Cover image credit: This image was generated by DALL-E, an AI model developed by OpenAI.

What if there was a simple way to change the things you don’t like about the way our society works, e.g., how we’re trashing our planet in the pursuit of material progress?

Vote

One popular way to try to effect change is to vote for a political representative – in countries where this is officially allowed – that is most closely aligned to your values.

While this may have some effect, it’s clear to anyone with a critical mind that the effect is very limited. There are a myriad of reasons for the limited effect of this political route, one of the main ones being corporate lobbying. Furthermore, you don’t get to elect your representative daily, but usually only once in a few years (depending on where you live). As a result, if your elected representative is not as good as you hoped for, you’re stuck with that choice until the next election cycle comes around.

Is there a better way to express our preferences in this system?

Economic voting

Voting with your money is the single most powerful action you can individually take to change anything you’re unhappy with in the capitalist society we live in.

Individual purchasing decisions play a very important role in keeping a capitalist society working. A capitalist economy’s functioning depends critically on the flow of capital, i.e., money. One of the biggest contributions to capital flow patterns in a society is people’s spending patterns. Utilities that people are willing to spend money on become commercially successful, e.g., smartphones. On the other hand, those that don’t have many dollars turn their way die out. A good case in point is how point-and-shoot cameras have been completely replaced by smartphones. As a more extreme example, if everyone in the world decided to never buy cars, and only rely on public transportation or, say, horses, all auto companies will go out of business, and no one will ever make cars again. There is historical precedent showing that real change can be effected by economic actions of people. For example, the boycott of goods from South Africa when Apartheid was still practiced there, was one of the important factors leading to its eventual demise.

Furthermore, you can vote with your money on a daily basis – even multiple times a day. Every time you spend any LCU on a utility, you’re essentially casting a vote for the business that produces that particular utility to stay in business and thrive.

However, there’s another important reason why the way you spend your money matters.

Values

We all like to think of ourselves as decent humans, and try to act in accordance with what we think are good values. However in this capitalistic world we live in, more than our actions, what we spend our money on shows our true nature. You may think that you’re a very non-materialistic person, but if you’re spending most of your money on fancy cars, your preferences are at odds with your claim.

Ultimately, your spending patterns are a reflection of what you value, whether you’re conscious of those values or not.

Tackling the ad industry

We have seen how ads are one of the main culprits driving mindless consumption, which is one of the main reasons for the climate crisis. We have also seen how the biggest corporations are best positioned to unleash the full power of ads towards the public in order to enhance their profits, since they can recruit the finest minds of our generation to produce ever-more compelling ads for their utilities.

So, it follows that when we purchase a utility by watching, hearing, or otherwise getting exposed to an ad, we’re essentially paying that business for producing that ad, with all its harmful consequences. Then, it follows that if we make it a point to try to only buy utilities that aren’t advertised much, we’re pulling money away from the ad industry, making it that much less profitable. If all of us were to adopt this radical practice, the consumer capitalist system would be forced to recognize the futility of spending any money on ads, thereby decimating the ad industry and delivering us from its harmful effects.

Thus, one of the powerful ways to combat mindless consumption, and hence the climate crisis, is to intentionally buy the utilities least advertised, thereby preventing your money from supporting the toxic ad industry.

In summary, voting with your money in the consumer capitalist society we live in today is the most effective individual action we can take to try to shape our society according to our values.