I have been in several conversations about politics with some people in other forums. A lot of people have expressed a lot of disdain towards large companies. This may have led to the election back in November that I think was a disaster, people think that by giving the government a huge amount of power they will be better off. I would like to suggest that we boycott as many large businesses as possible. If you go out to eat, eat at a local restaurant. When you buy food, try to buy locally grown foods. Not possible of course, if you are looking for bananas in Albany, but you know what I mean. But you can buy those bananas from a local grocer, not Kroger or Publix. My mom lives in Miami, so we sometimes go to Milam's (But the closest is past a Winn-Dixie and two Publix's) In Johnson City, that is Food City or White's. It's a little more expensive, so I understand that many can't afford it, but this is what I try to do.
I try to support local businesses as much as possible.. I have a small business selling construction materials, and we struggle to compete against our huge competitors. I know how it feels to be the underdog, trying to manage a budget and being in the same ballpark with the big guys. Just the other day, my gf wanted to purchase an ipod accessory, so I suggested a small electronics local shop... She said it seemed sketchy and would rather go to futureshop or bestbuy... Well, if everyone thought like her, I'd be out of business by now... I did make her realize it though..
"big business" goes out of business...hundreds of thousands of jobs lost. No jobs, no money, no money to spend in your local shop, so a silly idea. Don't get me wrong, I try to support local businesses as much as possible, too. But not exclusively.
It's not that I'm unsympathetic to what you're saying, but have you really thought this through? Suppose I'm going into town to get groceries, and I'm boycotting "large businesses" (you need a more specific definition of exactly what that means, by the way). I can't put gas in my car because it comes from the big oil companies. I can't listen to music in my car, because the CD comes from Sony. I can't buy 90% of the stuff in the grocery store because it comes from Nestle or Borden's or Lipton or Tropicana. Actually, I can't even drive my car because it's a Toyota. Back home, I can't turn on the lights because the switch comes from General Electric. For that matter, the power comes from Tucson Gas and Electric. I can't read a book because it was published by Random House, on paper that came from Weyheuser. I can't connect to the internet, because my laptop comes from Gateway. Even those local restaurants you mention ... where do they get their food? Their supplies and equipment? How was it delivered to them? I'm not trying to be facetious, but you see my point? Unless we want to go back to the Stone Age (worse things could happen, actually), it's basically impossible to live in 21st century civilization without the "large companies" you criticize.
I know what you are saying caliente. I am typing this on a mac and my nephew is right here in the room playing the XBOX on the Sharp TV. We all have to shop and buy products from big businesses. Like I said my mom tries to go to Milam's but the Winn-Dixie and Publix are so much closer. I'm just saying that we should try. I'm thinking of an locally owned electronics and furniture store that I heard an ad for. Yeats? I think? It's in Dyersburg, TN and I was just thinking "I wonder how those guys can compete with Best Buy and Walmart. And if people would spend money at that store, that would keep a lot more of the money in Dyersburg rather than send it off to the corporate offices elsewhere. Then the money can be recycled back into the Dyersburg economy. Of course people go in there and buy Whirlpools and Sanyos. So that money gets sent off. So maybe boyccott is a strong word, but I said that because it's the name of the forum and where else do I put it. Avoid may be a better word. And Odon, Lowe's isn't going out of business because some people shop more at the local hardware store. Circuit City went out of business because of the general fucked up nature of the economy. I wonder how much money the executives and the board of directors got away with while the cashiers and the rest of the little guys got screwed.
Zillions, no doubt. We've all seen this happen over and over ... secretaries and cashiers get laid off so a company can afford the executives' bonuses. It's scummy, for sure. And it doesn't have to be that way. When my husband and I owned our business, we offered profit-sharing and stock options to all our employees. We weren't in the Microsoft class, by any means, but several of our employees made a nice bundle of money from it. We actually reported very little "profit", because anything extra we gave back to the employees. That made selling the company a little dicey, because the bean counters want to see profit, profit, profit. But we had the most loyal employees on earth. And when we did sell the company, the upper management of the company that bought us recognized what we did, and kept most of those practices in place. The point of this is that it's possible to run a company, make a good living, and not screw the employees that made it possible.
I didn't mean to say that when a big business goes out of business, due to the economy being terrible, that all of them would behave well. Some do and some don't. Just like a smaller business. It depends on the moral values of the company. Imho, it isn't any more or less likely a big company would treat their employees worse. It is in the interests of the bigger company to act well, because they probably aren't going completely out of business and they are more than likely part of a bigger company...so they have to retain their credibility. Look at British Airways...they could have dropped thousands of employee's, but they chose to do their best to keep as many staff in employment, albeit in different working conditions. Circuit City, from a brief look at what happened to them, doesn't look terribly good. They probably are an e.g of what NOT to do when you face losing a business and when you have lost the business. But, there are also the better companies out there... I did mean to say that with out big business, in general, in the normal economic climate, and even more so when the economy is in dire straights, we need big business. A big business by it's very nature employees hundreds if not thousands of people...even more so if it is an international company. So with out them, many people would lose their jobs. You have gone on to say you mean you want to avoid the bigger chains in your community, which will affect those chains and those employees, who also probably live in your community. I also wonder how the smaller shops keep the money in the community any more or less than the bigger chains. Infact, I think the smaller company owner probably keeps more of the money in a smaller pool than the bigger company... The bigger company might transfer profits to their HQ, but that money does go on to support other communities therefore a vast amount of more people. I do get what you are saying, though. I don't think your trying to rip down the capitalist machine, just even the playing field a little, for the community you live in...and pass that idea to the communities everybody lives in. I do shop around, but I have to say, I don't usually worry about a small shop who has hopefully looked at the financial implications of opening their business in a certain area and if they can keep that business. There are literally hundreds of small business' in my area...so the idea of avoiding "big business" to help them is substantially watered down. To be fair, every business is walking a very fine line of profit and loss. I have a feeling where you live isn't as big as where I live, and the effects of a "big business", in your area, is a lot more severe than it is in mine. So I respect you for wanting to do something about it.
