A handy list of which companies donate to which political parties.
As if I didn't need more evidence not to shop at Walmart ... Seriously, though, it really would be difficult to do much in this country if you didn't patronize companies that donated to the Republican party.
I'm skeptical that this kind of consumer activism -- shopping at Costco instead of Walmart -- does much. Most companies won't make the connection between their lost business and the political donations they made. You have to tell them, and I'm betting most people who might be influenced into going to Costco instead of Walmart will forget to tell them. Nothing wrong with that. Most people don't care enough about politics to remember to write a letter and say why they're buying their 48 pack of toilet paper somewhere else. I know that I'd be likely to forget, and I'm probably in the top quartile of politically interested people in the country.
If you really want to change corporate political behavior the most effective way to go is to buy some shares, and attend shareholder meetings. It's highly likely that the size of these donations goes beyond any rational corporate interest in acquiring political influence, and reflects the personal political beliefs of the executives.
As a shareholder you don't have to put up with that, and asking questions at shareholder meetings can be surprisingly effective when done well.
At the local level shopping at certain stores, and not at others, to express political opinions can work. But people have to tell companies what they're doing, or the message won't get through.
Posted by robe0419 at December 6, 2004 10:20 AM | TrackBack