The emotional response to stuff like this: no violence unjustified.
Anyway, now you can't buy any of the following, or at least not without feeling guilty
Hershey's Kisses not on the list, so totes OK I guess.
It's a student exchange program. The whole point is for students to get an authentic experience of America!
Those spoiled furriners were probably allowed to keep their health insurance for the duration. What are they complaining about?
If Tootsie Roll Industries is guilty of war crimes, I don't want to know about it.
The Hershey Company hosted a daylong visit to its headquarters so students could learn about its business strategies.
Seems like the students already knew plenty about Hershey's business strategies.
5: I had no idea they were still "independent" (in fact they have snapped up others).
I saw something like this about 1970-72. Japanese students came to the US to intern in agriculture and were put to work as stoop labor.
The recent Amazon shipping center story came out of Pennsylvania as well. Whats the deal with that state?
I wrote 4 before reading the story:
"You wanted a cultural exchange," Mr. Torres was told by the group representative, he said. "This is America and this is the way we do things here."
We truly live in a post-irony era.
I've always thought of Skor as a reverse engineered Heath bar.
Hershey's Kisses not on the list
Dammit, now I've got Hall & Oates stuck in my head.
The descent of Hershey's from big-deal Chocolatetown benevolence* has been interesting/disconcerting to watch. One stop along the way was when they screwed up a computer software installation about a decade ago and endangered Halloween shipments.
*And of course a lot of it was surely just a PR construct.
Anyway, now you can't buy any of the following, or at least not without feeling guilty
It's hard to think of a food boycott I could more easily and willingly sign up to.
Anyway, now you can't buy any of the following, or at least not without feeling guilty
It's hard to think of a food boycott I could more easily and willingly sign up to.
I do like Twizzlers. I get superior peanut butter cups at Trader Joe's.
And I do like York peppermint patties.
14: Me too, although I do usually buy a big bag of mini Krackel, Mr. Goodbar, etc. for Halloween. Tiny boxes of raisins and toothbrushes it is!
Thank god for Goldenberg's Peanut Chews. (Not that I can actually find them in TX, but I buy them by the handful when I'm back east.)
Are toothbrushes and apples made under terrible working condnitions, too? Because ten year olds everywhere could really use a reason to scorn the neighborhood dentist come Halloween.
Twizzlers are disgusting, as we've previously
noted.
Tiny boxes of raisins and toothbrushes it is!
Have fun scrubbing the eggs off your house.
19.1: You'd be Mara's favorite house ever! I've been able to get her down to only brushing her teeth two to four times a day, but raisins are mandatory on the way to school and preferred at any other time.
I knew the little one and I would get along famously.
Thanks for including the list -- I was mentally trying to remember the parent company of all the bulk Halloween candy I just bought. I think I've got all M & M Mars and Nestle, but I definitely have none of the ones on the list. Shame, though, that Reese's are no longer allowed...
OT: We went to a preview of the new Three Musketeers last night. FAIL.
Because it's not a Hershey product?
My favorite line from Molly's link in 1:
Fair-trade chocolate is not always presented in a way that appeals to young kidsMaybe it's just because my kid is a little weirdo, but she has never objected to any chocolates on the basis of the packaging. One of my biggest pet peeves ever is the condescending assumptions about what kids will and won't like.
28: I didn't even think about the fact that Three Musketeers is a candy bar, though obviously my subconscious did.
That really is appalling.
I will definitely boycott Hershey's this year, and it deserves all the hate it can get, but the blame seems to me to fall at least somewhat more on the State Department (which ran the program, and really had ultimate responsibility for the kids' welfare) and the quite despicable independent contractor who set up the arrangement for a fee. My relative who works in monitoring such things says the State Department is just the worst federal bureaucracy in all sorts of ways: corrupt, incompetent, etc.
