This is topic Vote with your holiday dollars in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.


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Posted by Beren One Hand (Member # 3403) on :
 
http://www.buyblue.org/

This site tells you how much a corporation donates to a particular political party. For example, Cox is 69% Republican and 31% Democrat.

Pfizer is 30% Democrat, 70% Republican.

Barnes and Noble is 92% Democrat, 8% Republican.

Amazon is 59% Republican, 41% Democrat.

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On a slight tangent, I would like to get people's reactions to this site's design. It is one of the best Drupal sites I have seen (granted I haven't studied Drupal all that much).

I remember Fugu once said Drupal is the best CMS out there. Whatdayathink of this site Fugu?

[ November 24, 2005, 04:16 AM: Message edited by: Beren One Hand ]
 

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Posted by Architraz Warden (Member # 4285) on :
 
Alright, B&N and Amazon I can see...

But out of curiosity what holiday gifts should I be considering from Pfizer?
 

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Posted by Beren One Hand (Member # 3403) on :
 
In a few decades I'll be using this quite often.
 

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Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :
 
Zoloft, for all your holiday needs.

I'm buying a gift box for each member of my family.

-pH
 

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Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
 
Can you explain to me how buying a the same book -- say the latest Michael Moore thing -- at one book shop over another will cause any political change?

'Cause I don't get it.
 

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Posted by Beren One Hand (Member # 3403) on :
 
I guess the theory is that if you shop at a store that contributes heavily to Republican campaigns, then you are indirectly funding the Republican agenda.

So if you are a Republican and you have the equal choice between shopping at Costco (1% R) or Wal-Mart (78% R), you would shop at Wal-Mart.

From the website:

quote:

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The simplest and perhaps most important thing you can do is to use this information to change your shopping habits. We like to call this "voting with your wallet" because you are using the power of your shopping dollar to reward the values you believe in. You can take this a step further by making sure you let the companies you do business with know why you have started doing business with them or have continued to support them. Our web site allows you to send an email to many companies if we have an address on file but you can also call or write using the numbers and addresses we have in the company profile, or you can tell the store managers.

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quote:

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Barnes and Noble is 92% Democrat, 8% Republican.

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quote:

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like, uh, Aryan Nation Lattes and Muffins

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Posted by Speed (Member # 5162) on :
 
Seeing donations to parties doesn't do that much for me. If I could see donations to specific candidates, or maybe more specialized organizations like the Log Cabin Republicans or even the Libertarian or Green parties it might give me something to think about. But knowing that B&N tossed some of its pocket change into the yawning chasm of the Democratic machine doesn't help an awful lot.
 

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Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
 
*points up to Tante's post*

Yeah, what she said.

Consider this - say I'm a contributor to a political party and I shop at Bob's discount over Jim's Pricey Mart, so I can save money. Now, say Bob's gives to the opposite cause I do and Jim's does give to my cause.

Am I better off shopping at Jim's, knowing that if I do so, I'll have less money to donate to my cause of choice? Or, is my direct donation more impactful than the tiny percentage of business I would represent to Jim's so they can then pass it along in their donations? I think it's better for me to shop where I get good prices and good service and support causes with my wallet - directly, not indirectly - and even more imporantly, by volunteering my time.
 

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Posted by imogen (Member # 5485) on :
 
While I see the logic of Belle & Tante Shvester's posts, the rabid left-wing side of me means that I am going to have issues buying from Amazon again.

And I really liked Amazon.

(Yep, I'm serious.)
 

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Posted by imogen (Member # 5485) on :
 
But then, I boycotted Nestle for years (still do, kinda).
 

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Posted by Shan (Member # 4550) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Beren One Hand:
On a slight tangent, I would like to get people's reactions to this site's design. It is one of the best Drupal sites I have seen (granted I haven't studied Drupal all that much).

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OWWWW! Too blue! Too blue. It hurts my tender eyes . . .
 

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Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
 

quote:

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the rabid left-wing side of me means that I am going to have issues buying from Amazon again.

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It's only 59 vs 41 and if you start drawing corporate shopping lines you're going to split the country even further. It'd go from you not shopping there to you telling a friend, to them not shopping there, to a whole group, to the whole country not shopping in particular places.

"Oh, democrats never shop there."

I'm just sayin'.
 

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Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
 
They should have used the sans font for the search/email updates stuff in the upper right.

The Find link takes one to what amounts to a help document. Bleh. Links to the A-Z directory, Categorized directory, and Ranked directory should front and center, where the Find link is now (and verb-ized, of course). Plus, I'd like to see a current top ten list or such front and center.

There are other design quibbles, but those are some big ones. Some nice uses of drupal, and the look isn't too bad, but the site itself is badly laid out.
 

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Posted by Tstorm (Member # 1871) on :
 
I'm not familiar with drupal, but I was not impressed with the layout, either.
 

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Posted by Beren One Hand (Member # 3403) on :
 
Thanks for the input Shan, fugu, Tstorm.

The blue does feel a bit monolithic, and it reminds users too much of the drupal homepage.

The layout could definitely use some improvement. I get the feeling that they're almost hiding their most compelling content in tiny little links.

But the community building aspects are pretty cool. Now if only we can get Drupal to develop a competitive forum node, I'll be ready to switch over.

As for the political aspect of the site, I agree with most of you that it might be more cost efficient to save your money by shopping at the cheapest place and then donate that money to the cause of your choice.

However, if a books cost the same as Amazon and BN, you can add the information provided by this website into your decision making process.

Moreover, buyblue.org encourages users to contact the corporations directly regarding their political contributions, which should also make a small difference.

Members on Buyblue.org also post articles evaluating each corporation's labor treatment and environmental records. For example, these articles may convince people that shopping at Costco is much better than shopping at Sam's Club.
 

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Posted by Theaca (Member # 8325) on :
 
"While I see the logic of Belle & Tante Shvester's posts, the rabid left-wing side of me means that I am going to have issues buying from Amazon again."

C'mon, you can't be serious. 59% vs. 41%? And you don't even live in America. *applies rabid shot* There you go.
 

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Posted by imogen (Member # 5485) on :
 
Thanks Theaca!

Mmm, non-rabidness.



{As for not living in America - that makes it worse! I can't even vote to straighten it out! Aaaaah! }
 

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Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
 
imogen, imagine my dismay. I live here, I vote, I contribute, and I couldn't straighten it out. Believe me, it is frustrating to have leaders for whom you hold disdain representing you.

I honestly believe that where I bought my copy of "Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell" did nothing to affect the outcome of the election.
 

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