Our primary vacation in 2022 was supposed to visit relatives in North Carolina, driving from Houston. Then the Dobbs decision was handed down. We didn’t want to spend money in all those anti-choice states. So we switched our vacation plans to pro-choice states and spent a total of $4,234.09 in them. It felt really good knowing that our money was rewarding merchants in states that treat women as equal to men, having complete sovereignty over their own bodies. In Red States, women are all second-class citizens. Right-wing politicians inject themselves right between the exam room stirrups.
I chose which dealership in which to buy my last new car based on what www.opensecrets.org told me its owner’s political contributions were. It felt really good not to send $37,720 to a Republican. (And yes, the car color is Democrat blue.)
We’ve boycotted all businesses headquartered in the state of Tennessee for years, ever since the “Tennessee 3” controversy, and boycotted Florida ever since the Bush v. Gore 2000 election. I wouldn’t set foot in that state if my life depended on it.
Our family always likes to vote with our wallets. We prefer mom & pop businesses instead of corporate chains. We know that in a mom & pop business, every penny helps out a family. In a corporate chain, we’re helping a corporate VP install a garage elevator for his summer home.
I’ve boycotted Walmart for three decades, ever since Sam Walton died and his heirs turned their backs on American-made products. It used to be when you walked into a Walmart, everywhere you looked, you saw “Made in America” signs. After his passing, they all came down, and Walmart became the biggest exporter of American jobs. As Fast Company magazine documented, Levi Strauss had to close its last jeans manufacturing plant and export all those jobs to China, just to meet Walmart’s price point demands. For 30+ years, I’ve only been in a Walmart twice — to use its restrooms — and never in a Sam’s Club.
Amazon is my vendor of LAST resort because of how it treats its employees, demanding production metrics that require them to urinate into bottles. We buy our books from a local mom & pop bookstore instead.
All of us pay attention to the news. We vote the right way on Election Day. Why not vote the right way all 365 days of the year?
We know which states and businesses deserve our hard-earned money. We all need to vote with our wallets, not just to feel like we’re helping the good guys, but also for the sheer satisfaction of knowing that we’re living our lives with the same integrity as our beliefs. It feels soooooooooooo good!