The article in 1 seems a little undersourced, but I'm willing to believe it. Which sucks, because I have to feed about 600-700 trick or treaters, and mini chocolate (whether from Nestle or Hershey's) has been my go-to treat for years. I wouldn't give candy corn to my worst enemy, and most other non-chocolate things seem vile or somehow lame (apples, rolls). Jelly beans? Or maybe I'll take out a loan on fair trade chocolate, if it even exists in mini variety pack format. The rich kids all bring that UNICEF jar, which vaguely annoys me, but there will still be a need to give something to at least 600 kids.
OT: We went on a trip through the galaxy last night and the Milky Way . . .
Nope, no good joke to be found there.
29 implies that Di read 1, but 26 implies that Di is okay with candy other than Hershey's (M & M Mars and Nestle). Mistreating students on a foreign exchange program is boycott worthy, but child slavery not so much?
It's true that packaging shouldn't be an issue, but I think they're also talking about the ability to pass out small individually wrapped treats there. Most fair trade chocolate is sold in large bars, not really handy for giving out on Halloween unless you want to spend a million dollars. We've had over a hundred kids come to our door in past Halloweens, so I've been giving this some thought.
I'm with Halford on blaming the State Department. What a shitty, shitty thing to do with a program that's supposed to be about cultural exchange, setting kids up to support themselves with a reasonable job so they can see the US for a summer. Private companies, there's always a risk they're going to be shits, so while they're evil it's not surprising, but that no one from the State Department stepped in, shut it down, and helped the kids out once the problems were reported is horrible.
Swedish Fish for everyone!
Can I get an amen? Where's Moby?
33 -- yeah, I'm in charge of organizing the trick or treating at my parents house, which is in a destination neighborhood for trick or treating in the City. Kids come from like 5-10 miles away. As did, last year anyway, people who were obviously just hungry adults.
As did, last year anyway, people who were obviously just hungry adults.
That makes me sad.
Maybe brainstorming some non-chocolate candy that doesn't suck? I always loved Bit O Honey and Mary Janes, although I don't know if they're around any more. Individually wrapped non-chocolate caramels?
fair trade chocolate, if it even exists in mini variety pack format
They have big bags matching that description at our co-op. I don't remember what the brand was.
They also have bulk organic lollypops which look good (flavors like spicy mango, etc . . .), I might be able to remember the brand on that one.
29
Maybe it's just because my kid is a little weirdo, but she has never objected to any chocolates on the basis of the packaging. One of my biggest pet peeves ever is the condescending assumptions about what kids will and won't like.
I'm sure the kids like fair trade chocolate or fancy Swiss chocolate just as much as Hershey's once it's unwrapped. It's harder to make flashy, seizure-inducing commercials fit for Nickelodeon or whatever the kids are watching these days about stuff in demure packaging, though.
It's a bit annoying how I keep on seeing exhortations to boycott things, and I agree with the sentiment and I totally would like to help out, but I can't boycott something I wasn't patronizing to begin with. (I ate a Payday bar, I think it was, a few days ago that my girlfriend had brought home. Not sure where she got it. My boss keeps a stash of Hershey's Kisses and similar candy in her office and gives them out sometimes and I have those. But that's all I can think of on this list in the past six months or so.) It seems like I should lead a more typical consumer's life just so that I can readily stop.
organic lollypops
here they are. I'm not a big lollypop fan, but I had one a couple of years ago and it was very tasty.
I can also recommend these candies -- a very nice ginger flavor.
Individually wrapped non-chocolate caramels?
What are the circular ones with the white junk in the middle? "Bull's eyes" or something. Yum.
Other non-chocolate, non-Hershey alternatives: Starburst, Skittles, everything in the Mike & Ike's category.
I don't think we've ever had a trick or treater in 5 years. Maybe I'm forgetting. There are kids in the neighborhood but they must go elsewhere.
Costumes are banned at daycare because Halloween is a religious holiday, btw.
40: Skittles? Lemonheads? Still owned by corporations that do bad stuff, but at least no chocolate in them...
I didn't see Godiva dark chocolate truffles on the proscribed list but that's what the *one* kid in the entire neighborhood will get if she shows up.
