Show meeeeeee (where) the money (goes)!

You know, I’ve never actually even seen that Tom Cruise movie, where he shouts “SHOW MEEEEEE THE MONEY!”…! I know, I know. But it was impossible to not hear that line. It seems like for a few years there, everyone was riffing on it. So here’s my riff on it – I want to see not just the money, but where the money goes. Calling and writing my representatives doesn’t seem to be doing anything in this increasingly red state, but I can decide where to put my dollars. So it’s going to take a while, and I probably won’t like some of the things I find out, but I want to look into a lot of the companies that I buy from. I want to take a look at their DEI policies (have they dropped them, or have they kept them) and at their political contributions (do they donate and if so, to which party), and if I can find out anything else (causes they support, how they treat their workers, etc).

Some of it is dead easy, like not renewing my Sam’s membership, and instead, getting a Costco membership and getting groceries from Kroger and Aldi instead of Publix (that one hurts; I really like Publix). You could not pay me to shop at Hobby Lobby (even though I see from some Miniature groups I’m in that they’re having a big miniature sale) and even if I weren’t allergic to chicken, I wouldn’t eat at Chik-fil-a.

Some of it is more difficult – I’m going to be looking at companies room by room in my house… what are the affiliations of the companies who make the shampoo I use? The toothpaste? Deodorant? What about the coffee I drink? The snacks I have in the pantry? The flour I use for baking bread? What about my favorite juices, ciders, and whiskeys? What about the store where I buy those things? I’m pretty locked into where my health insurance tells me I can get prescriptions (“Thanks, Obama!”) (no, really; thanks, Obama! Without the ACA I’d not have health insurance at all!)… but which drug store is better as far as picking up anything from shampoo to Tylenol? And what about the company who makes Tylenol? Where do I get gas for my car? Remember when you chose your gas station by who hadn’t had a major oil spill in the last few years?!

I’m not the only one thinking about this right now – there’s a huge discussion on the G’ville Reddit board about shopping at a locally owned grocery store that carries many locally grown and made products/foods… vs not shopping with them because the owners are Trump supporters. And I’ve heard some friends who are torn about Ben & Jerry’s — they’re a great company, BUT, they’re owned by Unilever, who are terrible. (Personally I can’t eat Ben & Jerry’s as I’m allergic to eggs and they use it in their ice cream. You know who doesn’t use eggs? Publix brand. But now I’m supposed to not shop at Publix, so…. GAH.) So what do you do when you want to support a company because of their political donations, but you don’t want to support that very same company because they’re anti-union? So. Many. Conundrums.

Then there’s my work life. Where do I get my clay? What brand of clay is it? What about glazes? What about things like packing material, boxes, labels and paper… ugh. There’s so MUCH of it! So much to think about!

What about things that I don’t really have a choice about (things that I definitely need), like my power company (which is a Co-op, so there’s that) or who I use for Internet (rural internet options are slim pickins). What about cell phone service, or what phone I buy? Ugh.

I actually started mulling this over after the election. No, that’s not true – I’ve been low-key doing this my whole adult life… it’s just that in the past it was more only “who tests their products on animals” and “which bastards am I boycotting for supporting Operation Rescue” (I’m looking at you, Dominos) (I still don’t eat your pizza!). But now it’s personal (cue the “in a world” voice).

ANYWAY.

I’ve been spending a lot of time on the Goods Unite Us website and app. I like the website better, the app runs kind of slowly. I also just discovered (thanks, Google!) Progressive Shopper, so I’ll be spending some time doing research there, as well.

For local shopping (or, rather, ANTI-shopping), there’s this interactive map, PublicSquare Marketplace. This is a “pro-life”, pro “family values” organization* in which the businesses on the map have signed a pledge to the values of the organization and are voluntarily on the map. In case we need to know where not to go.

* and I use those terms loosely; if they really cared about life, there’d be health care for women and children, help for houseless individuals, and the security nets of things like SNAP wouldn’t be being dragged away in front of our eyes

Along those same lines, this page on Conservapedia (really?) lists companies by how conservative they are or are not: conservative/somewhat conservative/slightly conservative/debatable whether conservative/no longer conservative/liberal/neutral, blah blah blah. Love that they’re doing all this work for me! Sort of. They have both Amazon and Facebook as “leaning liberal” and, well, I beg to differ. Maybe the website needs an update.

ANYWAY.

Of course I’ll be writing about things as I figure them out, because writing is how I process. And the things I find might be helpful to someone. Or someone might chime in with things they know, and good conversation could come of it.

You know that Michael Pollan quote, “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”? I’m trying to figure out if there’s a comparable phrase for the Capitalistic Hellscape in which we live. Because we all also know that other quote (not by Pollan, but I can’t find the origin) “there is no ethical consumption under capitalism”. Maybe something like… Buy what you need. Not too much. Mostly …. See, the end is where I falter on that. Mostly used? Mostly local? Mostly ethically? a;dljfa;dfjka;dkfjad;fkj

How about… Buy what you need. Try to support good companies. Mostly don’t beat yourself up over your choices.

I know this was long, and quite rambly. If you’re still reading, thank you! Stay tuned for more posts like this in the future.