Tuesday’s Econ 101 Post: freegans bypass the economy altogether. and the gov’t wants your opinion too.
Feb 5th, 2008 by nancyzimmerman
Ever heard of a freegan? Neither had I until I stumbled upon this site.
Wow. Here I was worried about the quality of my donations to the local thrift store… Freegans are hardcore.
Freegans are people who employ alternative strategies for living based on limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources. Freegans embrace community, generosity, social concern, freedom, cooperation, and sharing in opposition to a society based on materialism, moral apathy, competition, conformity, and greed.
I’m in awe. Kinda reminds me of the spirit of The Story of Stuff.
And perhaps out of concern that most of us will reconsider our spending, the Harper’s gov’t wants to hear from us via an online poll about their budget. Seriously. We have til Feb 11th, so let’s each chime in. Nothing wrong with living out a bit of democracy now and then.
I think a much better option for anyone who is against a company is to buy their stock. This is especially true if the company pays a dividend. At every distribution you give the dividend money to a cause that opposes the company. You get tax benefits from the dividend, you get tax benefits from the charity, the company is indirectly self destructing by supporting it’s opposing cause.
Also, if you get voting shares and enough people together to vote, you can change the world this way. These types of things would have real meaning and show the world that you really do mean business.
I don’t think eating from the garbage helps as much. . . unless your goal is spreading disease and taking food from people who may really need it even though you have enough resources to afford your own.
@traciatim – I *love* your idea for reverse “revenge”; ie. using your dividend to support an initiative in opposition. That’s fun. And of course as you mention there’s always using your shareholder voice (ideally, in conjunction with something like ethical funds groups) to request change.
And with any luck, you won’t catch me eating leftover garbage anytime soon. (although when i was a kid, visiting the dump in yellowknife was a serious past time for rich and poor alike)