I will manage to control any residual guilt if necessary to continue eating my one-a-day chocolate therapy.
If I could get my whole neighborhood to track how many kids they get, I think I could make a really interesting report on how much extra elevation from the street it takes to get a kid to not bother with your house.
44: Goetze's Caramel Creams I assume, or even better Cow Tails, but not the goofy flavors.
Go to your local beekeeper and buy honeysticks! (These.) Everyone wins.
I think I'm going to buy local candy but have no idea how many kids to expect or whether we'll even be at the house to hand them out rather than walking with our own kids. (The two new kids' parents want to trick-or-treat with them, but since they can't have unsupervised visits I have to go with them.)
I'd be curious to see who buys this.
Don;t think they come in cost-effective packaging, but I've fallen hard for "Australian Red Licorice" (probably Kookaburra brand, I buy it rep-packaged from a local deli). Far transcends Vines, much less Twizzlers.
Dum Dums (which, the company would like you to know, are gluten free) and Sour Patch Kids, if they come in small sizes -- I'm not sure I've ever seen them.
Another hurdle for me (admittedly a small one) is that I usually find Target to be the best place for Halloween candy but now they've been revealed to be union-busting jagoffs. Could all these stupid fucking corporations please stop being a pain in my ass? (Here, apo, have some low-hanging fruit as a special Halloween treat.)
59: No, very soft and relatively sweet. Texture is where they win.
A little on the expensive side, but Gummi Bears and airplane-sized bottles of vodka are a nice treat for the older kids.
I like this bit of copy from the Goetze's site: Goetze's Caramel Cream® and Cow Tales® are more substantial alternatives to traditional sweet treats, and if eaten in moderation, can fit within a healthy lifestyle!
Our product won't necessarily kill you!
Come on, do I have to stop going to Target, too? Agggh.
62: Making jello shots for them would be cost effective.
Individual consumer politics are a dead end. Participate in organized boycotts with institutional support and clear goals. Anything else is just making yourself crazy with guilt.
That said, if there are any credit unions that will take check deposits over a smartphone, sign me up.
More options (I'm going to keep doing this, because it's helpful for me): SweeTarts, Gobstoppers (the most disgustingly named candy ever), Laffy Taffy, Nerds, other Wonka brand stuff. Pop Rocks would be awesome if they come in bulk.
64, 66: k-sky is largely right. I'm not willing to shop at Target, but I make all kinds of other compromises. Even if you go off the grid and live in an artisanal fair trade yurt, you're going to make choices that fall short of some ethical ideal. We do the best we can in a deeply fucked-up world.
Fair trade chocolate online is $27 for a 100 piece mini-treat pack. Not cheap!
Yes, it is hard to swing my Ethical Outrage, Not Very Good Chocolate Division from Nestle's to Hershey.
And Kraab is right about Goldenberger's Peanut Chews, which are my own personal Madeleine-in-Tea Express back to Morah Cohen's first grade classroom.
Necco Wafers because the little fuckers don't deserve something that tastes good.
66: Does that mean I can buy Braun electronics without worrying about supporting Nazis?
Not my fault. Apparently, all I need to do is avoid putting foreign students into debt slavery and, morally, I'm ahead of the game as far as my state goes.
Fair trade chocolate online is $27 for a 100 piece mini-treat pack. Not cheap!
I did post some non-chocolate options. I think the (individually wrapped) lollypops were $8 for 50 pieces -- still not cheap, but cheaper.
Making jello shots for them would be cost effective.
And translucent, so parents need have no fears about razor blades.
On the Hershey list is also, sadly, Scharffen Berger.
Marginally on topic: My firm loves hating on Hershey. We're deeply involved in the Chocolate Antitrust Litigaiton, which is about what you would expect and targets Hershey and its "competitors." I don't know much about the case, but outside of my office are the file cabinets accurately and conspicuously labelled CHOCOLATE. Pretty much every time a child of appropriate age comes in, they see the label, start opening the files, and quickly turn from excited to disappointed and angry. It's very funny to watch, if you're evil.
