In the era of Trump, I’ve been thinking a lot about how a normal citizen living a law-abiding life and trying to support a family can help resist the federal government. There are some obvious steps to be taken: subscribing to a print newspaper (a quality one like The Guardian, The New York Times, The Washington Post, etc.), joining and contributing to the ACLU or SPLC, taking part in peaceful demonstrations, joining science and environmental advocacy groups, and contacting legislators directly are all great things to do to help keep a check on the Trump administration.
However, recently I’ve been thinking that the single most powerful tool we have to help resist is our consumer behavior. Many of us already consciously make decisions about our consumption with civic responsibility in mind. This might mean limiting our meat consumption, driving a fuel efficient car, or installing solar panels to limit our carbon footprint or avoiding companies that have a history of poor labor practices to support civil liberties. It’s time now to use that same power to support states and cities in their resistance of Trump.
Blue states and cities are shaping up to be major bastions of the resistance to Trump’s racist and anti-intellectual policies. It’s no surprise, cities and modern economies depend on the global economy, scientists, engineers, other educated professionals, and immigrants to prosper. Blue states are also going to set the standard for environmental protection, labor rights, and civil rights going forward.
At the same time, Trump is threatening to pull federal funding in retaliation for opposing his “policies”. His verbal abuse against our most important trade partners like Europe, Japan, China, and Mexico have already prompted general boycotts of US goods in Mexico and selective boycotts of certain companies in Europe and even generally a-political parts of Asia.
Supporting the economic security of forward-thinking states vicariously is to support the future economic security of the nation as a whole. The US’s economy and her citizens unfortunately are going to suffer under Trump’s irresponsible leadership, we need to brace ourselves and be ready to pick up the pieces right away once he’s gone. More importantly, we can’t let our country fall behind the rest of the world because of Trump’s pettiness. That’s why in addition to whatever consumer preferences you already have, I encourage you to add one more: Buy Blue. Give some preference to products made in (or manufactured for or imported through) blue states. You decide how significant this preference is, it could be anything from being the final deciding factor between two similar products that cost the same to priority number 1 for any purchase.
It’s actually been a pretty easy switch for me, I just check labels before I buy and don’t worry too much about details. It’s simply impossible to know if corn products, for example, are grown in Idaho or Illinois no matter how much you research the supply chain. An example of the type of measure I’ve made is the product I use to bleach my porcelain kitchen sink weekly. I’ve simply started buying Clorox bleach instead of SoftScrub bleaching cleanser. It’s saving me money to boot!