I’m counting giving an HJ and some weaponry to a terrorist the US eventually killed as “adhering to their [the US’s] Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.”
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I can not think of a less effective tactic towards the evils of capitalism than a selective personal boycott.
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Columbus, OH college area (take what you want demographically from that), shortly before noon, with about a half hour taken. The polling place was definitely the busiest i’ve ever seen it, with an actual line after check-in and before going to the booths and apparently it had been hugely more busy in the morning, but they kept it moving quick and there were no harassers or intimidation.
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You do it as a group. A general move.
Businesses are actually incredibly sensitive to consumer pressure. So they spend a lot of time and effort preventing that pressure arising.
Counter that, and you’re in a useful game.
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The idea of capitalists abandoning capitalism because you threatened to not buy their products is absurd.
You can change one specific company’s practices in a very specific behavior. You could keep them from advertising on Glenn beck’s program sure.
To give a less insane incredibly more specific example of one company and issue, you would not get Apple to abandon their tax havens through these impotent threats nor would you get consumer will to do so.
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I respectfully disagree. Have you ever seen the impact of the “one day don’t buy” events? They frighten the wits out of companies - take 2% off one day’s sales e.g. beer from a given brewer, and they notice fast - especially in today’s connected world.
It’s not about threatening - it’s about actually not buying, in a group.
The lack of consumer will is simply apathy around actually taking action. People talk and garble on, but basically do nothing - and nothing changes. That can change.
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Just the other day I got a recall notice from Amazon about a Frigidaire dehumidifier I bought. Turns out it can catch overheat, smoke and catch fire. Fortunately, the model of the one I have isn’t one of the bad ones. But I found the website for the recall interesting. The machine was made by Midea, Inc. Who? They make the guts of the machine. And the problems are common to dehumidifiers with the following brand names: Airworks, Alen, Arcticaire, Arctic King, Beaumark, Coolworks, ComfortAire, Comfort Star, Continental Electic, Crosley, Daewoo, Danby, Danby & Designer, Dayton, Degree, Diplomat, Edgestar, Excell, Fellini, Forest Air, Frigidaire, GE, Grunaire, Hanover, Honeywell, Homestyles, Hyundai, Ideal Air, Kenmore (Canada), Keystone, Kul, Midea, Nantucket, Ocean Breeze, Pelonis, Perfect Aire, Perfect Home, Polar Wind, Premiere, Professional Series, Royal Sovereign, Simplicity, Sunbeam, SPT, Sylvania, TGM, Touch Point, Trutemp, Uberhaus, Westpointe, Winix, and Winixl/
So, if I want to avoid crappy dehumidifiers, how do I do that when they’re really all made by the same fucking company?
Don’t get me wrong; I do appreciate what you’ve said, and I do follow the kind of rules you’ve laid out. And I have heard all sorts of bad things about Samsung, like the exploding washing machines. Speaking of that, is it just Samsung, or are all washing machines made by the same company too? So while your advice is good for smaller, local-er businesses, in a global international corporate world, things aren’t that easy anymore. 
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Heh. Tough call! You can’t get them every time.
But speaking of breaking down - buy stuff with immensely long warranties only. I have a 10 year warranty on my washing machine, and they happily serviced it when it stopped working, for free.
All that robust and durable stuff means they’re chasing the long-term stable market, which is a good sign.
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