• activistPnk@slrpnk.net
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    1 year ago

    For just about every transaction, I decide who wins my business not based on price but on ethics. If I need a printer & have a choice between an HP printer and a Brother or Oki printer, HP does not make it to the shortlist. Corporations are never equal in their social impact, but to know that requires doing a bit of homework. I keep track of wrong doing by corps so I have a fairly good idea of who to patronize. If I need mobile phone service in the US, AT&T is by far the most evil and VZ is still far worse than T-Mobile. So T-mobile is the lesser of evils and they would win my business even if their plan is less fitting to my needs.

    Some people have done a lot of this work for us. There an app called “Buycott” where you subscribe to ethical campaigns that are aligned to your values. So e.g. if you subscribe to the anti-child labor campaign then scan a chocolate bar from Nestlé or Hershey, the app will likely red-flag it. You could very well use the same app to decide what to steal (that is, steal something that you wouldn’t buy).

    Shopping for insurance is extremely difficult for me because most insurance companies (or parents thereof) are ALEC members. There are a few exceptions and I end up paying double the lowest bid on premium because of it. In principle I should steal something from on the ALEC insurance companies to compensate the difference.