The Politics of Shopping
As Americans become more politically polarized will we choose to patronize or avoid a store, brand, product, or restaurant based on that corporation’s political activity?
For example, if you are an active Democrat would you avoid Walmart if you knew that their corporate contributions lean towards Republicans?
You could go to Target instead, but their contributions also help fill the GOP coffers.
If this information leaves you feeling in a blue state and you want to shop that way, then head on over to COSTCO where Democrats receive 99% of all contributions.
How about if you are planning a trip to Disneyland and discovered that so far in the 2012 election cycle Disney has made $575,000 in political contributions with $411,000 or 77% going to Democrats. Would you change your travel plans?
Is it important for you to know whether the company you are supporting is an R or D before you hand them your hard earned after-tax dollars?
If so, Open Secrets, a unit of the Center for Responsive Politics, makes it easy for consumers to discover just how much corporations are donating to a party and/or candidates.
Besides donations, does the relationship between a company and the President of the United States affect consumer behavior?
A few years back when shopping for a new car, I refused to even consider a GM model because in no way was I was going to support “Government Motors” any more than my tax dollars already had.
It turns out I was not alone in this thinking. Recently the New York Times revealed that in the first quarter of 2012, in a survey of 30,000 Americans shopping for new vehicles, 32 percent said they would not consider a GM car because of the 2009 U.S. Government bail out.
I don’t make as much (some) decisions based on what political party is supported, feeling that everyone has a right to his own opinion, but I WILL NOT buy a GM car. They can steal my tax money apparently, but damned if I’ll give it to them freely.
Target tries to have it “both ways” if you get my drift!
Agree completely about GM – that was simply an overthrow of bankruptcy law by a cabal that intended to pay off it’s union constituency with $40 billion of American taxpayer funds. In a chapter 11 bankruptcy, the secured creditors would have been entitled to complete repayment of their loans to the company, but in reality they would have had to negotiate with the unsecured creditors committee (of which the unions would have been a part), and both sides would have had to give up something.
The absurdity of Obama attempting to claim he saved millions of jobs is a joke – I know of no large-scale Chapter 11 bankruptcy where all the workers were summarily dismissed…never would have happened, because that is the point of a Chapter 11 – to restructure the company, keep it a going concern and make it profitable again.
Instead, the secured creditors got screwed with a take it or leave it 30 cents on the dollar, and the unions gave up nothing except for new hires only. The current line workers kept everything, including a massive contribution to their pension that the administration forced GM to make, before any other distributions.
Hmm, Walmart is Republican-leaning, but most of their products are made in China. It’s not as simple as choosing a store, guys — choose those products that are made in the USA, and companies that are not only ‘R’ but support the American economy directly.
When given a choice, I will choose a secondhand product that will put money directly into the hands of an American, over a new product that will put money indirectly into the Chinese economy!
When I was growing up in the 1950s and ’60s, my parents were extremely conscientious about buying American-made products and refusing to buy things made in Communist countries. One exception my mother made was for canned pineapple. Instead of buying Dole brand, she chose Geisha brand because it was made in Free China (Formosa?) and she wanted to support their economy in their stand against Red China.
She once succumbed to beauty and bought a cut-crystal vase made in Hungary, then a Soviet satellite. For years afterward, while arranging flowers in that vase, she would whisper to me “I know I shouldn’t have bought it, but it’s so pretty I couldn’t resist!”
I, too, continue in my parents’ shopping tradition. I will not buy a GM car or any car made by UAW employees; for my next purchase, I will look for something made in a right-to-work state. I would prefer not to buy anything made in China, but it’s very difficult these days.
So yes, I will keep Myra Adams list of businesses in mind when I choose where to shop in the future.
I agree with basing my shopping on political considerations. Regarding where the products are made, a vital question that does not come up as often as it should is: why are these products made where they are; could it be obscene regulations?
If I know which way a company leans, it affects my buying decisions. For example, I refuse to buy a GM, Ford, or Crysler. Bailout or no bailout, a large portion of my $$$ would fund the UAW if I were to do so. No, thanks. I’ll buy non-union instead.
In addition, if a company (like GE) gets obnoxious and/or vocal about supporting Democrats, they will lose my business, as well.
I’ve taken it further. If you are a freelancer looking for work from my company you will have a tough time getting it if you are a Liberal.