Your Wealth Is Power

A certain comic book hero once said, "with great power comes great responsibility".

The below article is from a leftist perspective, but ignore that - the information is useful to all.

Alternet - 10 Ways To Screw Over The Corporate Jackals Who've Been Screwing You

Summary:
1. Mortgage underwater? Just walk away from it.
2. Unplug your cable. (heck, I would have said kill your TV altogether)
3. Kill your landline.
4. Reacquire your wealth. (empty your bank accounts)
5. Pacify your portfolio. (the house always wins)
6. Take credit. (kill your credit cards)
7. Avoid CDs and DVDs. (online downloads are cheaper I suppose)
8. "Stop buying bottled water, factory-farmed beef and new cars, especially hybrids." (I would at least add 'all cheap plastic crap from China'.)
9. Do not watch whiny bitches. (i.e. TV news)
10. Start or join a third party. (debatable but it's up to the individual, I guess)

As the article says,
"In capitalism, you are what you pay for, not what you say about what you pay for. No matter how nice it may be."

I would replace the oh-so left wing phrase 'in capitalism', with 'in the real world'. Because ultimately, blaming economic freedom for things going wrong is like blaming freedom of speech if people start supporting a tyrant. It's not freedom that is to blame, but what we have done with that freedom. Why are a handful of people getting very rich and controlling? Because we not only let them, but enabled them to do so. Our consent and, in fact, explicit support for the corporate tyranny can be withdrawn at any time, with immediate effects.

Consider it this way: if you cease doing business with a corporation, what are they going to do? Mostly nothing. (OK so there are a few exceptions to that, but most of those are in controlled monopoly industries like the banking sector.) How about if you stop paying taxes, which fund state sanctioned murder and all sorts of misdeeds? Government will come and kick your door down, seize you, likely imprison or fine you and brand you a criminal. Both big business and government are undoubtedly evil, but the real source of evil is almost purely government - it provides the support (corrupt laws, the force of arms if necessary) that holds together corporate monopolies and dominance.

That is why economic freedom is so important, as it is actually in the absence of a peaceful/lawful free market when people really start to take advantage of one another; sometimes to get rich - more often than not just to survive.

I am convinced the power you wield in your wallet is far greater than that of any X you will mark on any ballot paper in your life. Whether you believe voting will change things or not.