We Vote With Our Dollar Before Our Vote
“Voting is not only our right — it is our power.” — Loung Ung
We all know or have at least heard that we should exercise our right to vote. This is the power we have to change things on our local, state-wide, and nation-wide scale. However, a lot of us frequently feel that our interests aren’t being represented very strongly by our “representatives”. More and more the representatives we have don’t seem to vote in ways that are truly representative of what the majority of us want. Why is it, then, that these representatives are in office in the first place and even getting nominated to run? It all comes down to money. We are somewhat deceived by the final elections where we actually get to exercise our vote. We tend to think that because we have this choice the power really does lie in the population’s hands. However, this final conclusion is starkly untrue. Unfortunately, the elections are influenced a great deal before they reach this point by the money coming into them.
The fact is that by in large the candidates who get chosen to be voted on by the general population have already been greatly sponsored and chosen by the top 1% as well as the already established politicians and political parties. By the time of the election, we are voting on candidates who already aren’t representative of our interests. To get to this point these candidates have taken donations for their campaigns from corporations and have been sponsored by established political parties. These things lead to indirect promises by these candidates that they will keep these large institutions’ interests in mind instead of the people they are supposed to be representing. This process of lobbying and keeping-it-in-the-club mentality is what has lead to so much corruption in our government no matter who we vote for.
This has slowly taken power away from the general citizen’s vote. Fortunately, there is another way for us to vote in a way: with our dollar. Think of it this way: When we spend our money on products or at stores of massive corporations we continue to support the wallet they are drawing from to continue to lobby for the candidates they want. Money controls everything. At this point, you may think “It doesn’t matter anyway, the majority of the wealth already belongs to the top 1%. What can we do with our small amount of wealth?” While this may be true there is a constant stream of money going through the bottom 99% and it is up to us to choose where we direct this money. The rich can’t get rich without us choosing who we make rich by where we spend our money. We have a choice whether or not we want to shop through Walmart, Amazon, or Apple. These companies and the people at the top of them are hoarding massive amounts of money. This money is used to sway anything they can towards their own interests. Not the interests of the people. The ones who have the real power in our society aren’t the politicians but rather the wealthy because they control the politicians and their interests.
Because of this, we should be paying greater attention to where we are spending our money because we are literally handing over power every time we make a transaction. We are directing where the power goes in this society by what products and services we chose to spend our money on. The individuals that are sitting at the top of those companies are the ones we are voting for every day when we spend our paychecks. We should be asking ourselves if those people, in addition to who we are choosing to vote for, have our interests in mind. If we truly think wealth inequality is an issue then we should choose to spend our money on local, small businesses. This keeps the money in the hands of people just like us. Everyday citizens whose interests are commensurate with our own like just trying to have enough and live a good life rather than purchasing our 9th car or 3rd beach house. Where we can’t buy products from local companies we should be researching who sits at the top of the companies we have a choice to purchase from and if those people are doing good things with their wealth and influence. Whether they are trying to spread around their good fortune or if they’re hoarding it to themselves.
We shouldn’t be looking up the billionaires who are ruthless or “savage” in their practices for selfish gain. We shouldn’t be looking up to the celebrities who are just out to boost their own image and fortune. Instead, we should be looking up to our local community organizers, volunteers, and true philanthropists who are trying to make the world a better place for everyone not just them and their group. This is the evolved mentality that will take our species to higher places: Looking out for everyone, not just ourselves.
It may be more expensive or take more effort to start shopping at smaller, more local companies and to start buying from not as big name brands. To start to grow our own food or make our own products but this process is worth it in the end because it ends with an evener wealth and resource distribution which is what causes so many problems for those of us not in the top 1%. It ends with more quality products that support our health and happiness. It ends with power in the hands of the truly compassionate and responsible individuals, institutions, and companies who actually have our interests at heart rather than fast food brands and pharmaceuticals companies who don’t care how young we die or how unhappy we are. Making the choice to change where and how we spend our money changes everything about our own lives and the community and society as a whole.