Ugh. I grew up thinking of Hershey as the land of happily educated orphans and fun roller coasters. (And weird, sour-ish chocolate.)
Pretty much every time a child of appropriate age comes in, they see the label, start opening the files, and quickly turn from excited to disappointed and angry. It's very funny to watch, if you're evil.
Hee.
You need to get some clients that would allow you to reasonably label file cabinets "COCAINE". Or possibly "CASH".
Are you all grasping 46 insofar as Halloween is religious because the fundies think it's the devil's holiday?
78: yes.
Also, k-sky is the rightest ever. Non-scalable boycotts -- or really, any other kind of consumer-driven activism -- may well be worse than doing nothing at all, in that such behaviors make people feel like they're being righteous but don't do a thing to change the system.
Non-scalable boycotts
What would make a boycott non-scalable?
79: I did not know that Hershey had eated them. Did they sell the wine concerns, too, I wonder?* (I have a very old Scharfenberger tshirt lying around somewhere. Also: one of the kids of the family is a classicist.)
*Google says yes.
I had a Scharfenberger "bittersweet" shirt that I really liked. Not sure what became of it. I still like their nibby bars, even if I'm mad at them for closing down the Berkeley factory. (Best factory tour ever.)
I'm trying to find the reasonably compelling article I read on this subject, by the way, so I can cite it. I think I must have put it under the cases of Nestles baby formula (purchased from WalMart) that we send to friends in Africa. Crap, maybe the formula is behind the cans of Exxon gas I bought a few years back. Those cans, I'm pretty sure, are buried beneath my Raytheon stock certificates. Oh wait, I remember, all of that stuff is stored in a bus that I purchased from the Birmingham Department of Transportation in 1956. Great company, the BDT.
79: That's the first thing that might potentially be an issue in my household. I'm a little amazed that I don't eat anything on the OP list anymore. So yeah -- easiest boycott ever, easy enough to be utterly ineffective... thus, perhaps most difficult boycott ever. Hm.
I think the Endangered Species Chocolate people make bite-sized chocolates. A great gift for kids who love both tigers and consuming coffee grounds in their candy! Seriously delicious chocolate though.
90: The factory closure did indeed stink. We got parked into their parking lot once, probably while visiting the cafe -- so we had to run around trying to figure out who was responsible for the supply truck in our way. The employee we asked exclaimed sympathetically: "Oh nooo! Trapped in the chocolate factory!" It didn't last long enough for us to break down and start vat diving, though.
85: I got that. I just thought it was nice that they phrased it in a neutral fashion--we don't celebrate religious holidays in class, but we totally respect the rights of our Satan-worshiping countrymen to freely practice their depraved religion.
85: I didn't get that. I thought they didn't like Catholics or something.
85: I remember the kids at school would be basically begged at Hebrew School not to go trick-or-treating, but the response was "Yeah right!"
Well, Halloween does have religious origins--even if nobody pays attention to them. It's All Hallows Eve, i.e. the evening before All Saints Day on November 1.
85: I got that. I'm really impressed that Val's public school is all about Halloween. I'd expected there to be more pushback from local Christians who are okay with pagan Christmas and Easter but not Halloween.
I can't help but think how exciting life must be for the super-religious.
It makes me think of The Witch of Blackbird Pond.
Halloween does have religious origins--even if nobody pays attention to them.
Interesting. I've heard the same thing about Christmas.
Was this linked here? (Sorry if so, haven't been reading much this week.) It's horrifying.
103: Holy crap. And let me tell you, TW of NE Ohio certainly doesn't take care of any customers, so. UGH.
29 implies that Di read 1, but 26 implies that Di is okay with candy other than Hershey's (M & M Mars and Nestle). Mistreating students on a foreign exchange program is boycott worthy, but child slavery not so much?
