It’s time to vote! It’s not November. Yet, thank goodness. No, it is time to vote with your dollar.
Every Day is a trip to the ballot box!
You, like me, probably spend a dollar every day; but I wonder, do you think about it?
Do you think about how when you buy a dollar’s worth of gas you are voting to support a handful of extraordinarily wealthy people who rape the future for their own short-term gain? I didn’t before. But I do now.
Do you think about how when you buy a dollar’s worth of coffee at Dunks you are voting to support a handful of huge shareholders and executives who pay growers a pittance for the cup of joe they sold you? I didn’t. But I do now.
Do you think about how when you buy a dollar’s worth of cheap art supplies from Hobby Lobby you are voting to support a company that wants to ensure that the separation of church and state applies to all churches except theirs? And that you are voting to support a business model that relies on cheap labor and catastrophic environmental destruction to make you a “Live, Laugh Love” sign that is unique … just like everyone else’s? Okay, that one I knew.
Your Vote Matters!
I know that we all must survive in the world in order to change it. While this is indeed a fact, it can quickly become an excuse.
“But I need to buy a gallon of gas to get to work.”
This may be true, though electric vehicles, bikes, feet, and the internet make this “need” a bit more of a want for a lot of us. And even if there is no other option, that dollar you put into your tank to go to work has company. It is joined by the dollar you spent idling in the McDonald’s drive-through, the one you spent treating Main Street as your own personal quarter-mile track, and the one you spent just because you “couldn’t possibly drive a small car.”
I know that our economy is built on fossil fuels. But I also know that that economy is killing us and all of the species we share this little blue marble with.
Stop voting against your own self-interest!
Whether you are standing at the ballot box, the cash register, or the gas pump your vote counts. I know that it can be difficult to believe that sometimes but it is true. Here are a few easy things that you can do to vote in your own self-interest:
- Vote Local! The fastest way to make a difference is to vote your hard-earned dollar to one of your grateful, hard-working neighbors instead of to a Manhattan balance sheet (AKA a big box chain) that won’t even know it’s there.
- Vote Creative! This is New England, you can’t throw a rock without hitting an antique store or a thrift shop. Buy an old window and paint “Live Laugh Love” on it if you must. At least then your sign will be unique. And bonus! Creativity is fun! (And don’t throw rocks).
- Vote Small! Making change can be daunting. It can be overwhelming. So start small. Walk downtown instead of driving once. Have lunch at Local Burger instead of the global chain once. Buy an apple and a head of cabbage from the co-op once. Then turn once into twice and see the difference you start to make.
We are in trouble. We are killing ourselves with convenience and apathy. But we all have the power to vote for change. With every single dollar that we spend.