We tend to think that we can’t do much for democracy except vote once every two years, but actually, Every Single Thing We Do Is a Vote. Our actions determine what’s available.
I just saw a fascinating interview with Dr. Vandana Shiva, an Indian scholar and environmental activist, about how multinationals are aggressively driving down prices for potatos. For the same price a farmer gets for 50 kilos (110 lbs.) of potatos, the multinationals ask for a 50 gram (2 oz.) bag of potato chips. Result? The multinationals make a 10,000% profit, and farmers are starving.
This isn’t something we think about when we buy a bag of potato chips, is it? The real, hidden costs.
Our parents used to go to the bank and buy a CD (Certificate of Deposit) that yielded anywhere from 8 to 14% annually. They didn’t ask what the banks did with the money. Sometimes those banks invested in military hardware, planes and bombs. Then our country would go to war. There was good “profit” in it. Nobody made the connection between the banks and the war.
But the milleneals are different. They know if a bank is making socially responsible investments (SRIs); if not, they’re just not going to give that bank their money. They don’t care about the return.
We’re all ignorant because we watch the TV news. It’s simply not in their interest to tell us about the connection between What We Do Everyday and How Badly the World is Going.
It’s not just about one less straw. Every time you buy Coca-Cola, you’re voting for that. Your vote makes sure it’s in the stores tomorrow. We vote thousands of times a day for maintaining the world the way it is. So if we want to blame someone, we, too, are to blame.
And this is the real genius, I believe, of the milleneals. They’re not going to jump up and down to protest change. They’re just not going to give it any energy. They’re connecting the dots, they’re getting informed. That’s why no cosmetics are testing animals anymore: without a no-animal-tested label, those products won’t sell. That’s why you’re finding more and more organic food around when you go to the store. That’s why corporate news and newspapers are in such sharp decline.
It’s like our collective consciousness is finally waking up and finding out the WE HAVE ALL THE CONTROL.
Joy Biscuits 