I Vote With My Feet

Wiggle your Big Toe

Back when I was young, I was a big fan of Sears.  I liked Craftsman tools, I bought my appliances there, home products... I spent a lot of money at Sears.  I even had a Sears credit card.  

I was doing OK back then, even had an excellent (844) credit score.  Despite my best efforts, I was a week late on a $10 payment one month.  My good friends at Sears decided that was reason to ding my credit.  

OK... fine... but because of their decision, I paid off my account and haven't stepped foot in a Sears store in over 40 years.  I voted with my feet.  I'm sure Sears didn't notice.

Corporations today are far more ruthless.  We've seen Wells Fargo openly defrauding customers just this week.  Should their customers continue to trust Wells Fargo?  Um... FUCK NO!  They should vote with their feet... and find a different bank... perhaps one that doesn't use fraud as their business model.  I recommend looking into employee-owned credit unions over big banks if possible.  And let's be frank here... banks are doing a lot more than defrauding their customers.

I wrote about the use of attack dogs at the NDPL recently.  Private corporate security unleashed dogs on citizens to protect a corporate-owned pipeline.  Wells Fargo, Bank of America and others fund the pipeline (and the dog attacks).  I don't support banks who fund corporations that do this to citizens.  So, for me, this is another opportunity to vote with my feet. 

Now, I'm sure I don't have any reason to suggest or suspect that my choice to vote with my feet, as an individual, is going to bring down a huge corporation (the subsequent huge decline in Sears sales notwithstanding)... but this election has woken up a large block of people who are fed up with corporations and their deceitful actions.  And if they ALL vote with their feet, there is going to be hell to pay!

This election, voters are voting with their feet!  There is no question - many Republicans left the Republican party... even former Republican Presidents... and Demexit was the official title of the Democrat party exodus.  Voters don't want what they're being offered.  Even loyal customers are turned off by this election.

The key to voting with our feet is organizing... and this is what the corporations are showing us they are intent to prevent.  The media is, of course, involved and we've seen how Google has started influencing politics around the world simply by rigging its search priorities.

So how do other large blocks of voters organize?  One attempt has been under the flag of Our Revolution - run by former Sander's campaign manager Jeff Weaver.  Another has been Wolf Pac - supported by The Young Turks.  The problem with both of these is that nobody is quite sure if the direction they are going is the same direction our feet are taking us in November.  We're voting with our feet... 

Between now and November, voters need to decide which way their feet will take them.  Are they fed up with corporations buying politicians?  Are they fed up with corporations running prisons?  Running our elections?  Are they fed up with racism and Islamophobia?  Of the murder of people of color by police?  Are they fed up with student loan debt?  Denial of health care?  Denial of a decent living wage?  What are voters fed up with?  Where are our feet taking us?

For me, the answer is not going to be found within the two-party system.  And the current "organizers" I mentioned above seem to want to bring change from within that system.  My feet are skeptical... and they can't wait to run from both Democrat and Republican parties... (Sorry Jeff and Cenk).

I guess we will have to see how this plays out... but for the moment, I'm leaning toward third-party candidates.  I'm leaning away from incumbents.  I've come out of my coma... I've wiggled my big toe... and I'm ready to VOTE WITH MY FEET!  Who's with me?