How big of an impact does politics have on your purchases?
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  How big of an impact does politics have on your purchases?
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Poll
Question: How big of an impact does politics have on your purchases?
#1
A good deal
 
#2
Some
 
#3
Almost none
 
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Partisan results

Total Voters: 54

Author Topic: How big of an impact does politics have on your purchases?  (Read 2048 times)
Mr. Illini
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« on: July 18, 2014, 01:22:10 AM »

How much does a company's political activity and personal policy have on your purchases?

For me it is a good deal. This is especially true for a company's environmental policies. I tend to seek out companies that are friendly to the environment and especially that are 1% For The Planet pledges. Politics plays a large role in my life and I don't see why I would consistently give my money to a company that advocates against my preferred policies when I could be giving it to one that will help my side for a near identical product.

Brands that I recommend for the progressives:

New Belgium Brewery
Patagonia
Ben & Jerry's
Chipotle
Costco
Intel
Kohl's
A lot of others that I just can't think of
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Joe Republic
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« Reply #1 on: July 18, 2014, 01:24:05 AM »

None.
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H. Ross Peron
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« Reply #2 on: July 18, 2014, 01:35:07 AM »

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ElectionsGuy
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« Reply #3 on: July 18, 2014, 01:55:19 AM »

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dead0man
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« Reply #4 on: July 18, 2014, 02:29:29 AM »

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H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY
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« Reply #5 on: July 18, 2014, 02:37:55 AM »

Some - I don't buy from Wal-Mart or Target, but otherwise I don't really care enough to not buy things. I feel like I should, though.
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AkSaber
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« Reply #6 on: July 18, 2014, 02:49:28 AM »

Only if they torture their animals.
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Cranberry
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« Reply #7 on: July 18, 2014, 02:55:50 AM »

Well, I do look if the stuff I buy is biological or not (where possible), and I usually take the biological one then. It's comparably easy to find such stuff in Austria, as there are tens of thousands stickers, and green dots, and "AMA-Gütesiegel" and whatever on the food that you can't miss it. But I guess everyone in Austria does pick that one then, and food without at least one green dot or whatever has become relatively seldom. I do boycott Nestlé though, mainly because of their child labor policies in Côte d'Ivoire and their palm oil farms in Indonesia (they threaten the survival of the last Orang Utans). I guess that's a bit hypocritical, as other companies may be no better, but I know it of Nestle, so I don't buy stuff where it's obvious that the cocoa is from Nestlé (Nestle chocolate, kit-Kat....)
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TDAS04
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« Reply #8 on: July 18, 2014, 03:18:12 AM »

Very little.  Maybe a tiny bit. 
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Knives
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« Reply #9 on: July 18, 2014, 03:37:17 AM »

I don't buy caged eggs. But I'm a hypocrite because I happily eat KFC.
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Mr. Illini
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« Reply #10 on: July 18, 2014, 10:48:06 AM »

I don't buy caged eggs. But I'm a hypocrite because I happily eat KFC.

This is not recommended, and that goes beyond their policies. Stuff is nasty.
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Gass3268
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« Reply #11 on: July 18, 2014, 11:11:10 AM »

I've never stepped foot into a Wal-Mart and I never will.

(Yes I know Target's labor policies are just about as bad, but they 100% the devil like Wal-Mart is)

I also won't buy any Koch products or companies that are big financial supporters of Scott Walker (Except Johnsonville because they are the only company that sells Bratwursts out here in Maryland and I need my Brats!!!).
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IceSpear
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« Reply #12 on: July 18, 2014, 03:15:59 PM »

Not a lot, but I try to avoid Wal-Mart whenever possible.
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Indy Texas
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« Reply #13 on: July 18, 2014, 07:07:29 PM »


A business's chief aim from its own standpoint is to maximize its value for the owners/shareholders. My aim as a consumer is to maximize the value I get from the economic transactions I engage in. If I'm buying a particular good or service, I'm going to buy it from the firm that allows me to best meet that objective.

Do I agree with Chick Fil A's LGBT views? No. But I don't go there for socio-political commentary. I go there for chicken.

