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Buying Freeze Wrote: to whomever wrote this piece: Pick one company who is sending jobs overseas or has all their products made in China. Open a regular facebook page with some of the info contained in your article and leave out the political party commentary. Then go to all the Occupy Wall street pages and friend request all of their friends and it will get done! If you don't I most certainly will!
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Thank you for the site! It has become painfully obvious to us that Multi-national corporations are divesting themselves from the American labor force. It's time for the American people to divest ourselves from these corporations that engage in this practice. Coca Cola took a $15 billion dollar bailout from the federal government in 2009. 3 weeks ago it was announced on Yahoo that they just invested $4 billion dollars in China when Americans are still out of work. It's time to send Coke a message!!!
My letter to Michelle Obama almost mirrors the sentiments of the buying freeze tariffs platform. Actually I've sent 2 letters in May and June. Glad I found this site. Believewe need a slightly(only slightly) more sophisticated tariff mwssage, yet with many of the existing reality points to edulge the Independents...as it's fine for the average progressive, like myself(neither moderate nor zealot).
Need to simplify, rather than shotgunning the boycott stategy. The zealot will remember all/most the firms, but the average person won't. So let's pick 3 Major importers(or equivelent) who Closed major facilities, for overseas expansion into lower wage markets, then return those same products around for importation here at a much lower price than our good companies who feed our children. Anyway ... 'something along these lines/nature' but with fewer big boys... this is how SAG beat the big advertisers, by going after McDonalds and Ect ...just a few and the negotiation got settled after 4weeks after the six month strike. Push the right/big buttons! Cheers!
Believe that boycotts work. Big corporations boycotted advertising in the New Yorker after it published an anti-Viet Nam war piece. The boycott destroyed the magazine, even though readership had risen (so much for free market theories).
Now I'd like to suggest something rather radical. To show how much power the people do have, let us pick one or more products and just refuse to buy any more of it until corporate America and especially their political lackeys take notice. I'm going after any and all corporate CAFO beef products and producers. Aside from the many environmental (destruction of rain forest) and health (cancer, e.coli outbreaks) issues, there is also the the very real and documented war against the American people and its values: Monsanto's endless SLAAP lawsuits that ruin small family farms. Tyco's importation of illegal immigrants to work in slave conditions at their meat plants. Meat packing plants union busting activities (Tyco, Hormel, pretty much all of them) Major political contributions to conservatives (Democrat or Republican) So, no corporate CAFO beef for me. This means no hamburgers (which is especially hard to avoid), nor any beef you buy at a Supermarket. Can't live without beef/hamburger?...try locally raised or organic varieties. Alternate with bison. You can make ground turkey taste alot like ground beef by adding liquid smoke and worstershire sauce to the meat when browning. So this is not targeting one corporation but an entire industry. Why are we giving money to people who turn around and bust unions, destroy the environment, are the reason for foreign fossil fuel dependence, fund right wing think tanks? By the way, Koch also owns CAFO's. Nuff said. Boycott beef!
Thought this one thread was about bringing jobs back to the U.S.... via tariffs/ boycotts. So not sure about the Beef thing and another Ben and Jerrys thing. Getting a bit merky for me, if it's just a thread busting site with whatever one feels is his or her own pet peeve topic of the day... sure there are seperate forums for these other topics. If I'm wrong on this ... then guess I'm on the wrong site.
All our effort should be focused on just a few very Big Boys ... rather than a scattered/shot gun effort for the most effective results, unless you think you have more resources than I see us having for organizing/directing anything systematically. Cheers!
Thank you for this site.
I am also finding the Blue Pages very good (a pocket size book that I purchased at Barns & Nobles and can keep in my purse, I have a large purse). I am taking my time now when I shop and putting products back on the shelf if they lobby strongly or have bad labor or environmental records. I can buy my make up with Avon, I can purchase shampoo from Paul Mitchell, I can support Newmans Own, and if my weight could take it, I could support Ben & Jerry's :-). I would really enjoy giving them my support.... I wish I had started this year's ago. I feel terrrible that it took terrible politicans to raise my awareness, I should have always had this strong of a social conscience. I am working to educate my son and I hope that my becoming a better world citizen is something I can pass on. Thanks again for this site.
I appreciate you willingness to support Ben & Jerry's and can definitely see the advantages to doing that too. Unfortunately I'm not sure that the floor joists in my house could afford me doing that...
If you want to support them in a healthier fashion, you can change your mobile phone to Credo which is Ben & Jerry's mobile service. They also have a long distance company called Working Assets. They are just as socially and environmentally responsible with their phone services as they are in the other aspects of business. You can round up your bill to the nearest dollar and they take that money and put it in a big fund, and at the end of the year they send you a list of all the different not-for-profits they support and you can choose who you want to give your money to. (they end up giving away millions this way) They send you alerts and updates on stuff happening in D.C. with your bill or they can text message you about them and you are allowed 2 free calls to Washington to your representatives each month. They also send out a list of good books to read about social/environmental issues which is very cool. You can order the books through them too. They are one of the really big businesses that are doing some great things. If all of the corporations were like them, boycotting would have become a thing of the past.
