#IBuyBlue

So, I was on the phone last weekend with my friend Alexandra, thinking through the new series that we want to start doing here at WTPD, called #IBuyBlue. #IBuyBlue centers around the philosophy that if we follow the money and acknowledge that money really drives election results and shapes our cultural development as we move forward as a country, then we have to recognize that we do have power and agency. We aren’t without the ability to sway elections based on how we the people, as individuals, spends our money. And we need to start with a place like Amazon.

I'm going to be doing a separate piece on Jeff Bezos and how he's now part of the American oligarchy—not to be confused with the Russian oligarchy, which is based on Putin giving money and power to his friends and family to serve his agenda. The American oligarchy, which Trump isn't smart enough to recognize, really operates with oligarchs around Trump having more power than him. Take Amazon, for example. Bezos has set it up so that he knows more about every single American citizen than anyone else—our politicians, our government, anybody. They know our spending habits, what books we look at, where we live; they probably even know how much money we have. It’s an amazing amount of information.

So, his ability to influence things—right, wrong, or indifferent—is enormous. It didn't escape my notice that on the night of the 2024 election, only six days ago (even though it feels like a year), he launched Amazon News.

Yes, I'll say it again: Amazon News. Amazon News even had Brian Williams on, along with people like James Carville, which surprised me. I'm not sure how much they paid him, but it must have been enough, as I consider him a man of principle, while I don't consider Amazon a company of principle.

So I started thinking about Amazon and what my friends, family, and I could do about where we choose to spend our money.

I called Alexandra and asked, “Alexandra, if I told you that one of the things we need to do to change the direction of our country is to never, ever, ever buy from Amazon again, would you be willing to do it? We have to move back to community, which is a theme I’ll be speaking about a lot. We need to shop local and support our communities. Could you commit to not using Amazon again?” She paused, thought about it, and said, “I don't know.” I responded, “So you're telling me that if I said Amazon was one of the reasons we're down this rabbit hole of corruption and truly scary times, you’re not sure you could wean yourself off it?” Are we so addicted that we can't have the discipline to say, “I might have to wait a few days or a week to get a product from a local store”? And she said, “Maybe.”

We both laughed. I mean, the truth is, I then admitted that I would probably cheat. For example, I could go to my local independent bookstore and decide I buy blue by saying, “I'm only going to buy books from my local bookstore, and if I have to wait a week, so be it; it’s not the end of the world.” But then, if I wanted a specific jacket I buy every few years, which is only available on Amazon, costs $89, and arrives the next day—well, I’d probably cheat.

“Oh well,” I’d tell myself. “Just this one time.” And I realized what we really need right now is true discipline. A few years ago, I was talking to who became my significant other (now my ex), and I told him, “Home Depot donates a lot of money to Republicans. We don't believe in that. Lowe's doesn’t, so you can't go to Home Depot; you need to buy from Lowe's.” And he replied, “Lowe's is seven miles farther, which means 14 extra miles. I don’t have time.” He was lying. He is retired and had nothing on the calendar. But he was just being honest telling me he wasn’t going to go out of his way.

I remember being in therapy with my ex, who I refer to as H2 (husband number two), and at one point, he said something that made me think, “The scariest part is that he isn’t concerned about how this sounds to a therapist, who’s probably thinking, ‘You can’t be serious.’” The fact that he was willing to say, “I’m not driving an extra 14 miles to avoid supporting the Republican Party” was shocking to me.

Okay, heads up, everyone! Huddle up. We have to start building this discipline ourselves. If we want to change what is happening, it calls for discipline.

Voting isn't the end of it; we also need the discipline to recognize where we can make a difference. And I promise you, your spending makes a difference. Follow the money.

So, we're going to start a column, maybe even put it at the bottom of each post we put out, called #IBuyBlue. Whenever you can, post something on social media showing how #IBuyBlue. Let’s start posting things that matter. Post a picture of the books you bought from your local independent bookstore and say, #IBuyBlue instead of #Amazon. Let’s stop putting out content on social media about Washington DC, and start breaking it all down to individual acts of rebellion, starting with our buying habits.

We can change our habits. They say it only takes 28 days to form a habit. We need to develop the habit of going the extra mile for the future we want for this country.

It starts today. With restaurants.

Every morning my dog Bay and I go to Dunkin Donuts. I get black coffee. She gets an old fashioned donut. Every day. This morning, I pulled up and told the girl at the window who knows me, not because I’m so great but because they love Bayley, the dog.

“Hey Sue. I wanted to tell you that you will not see me here anymore. I spend more than $2,000 a year here buying my coffee. But your company helped elect DT, so we are done. You won’t see me again. I’m telling you because I would like you to tell the manager to pass on that #IBuyBlue, and am breaking up with you.”

She leaned out the window and said, “I agree with you! Totally. Thank you!”

Now, let’s hope I can do it. because, I don’t know about you, but #IBuyBlue.

Source: Vox Media