Vote

"Every time you spend money, you're casting a vote for the kind of world you want."
Anna Lappe

This is an interesting idea. Most of us don't really think about the choices we make when we spend money. We see something that we like or think we need, and then we buy it. Often the only thing we stop to think about is the price of the product and whether we could get a better deal somewhere else. Retailers have all kinds of tricks to get you to buy their products and we get taken in by them, all the time. We tend to buy things on impulse. It looks good, we decide quickly that we want it and then we buy it. And how often have you bought something and taken it home, and then wondered what you were thinking of when you bought it because you really don't want or need it?

We see voting as something we do when there is a political election but we are really voting with every choice we make. The problem is that usually we fail to consider the consequences of choosing one thing over another. We tend to be unaware that when we go to Walmart and buy something because it is cheaper there than anywhere else that it was probably made in some sweatshop. There is a reason why the stuff at Walmart is so cheap and it isn't just because they're such a big company.

When you buy something just because it is cheap, you are casting your vote for a world with sweatshops and pollution, a world without the regulations and quality control standards that the goods made in developed countries have. You are casting a vote for unemployment in your country because you are buying goods built overseas; since ones made by companies that hire people in your community cost more to make because of the cost of having a minimum wage, labor unions, and good working conditions.
Think about that the next time you go to Walmart just because it's cheap.

We need to be more informed consumers. We need to ask questions about where our favorite products are made and under what conditions? We need to think about our real motivations for choosing one product over another. Is the cost of something really more important to us than the quality of it? Does the product satisfy a temporary want or a long-term need (in other words, how practical is it)? What kind of world do we really want, and how can we choose products that align more closely with our own values? Every time you spend money, you're casting a vote for the kind of world you want. Let's cast an intelligent and well-informed vote. Stop to think about the choice you are making, before you run out and buy a certain product.