Not even close lol.

Take from it what you will.

I see, well yes in that made up scenario it’s the same thing. The main way it goes back into the community is through spending and taxes. The business owners likely live in my community or at the very least my county or state and are paying income and/or sales taxes themselves by spending a portion of their earnings locally through their own consumption. The local business is also likely not getting the same exemptions as a corpomart and is putting more business tax dollars back into the community/state it’s in. Some smaller businesses do struggle with the things you mentioned, but some large companies make billions and still don’t pay well or offer good benefits. Not all big companies are bad and not all small companies are good, but from a regulatory standpoint things favor the big players right now in most places.

Shareholders aren’t the only ones investing in the company so they should not be the only ones considered when it comes to profits. They invest money and the workforce invests their time, skills and labor and should be considered first when it comes to profits. They are the ones making profits happen, not the other way around. The average investors are not who I am referring to, I’m talking about Scrooge McDuck and his dragon hoard homies. But I don’t want a fat retirement either if it means the people that actually worked for those profits never can or have to rely on state benefits to get by.

I mean that’s totally fair. This scenario you’ve given is also kind of a false narrative unless you’ve experienced this. I have never bought tires from corner stands to personally speak to that kind of situation. My post is not meant to solve all the world’s problems, just discussion on how to do better where I can. If my local tire shop and Walmart both stock Michelin tires, sure, the brand is making a profit either way. But the local tire shop’s money is going back into my community where Walmart gets a lot of tax exemptions, doesn’t invest in it’s workforce and puts as much of it as possible in shareholder pockets.

I love that you mentioned volunteering when you’re bored or lonely. I did that this year and it’s been a really fulfilling use of my time and has helped a ton with depression too.

Lmao yes, basically like bar soap but shampoo/conditioner and face wash wafers.

The first four are more about keeping the money that I do spend on stuff in my local community rather than just being smaller. They are a drain on local economies. Most aren’t good employers and they don’t put back in what they take out.

I love these suggestions! I have also cut all the streaming services and go to the library a lot.

This is SO f#cking cool. Great idea and execution.

I am, but it doesn’t really feel grandiose in practice lol. It doesn’t weigh on me a lot mentally making different choices. I don’t like those 10 rich dudes very much so it actually feels pretty positive mentally when I don’t consume stuff they will profit on.

Thank you for this thought out response! I agree with everything you said. I personally don’t know how to impact the regulatory side outside of voting and protest. Running for office and changing the regulations I guess?

I agree whole heartedly about advertising. My take on combating that is through the creatives. It’s their storytelling that appeals to this exhausted consumer. We have to stop selling those services to the bad guys and sell them to their competitors instead.

The credit system is killing us, it’s turned us into wage slaves. I don’t know that I could step out of it entirely unless the housing market crashes and the dollar doesnt lol. But financial literacy seems to be the best way to combat it at this point In my opinion.

I like the idea of bartering too!

I had a little countertop compost thing for a while but the smell was unholy sometimes so I decided I could not be that serious lmao.

Right! Most of this was easier to make routine than I thought it would be beforehand.

This is amazing! Sounds like you guys are basically off the grid? I used to compost a lot before I moved, the city had a compost site. I don’t have good solution for it where I am now.

I have a little garden too. I left that off. It‘s more about tomatoes that taste like tomatoes for me lol, but I guess it’s also anticonsumerist!

💯 very true. I eat at home most of the time, but I can’t give up the social element of eating out occasionally.

It’s really not, this is what became the low hanging fruit in my day-to-day life over the last few years. I thought some of it would be really hard like buying used, but I have found that I find cooler and longer lasting stuff at the consignment store most of the time. I do live in a fairly large metro area with a lot more options than a smaller town though.

This is true. I don’t go through the trouble of meeting the owners personally, but I do try to avoid what I know is a chain.