DE-FACTO CORPORATION SUPPORTING

[non-vio-resist]

i'm new here and i am assuming most of you live in industrialized, "capitalist" countries.

i have a dilemma as a hard leftist, as i'm sure many of you do: i support corporations, slave-labor, and other things i despise on a daily basis. yes. occasionally i shop at wal-mart, i eat food that was surely prepared in bulk by slave-labor at corporate chain restaurants, most of my clothes were not made within the community, and when i go into my career field after school, i will possibly be employed by a corporation.

on that note, as much as possible, i try to shop at local, small businesses, i try to buy local produce ( i live in kentucky so i'm surrounded by farms), and i will try to either go into business for myself or work for an independent employer to avoid corporate employment.

now, i'm not wealthy, and this is the catch 22 or paradox: to get away from the mass production and corporations, you have to spend more money, ie, buy clothes hand-made in the community, shop at small health food stores or farmer's market to get produce (hopefully) picked by someone who makes a decent wage. i also have a son on the way and a wife. i have a family to support and we do cut corners to do so. that could mean walking to walgreens to buy diapers or milk.

while i don't think individual isolation from corporations or paying taxes because it supports the military industrial complex is constructive, per se, i do feel guilt in supporting these things. also, my wife is not a leftist, and i'm not trying to convert her, so it would truly be an individual protest.

i was just curious: does anyone else feel like they are constantly going against their beliefs when they buy groceries, fill up the gas tank, or clothe themselves? i know it's sort of ridiculous because i choose to live in the u.s. and i think there are great things about this country (just as long as you're not poor). or, does anyone have suggestions? sorry about the rant; i just thought i'd vent.

[Qwerty Dvorak]

Nah I don't think so. We all do what we can to survive. It's not your fault the goods you buy are being produced by slave-labour on the other side of the world. If it bothers you then I would suggest doing little things like signing petitions, buying FairTrade whenever you can and of course getting involved in political activities (whatever ideology you subscribe to).

Capitalism is something we all have to deal with. It's bad enough being a victim of it, you shouldn't have to feel guilty about it too.

Oh and welcome to the board :)

[JoePedo]

i was just curious: does anyone else feel like they are constantly going against their beliefs when they buy groceries, fill up the gas tank, or clothe themselves? i know it's sort of ridiculous because i choose to live in the u.s. and i think there are great things about this country (just as long as you're not poor). or, does anyone have suggestions? sorry about the rant; i just thought i'd vent.

I don't, usually... but I've also learned to make just about everything myself if needs be, which gives me a fair number of fall-back alternatives... not to mention the fact that, in whatever part of nowhere I live, local producers and employee-owned stores are the "solution of last financial resort;" they're much less expensive.It is not the case that every laborer will be able to compete with the enslavement of the third world, however.As for suggestions? Well, recycling is an option - cloth diapers would reduce both the cost to you and the impact on the landfills, to give the example of the offspring you noted - and self-manufacture is a lot more viable than one might think. All it takes is self-education, usually. In fact, just to be drastic, you're a hippie's pregnant dog away from farming your own cheddar, if you were in that sort of mood... (the markup on cheeses in the "cheap" megacorporations is usually 10x-50x the milk required to produce it. Unfortunately, a cow is not the ideal urban housepet)...So, yes... supplant the corporations you would not support.