American companies Boycott? - Do u boycott american stuff??

[Fiskebat]

Well, i just wonder how many of u guys(American ppl do not take this personally, this is like against ur dicator occuping the white house) boycott things from the USA??

I live in Sweden and i have a couple of friends along with me that try to boycott every American company(from Coke to Levi´s u know, especially multi nationalistic comp. and capitalistic of course)!

I think this is the only way to show what u think about a nation, not by going in peaceful demonstrations as the politicians dont give a shit about u then!

Gotta strike where it hurts the most and its the economy!

[Dirty Commie]

I am an amerikkkan, I boycott every thing run by big business.

I took no offense, bush is a dictator.

[Soul Rebel]

I basically boycott everything- my life kind of revolves around it. Im vegan so i dont buy any animal products, which leads into me not buying from big stores (i only go to little independent health food stores), nor do i buy products with animal testing or ingredients, which leads into me not buying anything from big companies like Proctor and Gamble (because they treat animals horribly and they are a nightmare company- own everything you can imagine). Then being a commie- i dont buy clothes made in 3rd world countries or even here, nor do i shop at chain stores. I either make my clothes or go to a thrift store. Sometimes i have resorted to stealing stuff- i figure these companies are screwing the producers and the public, so why not. And the list goes on....

[CubanFox]

I boycott American goods. I like to go to little shops and buy food from obscure nations that aren't exactly economic giants to support a poor farmer's family or something.

[Dhul Fiqar]

Here is an excellent thread that lists the evil corporations you'd want to avoid first and foremost:


http://www.che-lives.com/cgi/community/top...um=14&topic=436 (http://www.che-lives.com/cgi/community/topic.pl?forum=14&topic=436)



(Edited by Dhul Fiqar at 6:08 pm on May 17, 2003)

[rumblefish86]

I think its good to boycott certain amercian products as it stops the funding of the capitalist regime but unless loads of us begin to boycott will it have any affect? Millions upon millions buy these products everyday, i dont buy these products but i cant help feeling that my boycotting is not having much impact

[mentalbunny]

I suggest you check out Practice. There is also a short thread in Websites started bu Paris which has the link for an activist search engine.

[GCusack]

Sorry guys! I gotta hold up my hands and say i dont boycott multi national companies! Cos I play rugby and all rugby companies r multi national! Sorry guys

[Fiskebat]

Cmon man! the anti americanism is growing as it never has since the Vietnam war, here in Europe! With all the imperialstic policy the USA has!

Rumblef. u say that u think u cant make no diffrence, but if I and all members here for example would boycott Mcdonalds for example, It WOULD make a diffrence!

More and more ppl decides to boycott capitalistic stuff everyday and u also get a clean concience!

[GCusack]

sorry man... where u talking to me or someone else? I dont eat in McDonalds or Burger King or KFC but i do buy sports gear not very regularly however and I do mostly buy Canterbury gear from NZ but they r a global company and i do feel ashamed however rugby is a big part of my life and i do need the best gear which i have to admit comes from a global company!

[CubaVictoria1983]

I'm probably going to sound like an asshole...but hey! I am! I have not boycotted anything.....unless you count in Nike, Hurley, and starbucks. I try to buy coffee from local coffee shops. Oregon seems to be chockfull of inexpenssive and great quality coffee shops. I buy a lot of stuff from a lot of national stores, such as Ross, K-Mart, Fred Meyers and stuff like that. I think it would be pretty hard to quit shopping where I shop....maybe I just need some self discipline. But there's that thought in the back of my head wondering how many other people will fill in for the void I left by not shopping at that store.

:cool:

[sypher]

Quote: from Fiskebat on 4:05 am on May 18, 2003

if I and all members here for example would boycott Mcdonalds for example, It WOULD make a diffrence!


we should do that

TO EVERYONE READING THIS: dont eat at McDonalds!

(Edited by sypher at 5:09 am on May 18, 2003)

[CubaVictoria1983]

Why can't you boycott Arby's or something? I really like Quarter Pounders with cheese......

[Fiskebat]

:) I really hope u werent serious.

[rumblefish86]

fiskebat- i know it would make a slight difference but these fucking corporations are fucking huge. Its gonna take more than a bit of boycotting to make any real damage to these companies.

