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You are not powerless - ethical buying, if everybody did that then things would change as companies run on money, so vote with your wallet. Effort to research

by Zenst 6y ago

You are not powerless - ethical buying, if everybody did that then things would change as companies run on money, so vote with your wallet. Effort to research and may find in some area's it's down to picking the best of a bad choice, but little by little mindsets are changing and you do have the power. Business runs on money - vote with your wallet as that is your power, use it, don't loose it.

IgorPartola 6y ago
That’s a nice thought and I’ve tried that before but the “if everybody did that” is the key. I can bend over backwards to only buy local organic food just to have the farm driven out of business by a Walmart Super Center and watch as a new mega container ship, new mega mall, new mega church gets built. I don’t think I spend nearly enough money on retail stuff that would actually tip the scales or even make anyone notice that I stopped shopping at the “unethical” stores.
- Zenst 6y ago
  > I spend nearly enough money on retail stuff that would actually tip the scales or even make anyone notice that I stopped shopping at the “unethical” stores. As an individual - indeed that is probably so, but you do get to feel less helpless and gets down too a balance of moral dilemma and feeling helpless.
  - IgorPartola 6y ago
    I don’t want to just feel good about my actions though. I want to effect actual change. Trying to find an avenue for that, I guess.
    - obmelvin 6y ago
      I understand where you are coming from and am not trying to suggest that these smaller actions are enough, you should keep looking for more, but still the smaller choices you make do add up.
- wonderwonder 6y ago
  I honestly think the only way we are going to solve this is with Genetic engineering and manufacturing on a global scale. We need to create self sustaining food sources that provide enough of our needs to allow natural resources especially the ocean time to heal and replenish itself. Things like the AquAdvantage salmon, lab grown meat on a massive scale and a massive marketing campaign to quash the anti-gmo mindset that is making the world hesitate to go all in. We are not going to heal the planet by everyone consuming less or driving less or any of the million things that they encourage you to do to save it. Science is going to be the only solution as the pandemic has proven that people really are not going to make choices that inconvenience them, we need to provide alternatives that are just as enticing but are also financially attractive. In addition, even if we convinced everyone to cut their consumption of everything by 25%, so what; in a few years there will be more people rendering that 25% savings moot. Science is the only way.
LordDragonfang 6y ago
>vote with your wallet as that is your power, use it, don't loose it. When you tell people to "vote with your wallet", you are implicitly admitting that people with bigger wallets have more votes. Literally millions of times more, in many cases. Don't vote with your wallet. involve yourself in local government, because legislation is the only way to solve problems like this.
- throw14082020 6y ago
  Everyone votes (not specifically with their wallet) but with their choices. Perhaps there are some people who worry about the planet but continue to do it harm and not consider changing their behaviour. i would also translate voting with your wallet "put your money where your mouth is", instead of any concept of power differences between people, but thats just me.
- blackoil 6y ago
  Not true for lot of cases. Every time you decide carry your water bottle and not buy a new plastic bottle, Bill Gates isn't buying 1000s of more bottles. For lot of consumables, gap between median and 99th percentile is very low.
  - IgorPartola 6y ago
    Yet Poland Spring is still in business despite everyone owning a reusable bottle.
- BurningFrog 6y ago
  > When you tell people to "vote with your wallet", you are implicitly admitting that people with bigger wallets have more votes. Seeing the world as it is, is a precondition to changing it. You don't have to like it, but you do have to understand it. In this case I both disagree and agree. Disagree: Yes, rich people have a lot more money. But they don't eat more food than anyone else. Their threat to not buy certain fish is worth about as much as mine. Agree: These kind of boycotts rarely accomplish much. The fishing system needs to be reformed away from free for all hunting, and legislation must do that. Iceland and New Zealand has decent systems in place now.

by Zenst 6y ago

IgorPartola 6y ago

That’s a nice thought and I’ve tried that before but the “if everybody did that” is the key. I can bend over backwards to only buy local organic food just to have the farm driven out of business by a Walmart Super Center and watch as a new mega container ship, new mega mall, new mega church gets built. I don’t think I spend nearly enough money on retail stuff that would actually tip the scales or even make anyone notice that I stopped shopping at the “unethical” stores.

Zenst 6y ago
> I spend nearly enough money on retail stuff that would actually tip the scales or even make anyone notice that I stopped shopping at the “unethical” stores. As an individual - indeed that is probably so, but you do get to feel less helpless and gets down too a balance of moral dilemma and feeling helpless.
- IgorPartola 6y ago
  I don’t want to just feel good about my actions though. I want to effect actual change. Trying to find an avenue for that, I guess.
  - obmelvin 6y ago
    I understand where you are coming from and am not trying to suggest that these smaller actions are enough, you should keep looking for more, but still the smaller choices you make do add up.
wonderwonder 6y ago
I honestly think the only way we are going to solve this is with Genetic engineering and manufacturing on a global scale. We need to create self sustaining food sources that provide enough of our needs to allow natural resources especially the ocean time to heal and replenish itself. Things like the AquAdvantage salmon, lab grown meat on a massive scale and a massive marketing campaign to quash the anti-gmo mindset that is making the world hesitate to go all in. We are not going to heal the planet by everyone consuming less or driving less or any of the million things that they encourage you to do to save it. Science is going to be the only solution as the pandemic has proven that people really are not going to make choices that inconvenience them, we need to provide alternatives that are just as enticing but are also financially attractive. In addition, even if we convinced everyone to cut their consumption of everything by 25%, so what; in a few years there will be more people rendering that 25% savings moot. Science is the only way.

LordDragonfang 6y ago

>vote with your wallet as that is your power, use it, don't loose it. When you tell people to "vote with your wallet", you are implicitly admitting that people with bigger wallets have more votes. Literally millions of times more, in many cases. Don't vote with your wallet. involve yourself in local government, because legislation is the only way to solve problems like this.

throw14082020 6y ago
Everyone votes (not specifically with their wallet) but with their choices. Perhaps there are some people who worry about the planet but continue to do it harm and not consider changing their behaviour. i would also translate voting with your wallet "put your money where your mouth is", instead of any concept of power differences between people, but thats just me.
blackoil 6y ago
Not true for lot of cases. Every time you decide carry your water bottle and not buy a new plastic bottle, Bill Gates isn't buying 1000s of more bottles. For lot of consumables, gap between median and 99th percentile is very low.
- IgorPartola 6y ago
  Yet Poland Spring is still in business despite everyone owning a reusable bottle.
BurningFrog 6y ago
> When you tell people to "vote with your wallet", you are implicitly admitting that people with bigger wallets have more votes. Seeing the world as it is, is a precondition to changing it. You don't have to like it, but you do have to understand it. In this case I both disagree and agree. Disagree: Yes, rich people have a lot more money. But they don't eat more food than anyone else. Their threat to not buy certain fish is worth about as much as mine. Agree: These kind of boycotts rarely accomplish much. The fishing system needs to be reformed away from free for all hunting, and legislation must do that. Iceland and New Zealand has decent systems in place now.