Perhaps the sequencing implies that Di read the link in 1 after authoring comment 26 and before authoring comment 29. But hey, assuming that I support child slavery is an option, too.
fron the link in 103:
A local news station reports that after a co-worker began giving CPR to 67-year-old Julia Nelson, a supervisor allegedly told her to stop and "get back on the phone and take care of customers."
Isn't that grounds for a wrongful death suit right there?
If think you can convince a jury that TW was concerned about its customers, you go ahead and try.
66: USAA might.
Unless something has changed, you can only use their phone deposit if you have certain kinds of accounts. If you are in USAA through a family member's military affiliation you're good to go.
This reminds me that I bought some of those colossal Toblerones at ZRH with my remaining pocket francs and they're taking up space in my fridge. If we have a NYC meetup soon, the attendees can leg-wrestle for my gloating amusement one.
Perhaps the sequencing implies that Di read the link in 1 after authoring comment 26 and before authoring comment 29. But hey, assuming that I support child slavery is an option, too.
Di, unless you're being sarcastic, this is a pretty evasive response. "Perhaps"? I'd like a straight answer: are you in favor of or do you oppose child slavery?
I can't answer for Di, but let me just say that being toted around in a sedan chair by a team of 9 year old Moldovans is pretty sweet.
Oh believe you me, she's in favor of child slavery.
111: Did I miss my line?
From Wikipedia, I learn that Ackbar's home planet was called Mon Calamari which makes too much sense.
Okay, whoever wrote 113, that's a really damn good match of Rory's voice. (Um, and if it's you Rory, shouldn't you be in school??)
Also, did I miss the thread where urple became my sworn enemy? Because STOP PICKING ON ME!
Given urple's reported meal plan the other day, I think we can assume he's teasing you.
E. Messily ruins Halloween.
Just to clarify, I have never personally enslaved any foreign students myself. I don't even have a chocolate factory. All I did was send Heebie an email, I swear.
E. Messily is shockingly silent on her treatment of domestic students.
Joey had a comic book from the library where all the action took place on Mon Calamari. In the comic they spent all their time underwater, which confused me, because Ackbar clearly breathes air. Wookiepedia now tells me that the Mon Calamari can take in oxygen from water, but only with difficulty, and prefer to use something called "organic gills"
In any case, naming the whole species after an appetizer seems in bad taste.
119: Are you a student? Are you looking for summer work? I have some exciting opportunities I'd love to tell you about.
116 is non-responsive.
Can't buy Mars products either, people, because of the whole Tongue River coal being sent to China to release its carbon into the atmosphere thing.
120: In any case, naming the whole species after an appetizer seems in bad taste.
It really depends on how you prepare them.
For recreation, the people of Mon Calamari would roll in tubs of batter.
|| Victory is just around the corner Can't you just feel it?|>
122: Plus there's that thing where the Mars family thinks it shouldn't have to pay any estate taxes.
125: US soldiers used to do that all the time in Vietnam, didn't they?
The Mon Calamari also share the planet with the Quarren, who are the dudes with tentacles growing out of their chins. Not to be confused with the Twilek, who had tentacles growing out of the tops of their heads and came from a desert planet.
Oddly enough, I did have friends in middle school despite spouting this kind of stuff all the time back then.
I can confirm USAA's smartphone check deposit app is a pretty good one, on Android at least.
I can't fathom why it wouldn't be open to non-military-family-based members, though. I thought they had opened banking to everyone (hence the ad campaigns) and it was just other services like insurance that were still limited.
I don't know why either. But a friend of mine got a USAA account last year and was all excited about the smartphone deposit, which her partner (of a military-connected family) uses all the time, and was told that it was unavailable to her. They told her if she got married to her partner, then she would be in a category where she could use smartphone deposit.
Or was it relatively new then, and maybe it's become more broadly available since? If so, my friend doesn't know about it, because she was talking just a few days ago about how annoying it is that she can't get it.
Wookiepedia now tells me....
"[N]ow"? Did it tell you something else earlier? How much time are you spending at this "Wookiepedia"? The American people want answers!
