Boycott!

I've got an odd relationship with the notion of boycotts. I can see the logic of metaphorically taking your ball and going home. Refusing to shop at Wal Mart or refusing to get your Pizza from one chain or another can make a certain kind of sense if you feel a certain kind of powerlessness. I suppose I boycott some things, but it's more superstition than outright political gesture. A good example is in Prescott Valley, Arizona, they had some overzealous cops. I was pulled over (and cited, though it was dropped in court) for driving 56 mph in a 55. I was forced to walk 15 miles home because a different cop thought that I must be drunk (when i hadn't had anything to drink) because I was driving at 1:15 AM, fifteen minutes after the bars closed. So, I boycotted driving in Prescott Valley. I didn't want the hassle, anymore. That's the kind of thing I mean. I know that it's kind of backwards thinking: expecting a  future result based upon discrete, prior experiences, so I will readily admit it's a superstition. But, then again, a fair number of boycotts seem to be based upon gossip, which would be superstition's second cousin. Don't believe me? Here's one:

A few years back I had a pair of Birkenstock sandals. Some of my more liberal friends started to give me some trouble because they were "boycotting" birkenstocks, due to the company being owned by "nazis". I kinda looked at 'em quizically, and finally said "Well, if the nazis want to give me comfortable footwear, how bad can they be?" (I guess it never dawned upon them that my family includes survivors of the real holocaust. That's a sidebar: why always "nazis"? I think there's some subtle, and not-so-subtle racism in calling people who are attempting to be authoritarian "nazis"). But, even so, how many boycotts happen because of things just like that: somebody says that Proctor and Gamble are Satan worshippers because of an interpretation of their old logo, and evangelicals go nuts, and boycott. People say that Marlboro is owned by the KKK, and folks start smoking camels. It's just gossip.

There also is the kind of half-boycott I see people doing "I buy only locally made organic produce". Well, that sort of thing isn't a bad thing, per se, but I don't know if it's always the best thing. What if your local Organic farm is benefitting from Tax subsidies they got at the expense of welfare money? What if they're introducing pest plants that will choke out the local biodiversity? I think people should look at things in a more systematic way than simple decisions. There are times when they would be better off shopping at Wal Mart, and there are times when they'd be better off shopping at a farmer's market, and there are times when they'd be better off not shopping at all.

I don't understand the need for black hats and white hats, really, and i guess that goes to the heart of my quandry with boycotts: Certainly, there are some things that are evil and need to be stopped, but i have never heard of anything good coming from painting with too broad a brush....