I generally avoid Wal-Mart. Not because I disapprove of the way they treat their employees (which I do), but because their low prices are outweighed by the inconvenient and unpleasant experience of shopping in their stores (which may be in part due to said mistreatment of employees).

How much does a company's political activity and personal policy have on your purchases?

For me it is a good deal. This is especially true for a company's environmental policies. I tend to seek out companies that are friendly to the environment and especially that are 1% For The Planet pledges. Politics plays a large role in my life and I don't see why I would consistently give my money to a company that advocates against my preferred policies when I could be giving it to one that will help my side for a near identical product.

Brands that I recommend for the progressives:

New Belgium Brewery
Patagonia
Ben & Jerry's
Chipotle
Costco
Intel
Kohl's
A lot of others that I just can't think of

Do you own any Apple products? Congratulations. You must support Chinese slave labor. Give yourself a pat on the back. Do you own any Samsung products? Congratulations. You must support Chinese slave labor. Give yourself a pat on the back.
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Filuwaúrdjan
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« Reply #14 on: July 18, 2014, 07:14:20 PM »

Towards the end of the 19th century a well-meaning Anglican organisation decided that it would be a good idea to compile a 'white list' of products made without the use of sweated labour. The project was abandoned after it became clear that such a list would be very short indeed.
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RI
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« Reply #15 on: July 18, 2014, 07:15:48 PM »

Virtually none at all. I used to avoid Wal-Mart (though mostly because their products are so inferior), but that's not feasible anymore.
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RogueBeaver
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« Reply #16 on: July 18, 2014, 07:26:26 PM »

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Goldwater
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« Reply #17 on: July 18, 2014, 08:14:02 PM »

None. (normal)
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TNF
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« Reply #18 on: July 18, 2014, 08:22:37 PM »

Depends. If a product that I used regularly or a store I shopped at was being struck or there was a call by a union for a boycott of their products, I obviously would not patronize them. Otherwise, politics have a very minimal impact on my purchases.
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Mechaman
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« Reply #19 on: July 19, 2014, 08:41:34 AM »


A business's chief aim from its own standpoint is to maximize its value for the owners/shareholders. My aim as a consumer is to maximize the value I get from the economic transactions I engage in. If I'm buying a particular good or service, I'm going to buy it from the firm that allows me to best meet that objective.

Do I agree with Chick Fil A's LGBT views? No. But I don't go there for socio-political commentary. I go there for chicken.

I generally avoid Wal-Mart. Not because I disapprove of the way they treat their employees (which I do), but because their low prices are outweighed by the inconvenient and unpleasant experience of shopping in their stores (which may be in part due to said mistreatment of employees).

How much does a company's political activity and personal policy have on your purchases?

For me it is a good deal. This is especially true for a company's environmental policies. I tend to seek out companies that are friendly to the environment and especially that are 1% For The Planet pledges. Politics plays a large role in my life and I don't see why I would consistently give my money to a company that advocates against my preferred policies when I could be giving it to one that will help my side for a near identical product.

Brands that I recommend for the progressives:

New Belgium Brewery
Patagonia
Ben & Jerry's
Chipotle
Costco
Intel
Kohl's
A lot of others that I just can't think of

Do you own any Apple products? Congratulations. You must support Chinese slave labor. Give yourself a pat on the back. Do you own any Samsung products? Congratulations. You must support Chinese slave labor. Give yourself a pat on the back.

Yes I believe the point of this thread is that Wal-Mart is a pretty unpleasant place to shop.  I mean, almost every cashier I've had at a Wal-Mart have been very unpleasant.  Of course, management probably treats them like sh*t and pays them minimum wage when a few years ago they were making $8.40/hr, so I shouldn't really be surprised.  That is probably the only reason why I don't march to the back and demand that action be taken against these people, because I know that they are being taken over the coals and shat on by people higher up who really don't give a sh*t.
(I'm also a former employee of Wal-Mart, so I'm not exactly talking out of my ass here)

