It's in my home in yours, my choice and yours
We spend alot of time politicizing , criticizing and not much time examining our own choices. In America, capitalism allows us to decide who to support by how we spend our money. Simply put, if we don't like it , we stop buying it.
Health care and construction share a similar dynamic. Both are run by huge lobbyists with no consumer representation to protect the individual. In health care and in home ownership, it is up to the individual to learn about options.
Unfortunately, there was a time when ethics helped us.Quality was the goal of a builder or physician. Fair pay, community and a sense that the work itself had value in the execution added to personal satisfaction and less monetary profit. During these times, the individual is much more protected.
Because these times no longer exist, the individual must look at options.
Today, our consumption reflects our opinions. Lost are the days of individual responsibility as today we expect others to be responsible for our food, health care, money, education and everything else imaginable. If others do not provide us with what we expect, we sue for damages.
It seems the only remaining option is to show approval or disapproval by choosing how to purchase . Our money reflects our thinking and our money has huge power over the direction of so many things.
In homes, which is my area of expertise, we can choose to stop urban sprawl, saving farmland and aquafers . We can choose to decline a corporate move and reinvest in an existing community. We can choose to live in smaller , better built homes. We can choose to stop buying products that are made using chemicals, emit them or are not biodegradable..We can boycott companies that use labor in other countries and pay unfairly, or that ignore our global concerns about pollution and health. We can choose, day after day to simplify and show what we know to be true, that capitalism can support change through our consumption. At home we can make choices that will redefine the markets and shift the responsibility back to where it belongs, to us.
