MindOpenWhy

More raw thoughts on how the revolution gets some teeth:

Dawn is breaking in my mind on some things and I just realized…all you Starcraft, Warcraft, real-time strategy players out there guess what?

Resource allocation, real-time strategy, we all should be fucking wizards at this shit!

Here’s where I’m going with this.

In order to do what I suggest in part 1 you need to have access to smart phones, data plans, internet access etc. all of which requires you allocating a portion of your financial assets towards companies that may well be your ‘enemies’.

So you shell out so much of your gold, stone, meat, wood etc. in order to build up your army and defeat the opponent.

In this game most of your purchasing power is spent enriching those you are trying to defeat (namely those specific corporations that put profits before people).

The goal is to shift the allocation of these financial resources towards, specifically, those corporations that put people and the environment before profits.

i.e. fair trade, sustainability etc.

The “blind & ignorant of social impact impulse buy” is your worst enemy, but the friend of those who put profits before people.  They are counting on all of us, to actively or passively or ignorantly (it doesn’t really matter) pass off responsibility and blame to them (it’s not our fault the company I buy from is unethical etc). 

It actually benefits them if we pass off blame to them, because ironically we then feel less or no guilt about the purchase…we get what we want and they get what they want and nobody worries about being accountable to a higher standard because they say “We’re just providing what the customers want” and we say “We’re not responsible for what the companies do with the money they make from us buying their product”. 

We both pass the buck and some poor laborer in a 3rd world country is left holding the bag…and it’s full of disease riddled water and chemical toxins that are poisoning their world at an alarming rate.

I’ve actually seen this flaunted with a perverse pride on rants on amazon.com.  Someone started a thread asking “are amazon products fair trade?”…and more than a few had comments like “Who cares!  As long as I get a product that is what I want at a price that is cheap!  Those people wouldn’t have any work at all – even if they are working for what seems like pennies to me, it is better than the alternative of no income at all!” 

Pretty disgusting….

Is ‘our’ generation up to this challenge? 

First we must embrace that responsibility for the social and environmental impact of our purchasing decisions rest on our shoulders.

Then we must arm ourselves with the tools and information we need to make socially and environmentally responsible purchasing decisions. 

Imagine the power we wield if we do this effectively, collectively, and with consistency?

Who is in charge then? 

The mighty collective of socially and environmentally responsible, informed consumers that’s who. 

The corporations will have no choice but to give in to the pressures of such an empowered collective force for change, else they risk perishing. 

In this connected, technology rich world no corporation can offer any legitimate excuse for not being able to provide the transparency, accountability, and social and environmental responsibility that we as the collective consumers should be demanding (and if we are not demanding it than we are as soulless as those who put profits before people). 

 That being said in this connected, technology rich world no individual can offer any legitimate excuse for not being able to acquire the information necessary to make purchasing choices that are socially and environmentally responsible. 

The gauntlet has been laid down…

Want to prove to me your factory overseas provides safe working conditions, fair wages, etc.? 

Offer transparency and access that the technology rich, digitally connected world can offer. 

Not willing? 

Okay, I take my business elsewhere. 

We need to start demanding, putting our foot down and truly throwing our weight around…but first we need to collectively wake up to the fact that we have that power.

More later…drumming things up, keeping the wheel cogs of my mind turning…