Boycotts are fucking bullshit

Sorry, but thinking of a creative and witty post title is enough to make me slit my wrists.

Anyway folks, I’ve got a new home. After two weeks traveling all over the god damn country, I’ve finally settled here in DC. [Insert West Wing theme music here] And so far so good. I’ve already noticed two things DC has that Boston does not: Black women and Happy Hour. What more could I possibly ask for?

Anyway, while preparing for my move into my new apartment, I did what any cheap, lazy American would do. I arranged a trip to Wal-Mart. I told a lady friend of mine my intentions. The conversation went as follows.

Me- “I’m heading to Wal-Mart”
Friend- “I’m boycotting Wal-Mart.”
Me- “Why?”
Friend- “Because they don’t promote women.
Me- “Oh okay… wait wha??”

Now, personally, I hate the Wal-Mart. They don’t have aisles and the staff is always unfamiliar with the store. But, when a superstore opens, there’s no question… you’ve gotta go. Anyway, I was more thrown by my friend’s haphazard use of “The Boycott.” I don’t like modern boycotts and I especially hate when they are internalized. (What’s worse is that my friend lives in Boston where there are no Wal-Mart’s, making it presumably easier to boycott them. It’s like me, a Jersey-boy boycotting trips to Mount Rushmore.)

Gone are the days of well-organized, well-planned, well-oiled fights against evildoers. Boycotts today can occur right in my own home. --Jeez, that conservative chick on The View really burns me up. That’s it! I’ve boycotted The View!-- It’s that easy. The era of righteous boycotts has long passed.

What do the people who choose to participate in these desperate acts of attention hope to accomplish? I think I’ve answered my own question. Wal-Mart doesn’t care if your sorry ass doesn’t shop there. They’ll sell that 25-dollar DVD player to some other chump. I don’t even have a problem with your refusal to patronize Wal-Mart (well maybe I do) but why oh why are you calling it a boycott? A boycott’s chief mission is to compel change from the party to which you are boycotting. How can they change if they don’t know you exist, you idiot?!

The reason this upsets me is because it’s part of a wider problem that exists in America. Americans love to complain. This includes myself. I am after all from New Jersey. (Yes, that’s my 2nd Jersey reference. In reading up on Sonney’s last few posts, I noticed that he’s tried to make this a Philly thang. Nice try Nukka!) Anyway, I don’t even think people know why the fuck they complain about half the things they complain about.

Let’s use my friend as an example. Was I really convinced that she cared about Wal-Mart women? No. If she ‘boycotted’ every organization that treated women unfairly, she would be out of school, out of work, out of money and out of clothes. Her argument was based on the fact that she wanted to feel morally superior. She wanted to be able to say that she is taking a stand. And bravo! Nice try. But what about participating in the broader fight. Has she called her congressman to complain about inequality in the workplace? No. Has she written an editorial in her local paper? No. Does she proselytize to her friends and family at every given chance? HELL NO! She sits on her ass and does nothing.

My friend is part of a growing breed of ignoramuses: celebrities who Rock the Vote knowing nothing about the candidates and ignorant apostles who wear ‘Support the Troops’ stickers while being unable to locate Baghdad on a map. It’s laziness. There is no longer a sense of sacrifice or a desire to be truly educated about anything.

~Young Lucky