I will comment though that I find it hilarious that Illini "recommends" Kohls.  I also worked at Kohls before and they gave the sh*ttiest breaks in the history of eight hour work days.  Night managers really enjoyed walking by your area every five f***ing minutes and yelling at you for daring to be standing up for a second without a box or an item in your hand about to be stocked.  We got fifteen minute breaks for evening shifts and were given a stiff talking to if we happened to be in the breakroom two minutes over (they supposedly had a deal with the Subway next door to give us discounts.  However, it took like five minutes to walk from the back docks to the Subway store, another five to order the sandwich, and by the time we got back the break was over.  So seriously, what was even the f***in point of the break in the first place?).  Maybe it's different in other places, but the one I worked at was the second worst job I ever had (the worst was Carl's Jr., which really says a lot that Kohl's is second).  Not to mention, the company promotes debt slavery through their "Kohl's Credit Card", which management and the sales people worship worship like they are a deluded cult.  Kohl's is a religion, and their credit card is their god.  They don't really care about selling shirts and sh*t, they just care about getting as many poor suckers onto their credit card scheme as possible in the hopes that 10% of those poor fools forget to pay their tabs on time and pay them outrageous extortion fees interest rates.

Seriously, the only "liberal" thing about Kohl's seems to be their focus on "green" energy.  Other than that, they are just a nicer looking Target.
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dead0man
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« Reply #20 on: July 19, 2014, 08:50:03 AM »

Indeed, I avoid Wal Mart but not because of any political reasons.  No, I avoid them because the customers and the employees almost universally suck.  Well, that's not fair, I'm sure the majority are fine, and the assholes just shine brighter, but they certainly have a higher percentage of asshole to non-asshole of any shopping experience I can remember having.

Which sucks because some of their prices are unbeatable on things I/we consume a lot of or in the case of Lay's Flamin' Hot Chips it's the only place in town that sells them (that is convenient and/or isn't way overpriced).  Thankfully the wife goes about once a month and stocks up.
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Adam Griffin
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« Reply #21 on: July 19, 2014, 08:50:36 AM »

Only when it comes to local shopping. I know of all of the big Democratic and Republican donors at the local, state and national level who live in my county; I refuse to give my money to any Republican activist/donor restaurants and shops.
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Mechaman
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« Reply #22 on: July 19, 2014, 08:56:57 AM »
« Edited: July 19, 2014, 08:59:18 AM by Mechaman »

I guess as for politics, almost no impact.

I don't eat at Chic-fil-a because I think their chicken is the most overrated nastiest chicken in the history of chicken, not because I oppose the religious views of the owner.  Also, it is harder than sh*t to eat there since a bunch of the nutjobs started eating there religiously because MUH RELIGIOUS FREEDOM! so even if I did like the chicken there's no way in hell I'd eat there now because I'd have to park half a mile away just to eat there and wait fifteen minutes to order.

I don't shop at Wal-Mart (or at least I don't try to) because it's actually really inconvenient to drive to any of the local Wal-Marts in my area and when I do get there the fruits and vegetables are usually deader than the Dodo Bird, their bakery bread sucks, Great Values soda tastes like ammonia, if you get a pair of jeans from there it has about a 75% chance of having a broken zipper, if you do get one with a workable zipper it will last six months before ripping a hole around your crotch, the furniture you can buy is apparently made out of paper mache, the idiot cashiers overcharge the sh*t out of you for the sh*t produce (true story, I got beets at Whole Foods for a third of the price the morons charge you at Wal-Mart) you can get from the place, and Electronics needs more stuff!
The politics, as bad as it is, comes in a distant second compared to the quality issues I've experienced at Wal-Mart.  THough like Indy says, those are prob related.

So yes, I think I would say that in general out of the places that I have shopped at before but avoid like the plague, politics is really not important.  Those places having the worst customer service and product quality in the world, however, kind of is.
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Vega
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« Reply #23 on: July 19, 2014, 09:07:40 AM »

Somewhat. There have been times I bought something somewhere and knew of the company's questionable politics. I felt guilty.
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Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck
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« Reply #24 on: July 19, 2014, 07:25:25 PM »

Some.  I do not buy from Wal-Mart, and have throughout my adult life advocated (to some success) others steal their wares. 

The other companies that I have personally boycotted have stemmed from whatever I perceive to be anti-gay sentiment.  (Chick-Fil-A, that pasta sauce company)  And not that I've gone there more than a couple times, but Mr. Papa John does not receive any of my money, considering he's a classist ****wad who ***** all over his part-timers. 
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