What do we do now? Specific info on boycotting Trump

I womanfully have tried to proclaim a boycott of the Koch Bros Neu Wannsee Conference–you know, their final solution to democracy.

DailyKos helped out a bit, but the Kochs’ real money doesn’t come from Quilted Northern toilet paper; it comes from oil and gas. DailyKos did list the Koch companies individuals like you and me could boycott. But it was a hard sell. I’m not sure many people have fully grasped what the tidal wave of dark money from people like the Kochs have done to our elections. (I can’t personally testify to this because in New York City we don’t get walloped by political ads, least of all Koch-paid-for ads, and I don’t know any organization can demonstrate how pounding, continual political ads–especially oppositional ads that distort or ignore facts–can actually brainwash people. Although I suspect that it does.)

I’m still yearning for the print media to cover and analyze the effect dark money had in the weeks before the senatorial elections in Wisconsin, Indiana and Missouri where the three Democrats had great poll numbers, yet inexplicably lost. Media: I want explication!

But I just picked up in a NYT article about the uproar over The Twittler’s twitter-praise of L.L. Bean (which supported him) and their products, a new non-profit organization called Grab Your Wallet. And wow is it going to be useful.

As you’ll see, the Grab Your Wallet spreadsheet lists the companies, stores and people who support Trump in one way or another.

A lot of the retail stores sell Ivanka’s (in my opinion) cheesy clothing, in the low-price department. I would be a real sacrifice to abjure from buying anything at some of those retail stores, like Century 21. As for Bed, Bath & Beyond (also a would-be major sacrifice), the two couples who founded it are registered Democrats and contribute primarily to Democratic candidates.

I know this is being NIMBY of me (both Century 21 and BB&B are within easy walking distance of my apartment) but rather than boycott my favorite stores, I’m happy to write to them (great thing about Grab Your Wallet: it provides ample contact information and links) and say I won’t be buying Ivanka and I wish they wouldn’t sell Trump labels.

You might be surprised at some of the Grab Your Wallet boycott list. And one surprise at the end of the list: a list of some entities for which a boycott is not being called and–most significantly–a full explanation of why.

It’s responsible political consumer reporting and so useful to those of us who need to do something but aren’t sure what.

UPDATE. I spent the whole afternoon trotting around in my New Balance sneakers–thinking about what I want to do with them. (Their CEO has openly supported Trump.) I like New Balance. I bought them originally because they were, I was told, made in America.

One woman has announced she was going to cut up her New Balances and throw them out.

I was thinking, eh, I dunno. Then I understood: I’m going to pack up my New Balances and send them to the CEO, with a little note. Then I’ll trot over to Tip Top Shoes and get myself a pair of something else. Sad.

(Or maybe I should buy a pair of something else before I pack up my New Balances. Don’t want to trot to the shoe store in socks.)

 

 

 

This entry was posted in Consumer boycott and tagged , , . Bookmark the permalink.