Consumer Revolution

Since Christmas, we've been observing something of an overhaul sweep across the Arab nations of the Middle East, to put it mildly. Disaffected Tunisian youth got very fed up with the government and ousted their leader. Encouraged by their success, Egypt removed the chief of their 40-year dictatorship. Uprisings flourished and continue in Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Libya.

We can start a much-needed revolution over here: a consumer revolution. If they can do it, so can we and all we need to do is stay at home. While the poor Libyan rebels get bombed to smithereens by their own government in a North African no-fly zone, we can conduct our lazy ass revolution by sitting in our armchairs with a good book; the only resulting violence being some spirited wrestling over the family credit cards.

We complain about the shoddy state of our food, without realizing we have the power to change it. Imagine what would happen if we all decided to stop buying mass produced sugary beverages and only drank water. In very short order, they would disappear from the shelves.

We complain about the dwindling domestic job market while buying foreign made goods in bulk. Most clothing is made in the Far East, it's true. Instead of racking up debt on yet another pair of jeans made in Macau, why not stay at home and play Scrabble? I wonder if anyone remembers the phrase "Sunday Best" denoting that a good pair of shoes would be saved for special occasions and another pair of shoes would be worn daily. Somehow over the years it has become normal to own fifty pairs of shoes. Clothing made in America is more expensive, but if everyone buys it the price will come down over time. Organic food is a great deal cheaper than it used to be.

A couple of days ago the New York Times offered the opinion that by supporting despots like Mubarak, who allegedly kept peace in the region for many years, the US fostered jihadist rage against the West.

Similarly, by supporting community ravagers like big box retailers, we have killed Main Street and its corner stores (fostering much working class rage... you get my drift). Your erstwhile Mom and Pop business owners and their descendants now work in an enormous faceless retailer and are unable to control the profits of their local community, which flow to foreign lands like China. It's not Walmart's fault though. They're only supplying what we have demanded: very cheap goods.

We've been sending our money to China since the 17th century, when my people, the Brits, consumed millions of pounds of Chinese tea a year, but we got our money back by selling them Indian opium in a balancing trade. Now, however, they are stock piling our currency.

It's a revolutionary idea: think seriously about your expenditure. Capitalists run this country the way that religious crackpots run Syria or Saudi Arabia, let's show them what we really want.

With every dollar you spend, you're casting a vote for the world you want to live in.