You might have to choke back the bile, but

[SoCalDem]

if you plan to try to figure out which businesses in your community deserve your money, here's a handy tip..

While the election is "fresh" like a hot steaming pile of doggy-doo Just say "Hey..what about that Bush victory?" to the owner/manager of the stores you shop in.

Their response will let you know whether they deserve your business..

You might carry a small notebook, and when they respond, just casually write the name of the store on the page, and draw a big fat line through the name..

Of course they will probably respond, and you can then just tell them:

"I cannot , in good conscience, support a business that supports Bush and his kind"..then smile and walk away..

civil disobedience with pleasant side effects.. You will feel better, they will not get your money, and a more deserving business, will :)

[grace0418]

1. Good idea

Of course, I live in a really liberal neighborhood in Chicago so I pretty much know I can shop anywhere there.

[Must_B_Free]

2. What about a credit card that keeps money in progressive circles?

I'd get one and I imagine that most here would get it and use it religiously.

Starve the fucking fascists.

[Buddyblazon]

3. Thats not a bad idea........

keep it on the down low to repugs. Take there money as well...just don't put back into theirs.

[NightOwwl]

4. Close all MBNA credit cards.

Huge backer of the Republican party. Donated 5 million dollars to BushCo over the past 4 years.

[Rhiannon12866]

13. Oh, no! I've had mine since the '80s!

:o

[unblock]

15. unfortunately ALL the credit cards are huge republican backers

iirc, mnba and capital one top the list, but they all support the republican machine.

[HEIL PRESIDENT GOD]

19. Tanks and Banks go hand in hand nt

[flygal]

5. Where is a list of company's to boycott?!

[SoCalDem]

6. opensecrets.org has lists of companies and their donations

but for local businesses, you will have to be your own sleuth :)

[KT2000]

7. Good idea

I cannot in my heart do business with people who voted for the ick.

I have already decided to only do business with Democratic lawyers for some business I have to take care of too.

[ogradda]

8. o that's sneaky

i like it :)

[JimGinPA]

9. I've Been "Boycotting" For Awhile

I switched my son to another Boy Scout troop after his scoutmaster gave a little speech about how great a leader Rummy is and how he was so careful never to lie because he was an Eagle Scout. We changed churches after our new pastor gave a pro-Bush sermon. I make it a point to try and not do any kind of business with right-wingers as well.

[Sapphocrat]

11. In that case...

I kinda hate to remind you of something I'm sure you already know, but... The President of the United States is the default/de facto/figurehead leader of the Boys Scouts of America.

Scouting is a wonderful experience, but, well... you can see where I'm going with this.

Also, if you're against supporting organizations that practice blatant discrimination, you might want to check out this site:

http://www.scoutingforall.org/

I'm not sure how you feel about gay youth, but the BSA isn't exactly welcoming to atheists, either.

[Sapphocrat]

10. Excellent idea, SCD, and I'll add two thoughts to it...

If anyone is a business owner him/herself, how about displaying some subtle form of identification in the window of your establishment to let the rest of us know you're a fellow progressive -- just like all those Christian-owned businesses display that nauseating fish symbol?

(I always patronize stores that have a rainbow decal in the window, and avoid fish symbols like the plague.)

Also, has anyone ever considered creating a national database of Dem-/Green-owned businesses? There are plenty of boycott lists out there, but it would be awfully handy to have a reference of businesses and companies we should be supporting.

(Database development and management is right up my ally, but I'm too drained to even think about doing it myself at the moment. Plus, I can't afford any more new server space... but I would be willing to at least set it up if somebody wants to donate some server space, and if a few volunteers want to take on the tedious tasks of research and populating the database.)

We may not be able to take back the country just yet, but I sure would like to see all of us keep our money within the progressive community.

[SoCalDem]

16. Business people might be reluctant to do that, especially NOW

:)..

They usually keep their political leanings under the radar. In fact around here, most businesses won't allow ANY placards in their store windows or on the bulletin boards

[Piperay]

12. I had to find a another mechanic

about a month ago because as I was driving by I saw that he had an idiotic chimp sign in his garage window. :wtf: Not only do I refuse to have my money go to a repig but I also wouldn't trust him to fix the car, would probably rip me off and use defective parts. :mad:

I later find out that (thank God) this guy wasn't my regular mechanic that I had used for years. :-) My regular mechanic had sold his shop and this was the new owner who put up the chimp sign. :puke:

[Rhiannon12866]

14. Great idea, and I support it, but I live in a small town and

I don't have a lot of choices. But, since I have been wearing my campaign buttons on my jacket, I've been attracting more than my share of kindred spirits among the checkers at my local stores. They don't approve of the war in Iraq, nor of Bush*, in general. Of course, these are only the ones who choose to react and comment. Who knows what their managers or owners think?:shrug:

[funkybutt]

17. I was just thinking about that a few minutes ago!

you read my mind. good strategy!

[Joanne98]

18. great idea.

That's exactly want I'm going to do. Defunding the right should be a top prioty. Working Assets is good and Ben Cohen sells sweat free clothes. Having our own credit cards with a "progessive business" list is the way to go too.

[HEIL PRESIDENT GOD]

20. Feasibility Problem

Most Americans don't ever see the manager of the stores where they shop, let alone the owner. In fact, the person who rings you up is often not a citizen.

I live in a small town where progressives and eco-freakos have been fighting since the seventies for innovative planning and local institutions. I buy my food at the co-op, which I "own" (and actually get part of my yearly grocery bill back!) I drink, get coffee, and occasionally eat at a hippie-ish cafe three blocks from my house. I am friends with the owner and run a monthly tab, keeping bank transactions to a minimum. Other than that, I mostly get stuff at a minimart owned by a Pakistani--very, very nice guy, not a citizen, barely speaks English. And the beauty is that I walk and bike between all these places. The republicans get nothing from me! I don't use credit cards, I use my bank card, and my bank is actually deep-down Japanese.

Shouldn't we be fighting to make the average American community more like this--more pedestrian scale, more face-to-face, more locally and cooperatively owned? This could be our version of the ownership society. An America where the method you propose would work for everyone would be a better country than the one we have.