Some Things I Boycott

I have a confession to make. I am a serial boycotter. I cannot stand to spend my hard-earned money at businesses whose policies I find reprehensible.

Our vote is only one tool that we have to promote political and social change. Perhaps a much more powerful tool is our money and how we choose to spend it. It is very painful for companies to deal with organized and sustained boycotts of their products. Most will change policies to avoid such boycotts.

I remember the first thing that I boycotted for political reasons. When I was in college, the 2nd California grape boycott was in full force and I participated enthusiastically. Since that time, I have often made spending decisions based on the economic and political policies of companies. For example, you will never see me at Chick-Fil-A because of that company's anti-gay activism. I won't set foot in a Hobby Lobby because of the company's legal wrangling to deny its employees insurance coverage for some forms of contraception.

Organized boycotts and boycott threats can be quite effective in forcing policy change. For example, after Rush Limbaugh's awful Sandra Fluke harangues of several years ago, thousands of sponsors stopped supporting the flaming Nazi gasbag. Some larger stations have stopped carrying the talking jackass. The Rush franchise has definitely been harmed.

After Florida passed a "stand your ground" gun law, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) promoted similar model legislation in many states. The murder of 17-year old Treyvon Martin under the pretext of "stand your ground" led to public pressure on corporate sponsors of ALEC. Negative publicity and threats of boycotts led 127 corporate members to sever ties with the right-wing organization, including giants such as Coca-Cola, GE, Microsoft, Ford, and Shell.

My family has personally boycotted several local businesses. Although they will never know it, our refusal to buy from the repugnant enterprises has resulted in hundreds and thousands of dollars in lost sales. For example, when looking for an estate lawyer to update my will, I ruled-out several candidates for their donations to Scott Walker. As a frequent Ford buyer, I will not shop at Sorens in Brookfield due to their sponsorship of hate-radio jack-ass, Jay Weber's podcasts.

There are a raft of reasons that I avoid WalMart. They have single-handedly destroyed many small downtowns. They underpay their employees. They squeeze their suppliers. They import about $49 billion in goods from China each year, displacing an estimated 40,000 American workers. They fight unionization at their stores. I haven't spent a dime in a Walmart in over 30 years.

I never patronize restaurants that insist on subjecting their customers to the GOP propaganda of Fox "News". One such frozen custard shop in Germantown (Robert's), lost my business years ago. (and I eat a lot of frozen custard!) Ditto for Fox "News"-loving McDonalds franchises in Brookfield and Menomonee Falls. Who needs to have their appetite ruined by O'Reilly or Hannity? If these restaurants must have a TV on, couldn't they just play game shows and sporting events?

Scott Walker's assaults on public and private workers have opened-up a whole new landscape for politically motivated boycotts. As an individual, I don't have any occasion to avoid huge Walker supporters like ABC Supply or Badger Meter. However, I can and do boycott big Walker donors like Menards, Kwik Trip, and the Rickett Family's Chicago Cubs.

Few big political donors have done as much damage to Wisconsin as the infamous Koch brothers. Boycotting the Koch companies is difficult, as their conglomerate makes everything from carpets to building materials to toilet paper. However, available lists of Koch products can help us end the siphoning of money from our pockets directly into the campaign coffers of anti-worker politicians.

Businesses have enough trouble staying solvent without alienating half of their potential customers. I fail to understand why owners insist on making large political contributions, or support regressive social policies, or impose political propaganda on patrons. However, as long as they do, I will exercise what little economic leverage I have by making conscientious choices about where to spend my money.