Does My Vote Count?

  So I voted yesterday. Or I guess what I actually did was slid my completed ballot into the local dropbox. I'm not a particularly political person. That doesn't mean that I don't have definitive views on how our government should be run and where we could use a little (or a lot) improvement. I try hard to keep all of the current political discord out of my everyday life. The hostility that seems to permeate all things political, especially around election time, is something that I don't want pervading my mind. Not to say that my head is in the proverbial sand regarding this election. I do my best (good citizen that I am) to educate myself about the who's and what's and why's of the current governmental situation. Finding good, unbiased, truthful information is proving to be more difficult, but that's a subject for another day.

I honestly don't know what the results of this election will do to our country. Everything seems so divided and hostile. Sometimes I even wonder if my vote really counts? Oh, I know that voting is both my responsibility as well as my right as a citizen. I exercise that right with a certain amount of patriotic pride. And yet there is also a sense of embarrassment that nags at me when I consider how far we have departed from the Founding Father's intentions for governing this country.  

So does my vote count? Maybe.

Which got me thinking. What can I do, besides casting my vote, that can help create the kind of America that I believe in? The kind of country where there is true freedom and where each individual has the inalienable right to live according to their beliefs?

With my pocketbook. That's what I can do to promote my ideals. How and where I spend my money is where my power lies.  

How many of us spend time perusing the internet in search of "stuff"? It's easy. It's relatively quick. And without leaving the comfort of our homes we are able to find a multitude of options for whatever thing we happen to be looking for. Oh, I love me some online shopping!

But at whose expense is my congenial shopping experience?

Down the rabbit hole I go....

So, just as it's simple and easy to shop online, it's also easy to research the companies and conglomerates that we are buying from. Are you buying from a company that doesn't align with your ideology about life? What about their practices and treatment of employees? Can you say "sweatshop"? How about their political affiliations and contributions? Is it in agreement with how you vote or are you turning a blind eye and deaf ear because it's saving you $1.57?  

Recently I did a little fact-finding into Amazon. Since the corona debacle, I have utilized the ease of Amazon shopping way more than usual. Probably like millions of other Americans. Ugh. What I've discovered is that the founder/owner of Amazon is contributing to causes that I am opposed to. Not only that but when I buy from Amazon I am potentially taking business away from a more local, privately-owned company.

 How have I not considered any of this before? I suppose because I'm "busy" and I like a good deal. Blah. That's no excuse!  

Then I started looking into the affiliation of many other stores that I frequently patronize. Hmm. Not so good. Again, how did I so easily just hand over my money to something that was so contradictory to my principles?

Baaaa.

With this Christmas season quickly approaching, I know that I will NOT be shopping through Amazon. Or Target. Or a lot of other stores. Sure, I might still shop online but I will be looking for a smaller, hopefully more local business that sources its products domestically. I want my money to support a business that aligns with me, creates jobs for Americans, and that produces a product with American materials.  

Is this a tall order? Maybe. But I'm going to put my money where my mouth is and give it a go.