Buy ethically, no longer prop up unethical badboy corporations

I remember the phrase ‘Think globally, act locally’ which has the essence of this goal without the tedious spelling out of the word
E T H I C A L L Y.

Yet now I am older, I don’t always find it simple to figure out who the good guys and bad guys are. Absolutist, us vs. them thinking has always offended me, both intellectually and morally. For example, should we support economic development of what we patronisingly call ‘the third world’, with its concomitant exploitation by greedy über-businessmen who pollute, over-work and disavow wrong-doings, or should we let it languish in the ignorance and poverty (and disease and self-righteous intolerance) of the religious maniacs who would control it to their own delusional ends? It boils down to McDonald’s vs. the Taliban – or so the “impartial” watchdog of society – the media and its owners – would have us believe.

I really DON’T think it is this simple a choice. Why can’t we reject BOTH McDonald’s AND the Taliban? And the media? And find something else to do with our lives other than buy superfluous things and waste time on infotainment, sports and reality-TV? Perhaps we really are the morons our politicians think we are.

This is an ongoing process but I certainly think that I’ve done more than well the past year.

Ethical investment vs ethical consumption, and steps to achieving this.

i bought organic free range chicken from a lovely little wholefoods shop
where only 2 0r 3 of the staff drew my dirty looks for buying meat :)

it was expensive £7 for two chicken breasts
but wow it tasted fantastic!

the only way i can describe it is, it tasted like real chicken, i know that sounds odd :)

ill definatley be doing that more
i just wish i could afford it more often :(

I would like not to get encourage by fancy adverticements from large multinational coorporations selling clothes and sports wear made by people working under horrible conditions.

I would like to subscribe to a credible newletter about the companies not allowing labor unions and not offering education to their child employees. So far Nike, Reebok, Gap, Tommy Hilfinger are on my list of goods that I will NOT buy!

Make sure you see what the “green”, “sustainable”, “ethical” investments are before you jump up and down with excitement about your employer’s broker offering those 401k plans. Oh joy! The only ethical plan that was offered to me had big investments in Eli Lilly, and some slightly ethically suspect big entertainment and software companies. Being the biggest acruement of money that you will ever have in your life (probably), it is the single biggest power, as an individual, you have against the big nasties – where to invest. Consequently, I still need a plan. Anyone got suggestions for ethical investments, that will allow me to sleep at night? I hate dealing with money. It smells funny.

that can track brands and ownership for products and services found in New Zealand. So far I’ve not had a lot of luck. A wiki is probably what I want – http://www.consumerium.org seems like an approach, but their culture raises hackles up my back with all their talk of being ‘troll friendly’ and their antagonism to Wikipedia. Seems to me they’re more into cultural rebellion for the sake of it than delivering a quality product, and until they get their website culture to a point where it’s something other than a giant argument I’d rather go somewhere with more signal and less noise.

If I have to I might start writing my own, but that seems like a lot of work if someone else has done it already. I wonder if there’s a Wikicity for this? Seems like it would be right up Jimbo’s alley. Hmmmmmm. Hold that thought, I’ll be right back.

I’d like to switch my electricity over to a greener supplier that uses as much renewable power as poss. Now all I need to do is find one…