What we really need to do is get a really big bomb and......... :biggrin:

Catch my drift? ;)

[Fiskebat]

Yeah I know u should sabotage but not hurt any workers or innocent people. Man, come up with a good plan and im on it ;)

[kidicarus20]

Great thread. I live in america but I try and boycott the companies that are destroying it (and othe rcountries) the most:

AT&T
All large fast food corporations.
Barnes and noble and all other big book chains (because i only buy at one local book store)

Wal-mart, k-mart, those stores big super centers cause they barge into town and then leave.

and i guess that's it lol....


I try and shop at only local stores, but for groceries i shop at places like albertsons because there is no Mom & pop stores around here.

Also i'm boycotting amazon, I try not to go to their website any more and if i need to look up info on a cd or something i'll just go else where, or for a video game i'll go to gamestop, this is why:

http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/amazon.html

[CubanFox]

Why should we boycott bookshops?

[kidicarus20]

WEll it's probalby not as important to boycott them as it is for other companies but borders and those places have engaged in anti-union behavior.

Also, I like what Jello says, If you go to a local bookstore you're much more likely to find somebody that actually reads.

I totally agree with that, i used to think th eworkers at B&N would kind of be book worms, but when i talk to them they don't know.

But when I go to a local bookstore and check out a book the people there actually read, when i started shoping at this place called Oasis here in salt lake, I found out that the ywere pretty cool and had read Micahel moore's stuff.

And the obvious reason is that when you shop at local shops, and usually local book shop's are everywhere, the money goes back into the community. Instead of locked in the vaults of Barnes and noble and Wal-mart and stuff.

Local, community markets aren't as bad as big corporations, and really don't have the power to due anything bad, and may or may not be greedy.

[CubaVictoria1983]

I agree with shopping at local bookstores, now that I think about it, there are a few here in town also. Some where I have bought books from. I must disagree because from my own experience, the people on the town bookstores were not more advanced in book knowledge from the employees at Border's. Nor does the tow bookstore have such a massive selection of books or the option of ordering in books. I'm not justifying Border's, because if they are not treating their employees with respect, they don't deserve my hard earned money. Plus, they tend to be overpriced bastards. My mind's going in tangents. But about the comment where you said that you can find people that actually like to read at smaller bookstores, they are lucky. A lot of people don't get their perfect job so they have to get a job wherever they can, hence why you might have encountered people that didn't fit the Bookstore attendant agenda. There's a lot of people who love to read who would love a job at a bookstore but they seldom get it, then there are those people who are desperate for a job to pay their bills, so they end up with a job at a bookstore where they least expected it. Sad, I'd say.
I think that if we all decided to boycott large companies such a walmart, kmart and such, they would go bankrupt and cause even more jobless people. A huge company here in Oregon called Emporium just closed down and I all I could think off was all the people who had just been left without jobs. So at the point I am at, I can't decide whether I want more people left starving and working at bookstores when they aren't that interested in books, or to keep the cycle going and prevent discomfort.

[praxis1966]

All of this would be a really nice idea, except that if I did what fiskebat is suggesting I'd be naked and homeless. I try to avoid the companies that are the worst perpetrators, but it's rather difficult when you live where I do.

I live in this god-forsaken tourist town that's just full up with chain clothing stores, chain resturaunts (the most popular resturaunt in town is TGIFriday's, if that tells you anything) and exclusively American and Japanese auto dealerships. Not to mention that the only farmer's market in town really sucks.

It's an unfortunate thing when your morals must take a back seat to survival.

[Exploited Class]

I live in Oregon too, I moved up to the Portland Suburb Area after living in a small town pretty much my whole life.
I can't find little stores or anything here. I am sure if I lived her my whole life I would know better where things are, but it is so hard.

Traffic is hard, parking is impossible, I don't know what half the chains are because they never existed in my home town. I thought Target was locally owned.

It would be nice if there was a list of acceptable places, location, driving directions, list of services...

I know that they have a gay yellow pages, why not a leftists? It would make things so much easier.

[CubaVictoria1983]

Where did you live prior to moving to Portland?
I live in Corvallis, which is a town of about 50000 people, so the only major department stores we have are K-Mart, Fred Meyers, Safeway and WinCo. The last three which are mostly northwest corporations. Portland is REALLY a confusing place to live in and parking does SUCK! It also sucks that you live in the suburbs because it would be much better to walk if you lived directly downtown or near by at least.
I definitely agree with praxis1966 100% on his last sentence.

