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Why I (mostly) don’t boycott

Occasionally, when I post about a purchase, readers question why I’ve chosen to shop somewhere. And since I’m big on mindful spending, I thought a post on why I (mostly) don’t boycott was in order.

Why I (mostly) don't boycott

As a rule, I’m not a boycotter.

Which means that my shopping habits don’t fit with liberal OR conservative ideals.

For example, I go to Chick-Fil-A (which liberal people like to boycott) and Starbucks (which conservatives have boycotted)

However, I try not to frequent either super often because it’s cheaper to eat/drink at home.

And I could add Target to the list as well; conservatives were busy boycotting a few years ago over the bathroom issue, and I kept shopping as usual (meaning: I try not to go there too often because it’s easy to overspend there!)

Here’s are the reasons I generally don’t participate in boycotts.

1. It’s impossible to only hire/patronize people/organizations I completely agree with.

I don’t think there’s a company or organization out there that spends their money in ways that I am completely, 100% comfortable with or who practices business in ways that I totally approve of.  They’re all a mixture of good and bad.

And even if I spent every moment of my life trying to figure out where my money is going, I still couldn’t know it all.

Maybe Proctor and Gamble has employees who donate part of their salaries to charities I disagree with.

Maybe my appliance repair man spends his money buying things I think are wrong.

why I don't boycott

Maybe the plumber I hired uses the money I paid him to support a cause that goes against everything I believe.

Unless I live on a completely self-sufficient homestead, I have to make peace with the fact that I can’t be sure that all of the dollars I spend are being used in ways I’m comfortable with.

2. A lot of boycotting isn’t about the product/production as it is about ideals.

If a product is made with child labor or slavery, or a product falls apart or is dangerous, it’s one thing to boycott that.

(This is why I say I mostly don’t boycott!)

But it’s another thing altogether to boycott something because I disagree with the ideology of a company. When I get into that realm, I’m sent back to point number one (It’s impossible to only buy from companies I agree with entirely.)

So I ask myself: Is their product/service good?  Do they treat their employees well? Is the company environmentally responsible?  Is their customer service good?

These seem like more helpful, relevant questions.

3. I don’t think boycotting is what Jesus would want me to do.

Jesus didn’t specifically address boycotting, but based on what he said and did, I just cannot imagine him thinking this is a good idea.

The Jesus who ate with tax collectors and prostitutes?  And the Jesus who said we should love everyone, even our enemies?

I don’t think he’d say, “Well, have a loving attitude toward people you disagree with, but do your best to put them out of business.”

(Is that really the best way to love people?)

Or would he say, “Only give your business to other Christians.”

(Do only Christians deserve to eat?)

Besides, giving my business only to other Christians wouldn’t even guarantee that my dollars went where I want them to.

I disagree with other Christians on things too sometimes. 😉

4. Boycotting is very picky-choosy.

(At least, the conservative Christians variety is, in my experience. So, that’s what I’m addressing in this point.)

Do we want to avoid supporting things we believe to be wrong?  Sure.

But (back to number one again), this is sort of an impossible task.

So we end up being oddly inconsistent.  

Christians worry a lot about supporting gay marriage, but are nearly unmoved over the slave labor that produces the chocolate we buy.  

We wring our hands over employee insurance policies while buying up products made in unsafe sweatshops.

chopped chocolate for fudge sauce

And it seems to me that we spend a lot of time worrying about what people outside the church are doing, when we could be spending our time in much more productive, loving ways.

Worrying about the log in my own eye before I pick a speck out of someone else’s…well, the log-removing keeps me pretty busy.

Which brings me to my last thought…

4. I’d rather support than boycott.

Because the whole boycotting scene is so impossible, I want to focus on what I want to support rather than what I want to boycott.

Instead of picking out companies that I think are bad enough to boycott, I think about where I can spend my money in positive, responsible ways.  This, to me, seems like the best way to love other people when I’m spending money.

