My friend Melinda posted a comment that so succinctly hits the nail on the head: "I guess that brings me to another little bit of 'activism'. If I recognize a company like OV, that at least appears to be using natural, organic practices, I will purchase their product even while I'm struggling to make ends meet. We simply MUST put our money behind what we believe, or it will fail."
We simply MUST put our money behind what we believe, or it will fail.
When dealing with such huge issues as environmental decay, it's all too easy to feel overwhelmed by the big picture and lulled into the deadly illusion that one person couldn't possibly make a difference, and so they don't. But every single person has GREAT power in the course and nature of change, because every single penny that we have in our pocket is a weapon within our personal arsenal of change.
We can't impede commerce? Like hell we can't. . . .every single penny has great power to change the world. . . .every single moment. . . .of every single day!
My cousin Laurie has talked about how every choice we make casts a vote for the change we want to see in the world. That means that every single dollar I spend (or save) is a direct vote in the market of commerce for the course and direction of change that I personally want to see. If I purchase food that's processed, then I am supporting all of the environmental consequences involved in the making of that processed food product, even if I am not directly involved in that process. My money is voting for that food product, and so I am complicit in the consequencs that result.
Every single dollar I spend is a direct vote in the market of commerce for the course and direction of change that I personally want to see.
So it doesn't matter how much or how little money we have in our bank accounts, it's all reduced to the change that constitutes our personal power. I think the problem is that we keep turning our focus and attention onto a single individual and asking for the change we would like to see in the world, feeling constantly disillusioned and disappointed, but this kind of thinking is just wrong. Each of us needs to be the change we want to see in the world, and that change is transacted in the micro exchanges of the pennies in our pockets for the products and services we choose every single day.
So how much difference can one person make? One person can make all the difference in the world! Just like Melinda is making a difference every time she pays more for the Organic Valley milk becasue she chooses to vote for organic and environmentally friendly milk. You rock, Melinda!
As for me, I do not intend to squander my personal power any more, and I refuse to cast my consumer-driven votes for the corporate-greed-driven status quo, because the bottom line is that every day is voting day when personal power is found in each and every peanut and penny within our arsenal of change.
So vote wisely, my friend. . . .vote wisely :)