[Dhul Fiqar]

There is a list in "Practice", I think I linked to it on the first page. There are also various pages on the net that list companies one should not do business with, like:

http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/

--- G.

[Exploited Class]

I lived in Coos Bay Oregon, well really North Bend but nobody knows where that is, so we all say Coos Bay because it is on the map.

To make it worse, I didn't even live in the town part of North Bend, but up a few miles in the woods. So we went to town maybe once a week for "Supplies" oddly enough. It took close to an hour to drive into town.

Funny thing, even though I live "In Town", if we need to get food or something I say, "Do you want to go into town and get something to eat?" and everybody just stares at me. You are in town right now....

Corvallis? Sorry, talk about your redneck, worse type of college possible "OSU" school of agroculture or moms. Oh and Forestry. So conservative and if not then it is so party extreme.

And Corvallis is such a strange town in Oregon, like if you think of the big towns people say Bend, Portland, Salem, Eugene, they will even say Medford before Corvallis. Everybody just forgets it even exists.

I agree 100% with Praxis, my morals have to take a back seat constantly. I hate driving and using fossil fuels, but they structure these town to be all spread out, and bike lanes must last for a total of 3 blocks and then just disapear.

I am sorry for your Corvallis perdictament, but it could be worse, you could be in Albany.

[Dirty Commie]

I liver in a florida tourist hellhole, half of the people here are eighty year old canadian tourists with HUGE cadillacs that are meant to run over furry woodland creatures, fortunatly, almost every store is a privatly owned business, not corporate giant.

[Exploited Class]

Just to expand a bit on what Praxis said because now it has me thinking a lot.

It's an unfortunate thing when your morals must take a back seat to survival.

There is so much in that. The bar that the upperclass has raised for survival, spreading stores around, working us at least 40 hours a week, commuting, price shopping, bills, house work, cooking, where is the time to go around and be a good human and do the right thing by following your morals?

Here is my day and I am sure it is familiar to others, get up 6:45, leave house at 7:25, get to work 7:50. Can't leave work to use my hour lunch to get shopping done because the parking situation is that my car gets trapped between two other cars.
Get off work at 5:00 get home 5:30. Now I have 4.5 hours of me time. I have clothes to wash twice a week, a lawn to take care of (because of the owner of the house) dinner to prepare, bills to go through write checks and send off. If I go to a big supermarket that is near by I am still going to be taking at least 1 more hour out of my me time.

Are we suppose to take 1 of our only 2 days off and spend it driving in horrible traffic, looking for things to make the world better? Our time is limited our free time even more so.

The system has almost made it basically impossible to follow your morals at all. It is exactly what they want, tired, exhausted busy bees with no time to do the right thing.

[dsmtuner]

Where I live McDonalds is already starting to lose money and go downhill.

[Dirty Commie]

Quote: from dsmtuner on 7:22 pm on May 20, 2003
Where I live McDonalds is already starting to lose money and go downhill.

Excellent.

[dsmtuner]

And there doesn't seem to be many people that are just trying to boycott them, there probably just trying to lose weight, I have been seeing more people outside running.

[redstar2000]

I'm not sure if any of you will find these suggestions useful, but...

Before buying a book, try your public library (if there is one).

Before buying new clothes, ask yourself if the old ones are really worn out? Thrift shops are very difficult for guys to shop in, but women can often find excellent clothing items at maybe 10% of what they'd cost new (women are especially overcharged on new clothing).

Before buying that car, ask yourself if you really need it? In many cities, you really don't...and in some cities it is insane to own a car.

That's not to say that there's some special "virtue" in deliberately depriving yourself of things that will bring some pleasure into your life...but just to ask that you think a little first...before reaching for the cash or the plastic. American business loves "knee-jerk" consumers (click here to BUY NOW); try not to be a "jerk". :cheesy:

:cool:

[Dhul Fiqar]

Quote: from dsmtuner on 8:22 am on May 21, 2003
Where I live McDonalds is already starting to lose money and go downhill.