Their website says "eligibility for USAA property and casualty insurance and credit qualification required" for the Deposit@Mobile feature. That does seem odd. And following the links on eligibility for the insurance confirms that's still only available for military families.
Digital Credit Union looks promising. Though now I'm have to figure out if my car loan payment goes up if I close my Chase account.
Yeah, I saw a different page that just said "you must qualify for DepositMobile." Weird.
Does your friend have a veteran grandparent? That's how I got in (though technically my parents joined first).
Wait, if my dad's a vet, I can get in? Even if he's not part of it?
No, says the eligibility page. Damn. I knew I should have joined the Navy.
Oh, right. Should have read more closely. Maybe my grandfather was a member, I guess.
But he doesn't have to be a current member - you can get in if he ever had a policy with them.
BEAVIS' DAD WAS IN THE NAVY.
HE WAS A SEAMAN.
HUH HUH, HUH HUH.
But a friend of mine got a USAA account last year and was all excited about the smartphone deposit, which her partner (of a military-connected family) uses all the time, and was told that it was unavailable to her. They told her if she got married to her partner, then she would be in a category where she could use smartphone deposit.
Yes, the rules are odd. My sweetie's ex-wife got her USAA account through him when they were married, and she's allowed to stay a member now, unless she remarries (!).
I found this out after listening to him rave about USAA and then discovering I couldn't have an account. I was mostly bummed because I have been searching for a credit union whose eligibility rules would allow me to join for about 10 years now, off and on.
Witt, many credit unions have universal eligibility now. Search your regional followed by "community credit union." More here, including banker butthurt.
36: I'm with Halford on blaming the State Department.
I find this a little weird. It's pretty close to supposing that of course private companies are going to do utterly shitty and unconscionable things, and who can blame them (as though they're sociopaths by nature, unable to help themselves).
I get the idea, and of course the State Dept. does bear a good part of the blame, but honestly.
And another thing!
66: Individual consumer politics are a dead end. Participate in organized boycotts with institutional support and clear goals. Anything else is just making yourself crazy with guilt.
Understood. And yet, how many people read that expose of Amazon's labor practices and barely paused before shopping at Amazon again? Because there's no point in making yourself crazy with guilt. This strikes me as close to excuse-making.
These topics seem to disturb me, a tad.
And yet, how many people read that expose of Amazon's labor practices and barely paused before shopping at Amazon again?
Count me among them. I have a few boycotts I participate in to reinforce my sense of moral rightness. Dow, which is a hand-me-down from my parents, because they made napalm. Shell, which I'm finally letting go of after fifteen years, for the death of Ken Saro-Wiwa (though it was back in the papers). Otherwise, I demur.
When I was a union organizer, I noticed that the Spanglish verb "boycottear" didn't mean "refuse to buy", it meant "show up somewhere with signs and try to get people not to go in." You can run a boycott, and if you have an organization and a goal, you can win something from a company. But turning away from a company in disgust without a demand accomplishes extremely little. I sympathize with people who do it because corporate behaviors are horrifying. But it's more spiritual action than political action.
Why don't we just shut down all foreign work programs period? Because they will inevitably be abused. It's not like working in a warehouse is a job Americans won't do, and Hershey's will pay a decent wage if it has to hire US citizens. I bet many of these kids thought they would be working at Hershey's amusement park or something like that, in fact that's probably where Hershey's got the idea in the first place.
And yet, how many people read that expose of Amazon's labor practices and barely paused before shopping at Amazon again?
Unlike unorganized boycotts, consumer behavior that expands a market, e.g., fair trade, or keeps revenue and taxes in the region can be meaningful. I avoid Amazon in favor of supporting local businesses (or unionized Powells -- come on, I haven't flacked for them in ages). That doesn't mean that using Amazon makes anyone history's greatest monster; that would be Moby and his Nazi death camp toaster.