There was a 1/2 hour show on Wisconsin NPR this morning and they discussed how/why boycotts work. The guest speaker did bring up the whole M&I boycott where the firemen all went and closed their accounts causing the bank to close its doors early to prevent a further run on the bank. There are sites popping up all over the web encouraging the public to begin to flex its boycotting muscle. There is strength in numbers. The corporations may have a bunch of the politicians in their pocket but they cannot force us to buy from them and when we stop, they feel it. A coordinated, targeted boycott against a corporation that is unduly influencing a politician to act in ways that are not in the public's best interests can drop a corporation to its proverbial knees and cry "Uncle". Keep spreading the word because once this reaches a "tipping point" the walls will come tumbling down and things will begin to happen in a big way.
In Europe, consumers there refused to buy milk or cheese products that had BGH (Bovine Growth Hormone) in them and once they reached the tipping point in numbers it literally took one week for the retailers to decide not to sell any more of those kinds of products in their stores. Now you can't find a place in Europe that sells anything with BGH in it. That is what will happen here too with sites that are actually educating the public about what is going on with our politicians who have been making decisions that benefit corporations over people. "Starve the Beast"
I want to bring your attention to The Peoples Boycott, a movement on Facebook and at my Peoples Boycott blog. We're in the early stages, but the response so far is great, and we're dedicated.
Here's the info about where to find us: Facebook group: [www.facebook.com] Blogsite: thepeoplesboycott.com WHO WE BOYCOTT: ► All Fox News advertisers ► Koch Industry products ► Rush Limbaugh advertisers ► Large contributors to Republican and Tea Party races as found via Opensecrets.com ► Members of the "Friends of John Boehner" donor group (the #1 donors to Rep. races in the past election). ► Companies whose buying and selling practices, as well as their attempts to deflect paying fair wages to American workers by outsourcing their labor to foreign markets, have caused millions of Americans to lose their jobs, and have contributed to the serious weakening of the American economy. These listings are referred from online groups who compile this information (such as GreenAmerica.org.). Our Facebook Group site includes two Peoples Boycott Target Lists in its "Notes" section. The first is a General List of companies, banks, insurance companies, stores, restaurants, etc., all of whom fit our criteria for being targeted. The second is a Grocery List of items found in most local supermarkets. Also, in our "Discussions" section, there are State-by-State Buying Guides, showing the local resources for services and products that are available in every state in the country. It's heartening to see the dedication people have to supporting their local farmers, artisans, merchants, and service providers. Peoples Boycott members can review and add any individuals/ local companies they'd like for their particular states. Also in our "Discussions" section, there are two Alternatives "Made in America" products listings. Please join the Peoples Boycott! We're mad as hell, and we're not going to buy it anymore!
Stay networked and the boycott movement will spread faster.
Until now there were dozens of sites that simply complained and had no way to effectively do anything, leaving people frustrated. Now we can make a change that will absolutely have an effect. Even electing different politicians, has made little difference, but coordinated boycotts will force these corporate elites out of openly buying politicians and government, or out of business.
This is a good time to make your household more sustainable. Use reusable rags for cleaning, reusable mops, less toilet paper. Vinegar, baking soda etc for cleaning needs. Don't buy anything unless it is absolutely necessary.
There is a facebook page, Boycott Scott Walker Contributors. I suggest friending them as well. Solidarity.
original post 03/02/2011 at 5:25 PM
As one of the Real Citizens United, I was thinking that if freedom of speech equals money per the supreme court ruling, shouldn't I have the ability to know before I purchase a product or contract for a service whether the money I am paying will go into corporate funds that are being used directly or indirectly toward political donations or advertisements. If I know the downstream destination of my funds that I use to purchase something then I can exercise my freedom of speech to go forward with that purchase or not. If I could go to a site, perhaps even an app where I could check on a specific product and its resultant effect on candidates and policy campaigns I would have true freedom. Companies may not now be required to reveal that for consumers (as I believe they should be if they are now able to use their corporate funds at will to effect elections) then perhaps there could be an process that would be voluntary to provide such a money trail and if it is declined then I could make my choice based on the fact that that purchase is at risk of contributing to policies or candidates that work against my interests or choices. Perhaps corporations would soon desire to remove themselves from this situation and seek to become again neutral conveyors of products and services.
You make excellent points, surely it can't be too difficult to find out which way most businesses are directing their political funds. The campaign records can be pulled from the previous year, and based on contributions made, candidates supported, a fairly safe assumption can be made about the general "tilt" of the business.
Using that information lists could be published (ala Karl Rove), and people could then begin making informed decisions about where they wanted to spend their money. The power that unions alone can weld is enormous, and add to that any effort to spread the word to all working Americans, and businesses could begin to feel the pinch almost immediately. It takes your boycott one step further, and it is an inspired move. Just think, one day this could be so big it might need its own "Angie's List" !
I like the co-op concept on the health insurance page a lot. Defeat crony capitalism with free market capitalism. Form companies that serve the people better and stop buying the products of those who simply are destroying our country for greed. They make any effort to be considerate and work together sound like it is evil or communism. The Christian values they claim to hold are a smokescreen to fool the gullible.
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