Both Christmas shopping and regular daily shopping was a lot easier before Republicans started exposing themselves. A company had a reputation for its products, either good or bad, and I bought accordingly. Food, everyday items, vehicles. computers for business or home use, office furniture, sneakers – everything. Then rich Republicans came out of the closet.
I gambled at the Venetian in Las Vegas but since Sheldon Adelson revealed himself to be an extremist Republican I've stopped leaving my money at his casino. Since New Balance's owner came out of the closet as a backer of Republican weirdos our formerly all-New Balance family won't touch the brand. Chain restaurants? I've got a list of those to avoid because they enthusiastically support the destruction of America.
The list goes on and on, of course, because so many people with an obsession to get rich do so by owning businesses. The problem, in fact, is to find companies and products to support. I want to buy things, need things, and I have to look really hard for a place to spend my money.
All the supporters of ALEC get the heave-ho from me. Big donors to Romney are people I think are trying to rip off the middle class. Business owners telling their employees to vote for Romney – they'll have to do without my money.
Consumer Reports magazine has a page every issue devoted to lies on packages. "New, bigger size!" The page shows a picture of the old size, which was bigger; the new size is actually smaller. It seems that there's more water in any package of liquid, be it soups or shampoos. Quality seems to be edging downward on one product after another. Prices aren't.
We like seafood, but I found out (Mother Jones magazine) that 91% is imported, that most is raised in unsanitary circumstances, and that the Republicans cut the FDA budget so severely that they can't afford to inspect more than a tiny sliver – and they find a lot of that has bacteria and is slugged with antibiotics and worse. Europe inspects 50%; we inspect 2%. We live on the coast and have always tried to buy local, but the fishing industry has been decimated here and in most of America, and doesn't come near to supplying what's needed. Adios, seafood.
CEOs, anxious to raise their yearly salaries and bonuses to three million dollars from a pathetic two million dollars are cutting every product corner they can think of. Cans and packages are shrinking in size, most often accompanied by the package declarations of "Improved!" "Better" "New package, same Great Taste!" and even "More!" It's enough to make you want to not buy.
Then there's the eager support for communism from Republicans. Remember when they used to be anti-communist? The Koch Brothers father was one of the founders of The John Birch Society, an organization based on anti-communism. Sure, the JBS was a nutty group, a precursor of Tea Party, but anti-communism was a big issue for all Republicans.
Well, turns out they weren't really anti-communist after all. They didn't mind the totalitarian dictatorship part of communism, kinda liked it in fact. What they were against was the state control of business. Once them commies started doing a bit of capitalism the Republicans beat a path of their door. Now they're the main supporters of the communist totalitarian dictatorship, and perfectly comfortable with it.
Republicans flood the American market with goods made by virtual slave labor in communist China, killing American jobs. Flag waving Republicans love it, but the flag they're waving isn't the Stars and Stripes, it's a white flag with a big red dollar sign on it.
So that crosses off a whole bunch of crap from my list of available things to buy.
I know a lot of small business people in my area. They're not all Republicans or Libertarians. Most are only that way when an issue affects their profits. The rest of the time they're mostly normal people, with a big mixture of views on issues non-economic, or no views or interest at all in those issues. Most all of them vote GOP or POG (Party of the Gullibles, also known as the Tea Party), but only because money is the only thing in their lives and they're voting for what they believe will make them more money. They're wrong, but then most of them aren't too bright so that figures.
But I don't want to buy anything from them. Why put more money in the pockets of people who are going to hurt democracy, hurt our economy, hurt decency? I won't. Yet it's danged hard to find folks that I want to spend money with. If it's not the products and their source, or the rip-off factor (read any book by David Cay Johnston), it's the people that own the companies.
I bought The Blue Book, which lists company donations to each political party and it was a small help. I watch for news on companies and diligently keep a list of Good Guys and Bad Guys, but when the Bad Guys started coming out of the closet so rapidly during the 2012 election the list became so lopsided that it's mostly just a list of companies and products to not buy.
I've discovered that over the last few years, as corporations work their rip offs and the 1% gives money to greedy politicians in support of more deregulation, lower taxes on the grifters, and non-prosecution of economic crimes, I've been buying less and less. That's a good thing for my bank balance, but a bad thing for the economy. I'm a consumer who's consuming less and less. That means fewer jobs and I very much don't like that.
Along with jobs Republicans are destroying American business.
I want to buy some stuff, but it sure ain't easy.
A Southerner in Yankeeland