The Right to Vote ... and ... Your Consumer Power

[Angela Shelley]

Imagine this:

We have a Democracy. Let´s say that every adult has the right to vote. Let´s say that every adult registers to vote and also participates in the voting process on election day. Let´s say, that the votes are correctly counted and the one with the most votes is called "the leader", and he/she will be "the leader" for 4 years. The leader makes decisions with the advice of the other handfuls of elected officials.

For the minority of the population, their votes didn´t influence anything. This means, that every time an election takes place, the individual voter takes the risk of his/her vote not being "for the winning party". But still, everyone should vote, because through the voting process, each individual also has a good chance of influencing political decisions.


Now think about "Your Consumer Power".

Every person in our society is a consumer. Every single day, we make consumer decisions which affect our society. Each time we trade money for goods or services, each time we give a donation to an organization, each time we invest money with the hope of earning interest, we are making a political statement.

Every single consumer decision is a political statement.

Your choice of bank, the car you drive, the clothes you wear, the food you eat, the entertainment you enjoy, the religious organization to which you belong ... you are making political decisions in almost every hour of every day.

We, the consumers, decide the future of our society.

If we, the consumers, walk more and drive less, the oil industry will react.
If we, the consumers, stop using credit cards, the financial industry will react.
If we, the consumers, demand quality products, the manufacturing industry will react.
If we, the consumers, boycott a company for treating their employees poorly, the company will react.

We, the consumers, are the ones who decide which businesses thrive, survive, or die.

Are you fully aware of "your consumer power"?