time. The adage that in a capitalist system we vote with our dollar is absolutely true. December, when we are likely to be spending more of our money than usual on nonessentials, is the perfect time to remember that.
No comments:
Post a Comment