114: I feel that way about most work visas -- if someone's valuable enough to the country to let them take a job there, let them be a citizen. But this was specifically a cultural exchange program: the jobs were just supposed to fund these kids during a summer so that they could experience a visit to America. The State Department should have been vetting participants in the program to make sure they made sense for that purpose -- limiting it to jobs that would allow for a pleasant US summer, rather than the sort of exploitation going on here.
The idea of the program was primarily to benefit the workers, not the employers; any benefit to the employers should have been secondary.
146
The idea of the program was primarily to benefit the workers, not the employers; any benefit to the employers should have been secondary.
Well of course that was probably how it was sold just as ethanol was promoted as good for the environment. That doesn't make it so.
The idea of the program was primarily to benefit the workers, not the employers
no, the idea was of course to just bring cheap workforce, it's surely easier to bring them than to relocate the factories, and all the other fine intentions could be written on that idea to conceal whatever
In practice, that's how the program worked out. But a cultural exchange program as it was supposed to be is possible is possible, and wouldn't be a bad thing. I wouldn't oppose the continuation of this program if it could be run as intended, as support for cultural exchange. But obviously if it can't or won't be run as intended, it should be shut down.
in japan they do the exchange programs as like really exchange, the financial support, scholarships, cultural programs, all are thought out well and really are beneficial for the enrolled students
and if japanese do the cultural exchange thing they get tax breaks too, so helping others they don't forget helping self, which is again is a good thing bc it's then becomes sustainable, the program
and within the exchange programs all is hospitality, of course, but if one would try to continue the acquaintance, most probably one could meet the kind of reaction like, what do you want, it's rare to become good friends just because of the program, though it is not impossible, sometimes people get good personality matches and become friends despite differences
the hershey's program doesn't sound anything like japanese programs, so those are the invitation workers like programs and it's more honest to keep that upfront, not declaring anything beautiful than that and if they paid what they pay to regular workers there wouldn't have been any misunderstanding too
I was hoping this would be 150 posts all along the lines of post no. 4.
Sort of on topic: has anyone researched brands of red palm oil?
143: I noticed that the Spanglish verb "boycottear" didn't mean "refuse to buy", it meant "show up somewhere with signs and try to get people not to go in." You can run a boycott, and if you have an organization and a goal, you can win something from a company. But turning away from a company in disgust without a demand accomplishes extremely little. I sympathize with people who do it because corporate behaviors are horrifying. But it's more spiritual action than political action.
Mm, agree and disagree. I certainly acknowledge everything you say about the importance of organized boycotting, with demands and leaflets and so on. Sometimes it works.
I do think there's a middle space between feel-good, spiritual action and political action, though: call it something like an exercise in mindfulness. Every time you choose not to buy from (say) Amazon, but instead buy from a small, independent and/or local seller -- whose shipping to you may take a bit longer, and whose business may be a bit rougher around the edges -- you're reminding yourself that Amazon's assembly line, by-the-numbers approach comes with a human (and community) cost which should not be ignored. This isn't unlike Sir Kraab's point in 145.
Eh, I'll be the first to admit that Amazon in particular gets under my skin.
145: I do buy stuff from Amazon. If I'm going to get my boyfriend to give up Target after WalMart was taken away (his parents shop at the latter), I can't ask him to give up Amazon. I don't buy books from them just other junk that I can't buy locally, like kinesys spray-on sunscreen or razor blades that they wouldn't sell at Powells.
And it sucks about Target, because they sell some cleaning products I haven't found elsewhere.
149: I did this programme back in the eighties but the rules were very different. Now I see that sponsors have to either prearrange jobs or provide as many job listings as they have sponsored students - this requirement explains how the students got trapped working for Hershey.
We got one night in a hotel in LA and were then left on our own. I ended up working on a skifield in Colorado and grumbling mightily about having to work on Christmas Day without getting any overtime, but there was nothing preventing me from looking for something better if I wanted
Hershey went over to the dark side in 1937, hiring thugs to try to break the union - they lost that time, but the whole lovey dovey community thing has been dead so long it's stopping stinking. There's an account of the battle here. Sorry it's Amazon, it was the only reference to the book I could find.