Actually it's going downhill globally, check this out, it's part of a larger article about their problems:



"Taken from the Guardian on 9/11/02

The troubles facing McDonald's deepened yesterday as the burger chain warned of a profit shortfall and announced the closure of more than 175 outlets.
The company, struggling to rediscover the formula that made it one of the world's best known brands, said the closures would be spread across 10 countries.

McDonald's will withdraw from three Middle Eastern and Latin American countries and restructure operations in another four.

Headcount is being cut by about 600. Retrenchment and falling sales will cut fourth quarter earnings by up to$425m (£269m), the company said, causing its shares to fall by as much as15% on Wall Street. "These actions are the right things to do for McDonald's shareholders, the brand and our business," said chairman and chief executive Jack Greenburg.

McDonald's last month said it was braking global expansion, opening 600 restaurants next year compared with a peak of 2,000 in 1996. There are more than 30,000 outlets worldwide.

The chain has reported declining earnings in seven of the past eight quarters and has embarked on a strategy of redirecting cash to improve its existing portfolio."

[CubaVictoria1983]

Yeah....I COULD be in albany...hahahahha....it's funny to think that you know how shitty that town is even though you lived in North Bend. I have mixed feelings about Corvallis....mostly 'cause I grew up in Southern California. Compared to that rush rush type of life, Oregon is a bit more laid back.
McDonald's has the worst customer service EVER!!!! I have had a bad experience at every single one I have ever been to. I haven't bought anything there in like a few months though....fahk them and their shitty service.

[Camarade Eli]

I boycott McDonalds and I try not to buy other American stuff, but my jeans are all Levis (some of them are quite old) and I didn't want to buy loads of new clothes just because the american president is so f***** impossible stupid. I don't like coke anyway and my chewing gum is Czech, so...

[rumblefish86]

I have some mates who work in McDonalds and they all fucking hate it. They drop the food on purpose and serve it, they dont keep stuff clean, they ***** about customers and they steal stuff.

McDonalds treats its staff really shitty and the condtions they have to work in break health and safety laws. When you've just fallen on your arse and smacked your head because there is a bloody great puddle on the floor, good customer service is the last thing on your mind. McDonalds has no-one to blame but itself for its declining popularity

[Purple]

I have completly stopped wearing label and capitalist clothing style prodused by big companies. I'm now completly hated for it, because I just walk around in black and spikes, and I live in Norway, where people are so fucking snobbs that none of you would believe it...

it's fucking depressing!

[Exploited Class]

Quote: from redstar2000 on 6:28 am on May 21, 2003
I'm not sure if any of you will find these suggestions useful, but...

Before buying a book, try your public library (if there is one).

Before buying new clothes, ask yourself if the old ones are really worn out? Thrift shops are very difficult for guys to shop in, but women can often find excellent clothing items at maybe 10% of what they'd cost new (women are especially overcharged on new clothing).

Before buying that car, ask yourself if you really need it? In many cities, you really don't...and in some cities it is insane to own a car.

That's not to say that there's some special "virtue" in deliberately depriving yourself of things that will bring some pleasure into your life...but just to ask that you think a little first...before reaching for the cash or the plastic. American business loves "knee-jerk" consumers (click here to BUY NOW); try not to be a "jerk". :cheesy:

:cool:


The book thing at the library, I try to avoid ever since the FBI have been going into libraries randomly and seeing what people are checking out. They won't tell anybody what they are looking for.

As far as going to used clothe stores, for the most part here in Oregon, I wonder if it isn't the same all of the US, but thrift stores are very trendy and the prices are very high. Women's clothing is expensive, but it isn't the initial cost that gets you so much as care for your clothes. Everything is always cold wash, hang dry or press dry or dry clean. Always a hassle, many want hand wash, like who with a 40 hour work week has time to hand wash their godamn clothes? And air dry? That takes hours upon hour of wasted electricity to just stick something on tumble air. We can't put up a clothes line because it rains here almost everyday. Its the care of clothing that gets you.

I download all the books I want to read. Seriously there is so many places you can get books in PDF format and read for free. iMesh, Kazza and then the internet library the Guttenberg project are great ways to save on books. You can download full on older books (older than 50 years mostly).