So, I buy used stuff, I support local businesses, I buy well-made items, I try to shop at places that treat employees well, and I try to buy responsibly-made items (which sometimes means American-made, but not always).

american giant hoodie on the frugal girl

(My American Giant hoodie.  Love me some American Giant!)

So. I do the best I can to spend my money in positive ways and beyond that…well, in the words of Elsa, I just let it go.

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How about you? Do you boycott? And how do you go about trying to spend your money in responsible ways?

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Cathy in NJ

Monday 2nd of November 2020

I am often not sure what my Christian mission is so most days I am winging it. But I know I do not have time to research every company I do business with, so I am sure I purchase from companies whose management I don't agree with. Yet those same dollars support employees and their families that depend on those wages. I have to be at peace with it.

Kirsty

Monday 2nd of November 2020

I am also a lurker posting for the first time and I want to say I totally agree with you! Boycotting makes so little sense most of the time.

I remember boycotting Nike because of child labor. Nike were using child labor in countries where lots of kids have to work to eat, but the advice of people whose opinions I respected was to just boycott Nike. I then found out that Nike just stopped using child labor in those countries, and loads of the kids who used to work in Nike ended up having to go into prostitution to get enough food to eat. I felt so guilty (even though I doubt my personal decision not to buy one pair of shoes made any difference). Obviously being in school is better than working as a child, but if school isn't an option and you need to work to eat, then working in a factory is obviously better than prostitution. You can't just simplify large complex issues to one simple knee jerk reaction and expect it to work.

Nowadays I have selected my main charity to be an organization in India that provides free daycare and early years school including free food and medical care in a really remote area where otherwise kids have to work to eat or if they are younger their parents just have to leave them at home to go work, and hope they are still there when they go back. I think it's far better to focus on supporting organizations that are helping to solve the problems I care about than to boycott people who aren't.

Martha C.

Saturday 12th of September 2020

Just got to this post via a link in the comment section of 9/11/20 which is blowing up about boycotting ChikFilA. I just wanted to say I 100% agree with you about boycotts, for many of the same reasons. But I also want to add that I've been alive for 55 years and I have no memory of a boycott ever working. I boycotted Nestle with all my fellow breastfeeding moms in the 1990s because they gave formula samples to moms in African countries and then their milk dried up. As far as I know, Nestle was completely unaffected. Ditto boycotting Coors beer in my bar-drinking days in the 1980s. I can't even remember why we did that. Then there were table grapes during my childhood because of migrant workers, and the list goes on. But they don't work. They are led by a small group of principled people, and I understand that it might make those folks feel better, but it's definitely not going to put any company out of business.

I agree with supporting the ones you like! But even that doesn't work. I was the world's most devoted fan of Caribou Coffee years ago (before I got frugal) and the franchisee still went out of business. How sad.

Anyway, keep up the great work, Kristen! I love your blog and will read it no matter what your choice of cheap takeout eats.

Momma L

Saturday 13th of April 2019

I love your level headedness. When I was a young mom, I went to a church that was the same denomination where I grew up, so I thought I'd be comfortable. One day in adult Sunday School, the members of the class got into a big debate over whether or not God wanted parents to sit in the church pews as a couple, children next to us, or apart, children in between us. It went on and on, and I raised my hand and said, do you think He really cares where you sit, as long as you are there? They all got so mad at me. The boycott debate reminds me of this. I'd rather help than argue. Thank you for this post.

Kristen

Saturday 13th of April 2019

Oh dear. That does seem like a pretty silly thing to debate over. I really don't think God cares what order you sit in the pew!

Anne

Tuesday 25th of July 2017

LOVE THIS! We don't go the Chic-Fil-A because - um - we just don't care about Chicken that much and if we do go to a Chicken restaurant it is Raising Caines because they are AMAZING community partners. I wish more of our society was intentional shoppers, instead of reactionary. (I hate to see small local businesses fail, but we try to use our dollars to support them where we can.)

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