Bye, Bye Captain Boycott
by Mycenay
In 1880 A.D. tenants in Ireland under a tyrannical English landlord, with assistance from local sympathizers, collectively decided to socially and economically alienate the despot. Eventually the evil landlord, Captain Charles Boycott, left his land and Ireland and did not return. Thus the word "boycott" now means, "To shut out from all social and commercial intercourse: to refuse to take part in, deal with, handle by way of trade, etc." (Chambers 20th Century Dictionary)
The power of boycott is the power of the people; it is the power of choice. After all, our lives, our destinies, our realities, are the direct result of our moment-to-moment choices. One of the greatest problems in our society is the common misconception that one man’s/woman’s choice is insignificant: "Why bother voting, my one voice won’t make a difference, and the election’s probably rigged anyway!"; "I’ve heard Nike runs sweat shops and uses child labor in other countries, but my kid really wants them and…they are on sale…well, this one purchase isn’t going to change things."; "I know Shell Oil has ruined the lands of the Ogoni people in Nigeria, but there’s a long line at the gas station across the street and I’m running late for work…It’ll be OK just this once."…the art of compromise. At this point I’d like to recommend an excellent film called The Power of One—the story of a white South African boy who fights against racism and apartheid, and is a force for uniting the oppressed natives of his country, despite the physical and emotional pain his unwillingness to compromise with evil brings him throughout his life.
Forward economical, social, and spiritual movement through boycotts, strikes, and other non-violent action has been made by courageous and uncompromising souls. Probably the two most famous boycotts in U.S. history are the Boston Tea Party in the mid-nineteenth century where Americans protested colonial rule and unfair taxation by dumping the British tea into the Boston harbor, and the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott sparked by Rosa Parks’ refusal to sit in the segregated section for blacks at the back of the bus (the power of one). However, although there have been several successful boycotts in recent times, it seems we hear less and less about them on the news. Hmmmm, I wonder why?
It is fairly well known by now that the major media networks are either directly owned by or "in bed with" the multinational corporations that commit the ecological and inhumane atrocities which we need to boycott. They don’t want us to know what they’re doing and who’s upset about it. They count on human laziness. Dr. David Marshall from Edinburgh University, an expert on consumer behavior, said, "In surveys, people will often claim a willingness to do something about an issue, but whether they actually do anything is another matter." Ever hear the saying, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions"? It takes effort to seek out the problems and take action to change them.
Fortunately (or should I say Providentially) we have the Internet—a global venue for the free exchange of information and ideas (at least it still is at this time…knock on wood). There are websites (such as www.boycott.org) where people can relatively easily get educated and generate a list of products and companies to avoid. Most people have no idea that certain brand names they buy may be owned by a multinational corporation involved in dubious dealings. We have to seek out this information. We have to seek out the Abbie Hoffmans (social street theater activist and author of Steal This Book), the Kalle Lasns (author of Culture Jam and founder of AdBusters; www.adbusters.org), the Rev-erend Billys (founder of The Church of Stop Shopping; www.revbilly.com), and not only hear what they are saying, but act on it. Though they may use the arts and humor to wake us up and shake us up, they are not mere entertainers, they are activists and their messages are serious.
What are we willing to sacrifice for our integrity as evolving souls? Comfort? Convenience? Our erroneous ideas about the world we live in? In many ways the consumer culture we’ve created has turned into a monster. Did you know that the day after Thanksgiving 2003 a woman was trampled under foot by a crowd at a Wal-Mart SuperCenter trying to get to a sale on DVDs? Oh! But the woman’s sister did report that Wal-Mart officials called the hospital that Friday afternoon and offered to put a DVD player ON HOLD FOR HER!!! How thoughtful. What the heck is going on here?!!!
The bottom line is that the first boycott we each need to make is the boycott against our lower selves, our lower natures. And, yep, we all have one! We are all tempted at times to compromise, to give in to fear, slothfulness, and/or self-indulgence. We can easily recognize and admire courage, sacrifice, faith, loyalty, and honor in the mahatmas (great souls) we read about in history books or even see portrayed as heroes on the silver screen, and yet so often we succumb to our own weaknesses, even in the simplest ways, on a daily basis. Let us instead be inspired to foster those higher traits we admire in others and know that is what God made us for—greatness. Let’s boycott our lower desires and boycott businesses and corporations that harm our planet and its people. We can do it through every choice we make. "The destiny of eternity is determined moment by moment by the achievements of the day by day living. The acts of today are the destiny of tomorrow." (The URANTIA Book, p. 557)
NOTE: Remember Mycenay’s article, "Sugar & Spice and Everything Nice?" in the March/April 2003 issue of the Alternative Voice? Well, if you want to learn more about the physiological effects of sugar as well as the history and industry behind it, check out the issue 363 (December 2003) of the New Internationalist. They have a website (www.newint.org) where you can read a sample article. New Internationalist publications is a communications co-operative based in Oxford, England. Their main editorial office is at 55 Rectory Road, Oxford, Ox4 1BW, UK.