When I lived in Bulgaria never took a car once, never even noticed it. Trams and buses everywhere, it was so nice. If America ever did anything right, they would model themselves after these European countries' mass transit systems. Then we could all easily give up our cars. I mean even small towns in Bulgaria had a bus system. I lived in a town of 30,000 surrounding area and it has never had a bus system, in America. That is one of my biggest gripes about living here, mass transit unless in the heart of a really big city, sucks ass.

[Soul Rebel]

exploitedclass- i think it depends on what thrift store you go to. For example- yesterday i actually went to one and got a garbage bag full of clothes for 16 bucks. I bought cordoroys, polyester shirts, patchwork skirts, etc. However, whenever i go into a thrift store the Village in NY I am shocked by the prices of its clothes. For example, not too long ago, I went to this thrift shop looking for old rock shirts and jeans. I couldnt buy a damn thing cuz the shirts were like 20 bucks each. I wanted and EMF shirt and it was 31 bucks!!! Crazeeness!!! You have to look around. Dont go to the ones were they specialize in trendy shit- they are too expensive. If you go to like the Salvation Army or Good Will you will find awesome vintage clothes for cheap prices. Plus they sell books, furniture, and records there.

[Exploited Class]

I wanted and EMF shirt

Wow, and I thought I was the only one that remember them. Next somebody is going to tell me that they are trying to get tickets to a Jesus Jones concert. ;)

Well I am glad to know that I am not the only one that runs into this vintage/used clothes overpriced problem. I do know, after just talking to somebody here at work, that one of the places I went to was called the Buffalo Exchange and evidendtly people sell clothes to them and that is one reason it is expensive.

Desseret Used Clothes stores are nice, yes they are mormon, but they wash the clothes prior to putting them out. And I have to admit the prices were cheap there, its just a 45min to 1 hour drive to get there is the problem.

I guess the East Coast has better Goodwills and Salvation Armies than we do here. I'll buy some shirts from the men's section because they are in decent condition, but the women's section is all 70's, tattered, oily stained shirts and blouses. And I am not kidding when I say 99% of that stuff is foofy women clothing, like ruffles and crap.

I am going to cherish the fact that you were looking for an EMF shirt all day. 31 dollars though, come on.

[Republican Guard]

I haven't eaten American fast food in over 2 years... and thanks to that I've discovered some awesome local restaurants.

I have a small boycott list that has been compiled by myself and a few friends; it's not comprehensive - and their may be some errors - but it's a good start if you want to start making some positive changes in your life and feel better about where your money is going:

http://www.emitmag.com/boycott.htm

Thanks,

s.

[mentalbunny]

Um, well my humble contribution is that we should write to corps as well as boycott them. Write a civil letter explaining why you are boycotting, and also encouraging other people to boycott, that corp[oration and what it can do to make you want to buy its products again. I've written a few letters, unfortunately due to lack of stamps I have yet to send them.

Try not to make your letters too long, include all the main points, some statistics maybe. Make it all relelvant, and civil.

Also, please could a couple of members from the US help compile a red list (from the corporate bacllist page) for me so i can stick it in there. I don't live in the uS so I can't do stuff like that. It will probably take a few of you from different areas but I'm sure it would be helpful. Thanks for giving me the idea, EC.

I'd also appreciate contributions from other parts of the globe. Basically if you know of any evil or any awesome corps/shops, let me know by posting in http://www.che-lives.com/cgi/community/top...pic=436&start=0 (http://www.che-lives.com/cgi/community/topic.pl?forum=14&topic=436&start=0). Thanks.

[Urban Rubble]

Exploited Class, I live in Seattle and get down to Portland often. Do you ever go to Value Village ? Ya, it's a chain thrift store but it's cheap as hell, I know they have those in Portland. Buy a bike or a skateboard and just cruise the city, you'll find stuff.

As for the fast food thing, I try to eat at good restaurants or at home but let's face it, I'm a dirty skater and sometimes when skating around downtown I only have like $2 in change, not enough to eat anywhere but McDonals. That $2 at McDonalds saved me for the day, so sometimes it's impossible to totally avoid it.

Everything I buy I try and think about where it came from but you can't always avoid "the man", almost everything in this country is corporate owned, at least we're all thinking about it ! That's a good start.

I have the luxury of being a skater so I am familiar with all the brands and which ones are owned by skaters or corporations. Basically, if I buy boards or skate shoes or anything I know my money is going to good people.