I have a shelf of books from blogs that I’ve already read and know the information is free online. I have a another shelf of books that I’ll likely never get to anytime soon if ever. Another shelf that has things that I likely already know and for the most part “mastered” but I believe in what the author is doing so snatched it up anyways. Just like I try to eat at local businesses when I can.
But why do I do this? And why am I recommending that you should? Well the first thing is that if you want to see more of things you like in this world then support it. If you like a certain kind of art then buy it or support the person who creates art like it. If you like a certain place because of it’s friendliness, choice of service/product, or whatever then support it. In many ways where you place your cash is sort of like giving a vote for that thing you’re giving your support to.
But unlike a vote it actually makes a difference (not to say the money system isn’t rigged but that’s a whole other topic). So many people complain that’s there’s not more of X but then do nothing to support or encourage X. It could be there’s not more “Christian focused “red pill” masculinity sites” but then don’t buy anything from or support the one’s that exist. Or there’s so few people doing good wrestling breakdowns on YouTube but then not supporting someone like DPS Breakdowns and so on and so forth.
Why Boycotting Doesn’t Work
Or people do this for the wrong reasons. For example buying something to spite something else. For example a giant corporation like Starbucks (which conservatives assure us just by being a huge corporation does uncountable good) could essentially fund terrorism and they’d still make plenty of money because they have convenient coffee. That’s just a fact. And this works both ways.
For example when the Christian owner of Chick-fil-a said that he didn’t approve of gay marriage and they tried to railroad it for him all it did was send sales of Chick-fil-a skyrocketing. Or when someone tries to boycott a Hollywood movie as if their boycott is going to do anything. It just doesn’t work. People will spend money on what is convenient and what is in front of them and why it’s all well and good to prevent your dollar from going somewhere ultimately (like your vote) it’s not going to matter.
So many people spend their time wrapped up in boycotting things but at the same time don’t spend nearly the time in supporting the things that they care about and feel for. It doesn’t make any sense. By providing support to a content creator or small business or whoever you can actually make a difference in their life and in their ideas. By boycotting something you don’t like, you probably weren’t the target demographic anyways so it doesn’t matter. Yet people will get involved in boycotts without supporting the things they care about.
Support The Change You Want To See In The World
We all have diverse skills. Some of us are great orators and others great painters. Some of us might be preachers, or website designers, or content creators, or a million other things. No one person can do it all (even though I am in favor of being well rounded). And because of this it pays to support those that help you and the things that you believe in. None of us can do it all and we all have unique things that we enjoy and like.
I’ve bought every Robert E. Howard story despite him being dead for almost a century and even though most are available through free services. I’ve bought collections of Frazetta’s work even though all can be viewed online. I’ve bought many books that were available for free if I find value for them just to support the creator. I’ve bought DVDs that were free on YouTube if I enjoyed them as well.
My point with all of this is that if you truly value the things that you value then you should support them. Actions speak louder than words. Visit that small business, jump on that artist’s patreon, buy that blogger’s book (wink wink), but in all seriousness it makes a difference. Not just to yourself and the person you buy from but also to the world as a whole. It gives an idea more capital and more spread (as can sharing it). Support the things you care about and watch more of those things blossom.
