When markets rule democracy, every purchase is a vote.
As citizens, we've been taught that our primary influence lies in how we vote every few years, but the forces that truly govern our lives aren't subject to democratic processes. Market logic has crept into every corner of our systems - politics, work life, leisure time, and public spaces. Decisions that should be about what's best for people, communities and the planet are increasingly made based on what's most profitable.
It happened slowly, so slowly it was almost imperceptible. Another health center privatized. A government agency hires a PR firm to "manage its brand." A library closes. A street corner that used to be a meeting place becomes a chain's ninetieth café, a gig worker bikes past, hands frozen to the handlebars. All wrapped in some kind of silent acceptance. This is how we live now. This is how it is. Natural parts of our lives. And amid all this, someone says it gives us freedom of choice. But what does it mean to have a choice when the alternatives slowly disappear?
It has always been difficult to live in line with your values, perhaps especially for those trying to hold onto something other than pure survival logic. There's so much pulling in other directions. Advertisements, algorithms, subsidized prices on what destroys the most, a daily life where time is scarce and the easiest path is to take what's offered.
But perhaps it's right there, in the everyday, where the real question lies. Not in what we choose to consume, but in what we maintain. What we approve of through participation.
And by now we know what we need to do, don't we?
- Who made this, under what conditions, and what does it really contain?
- Do I really need this, or is someone whispering in my ear?
- What am I really supporting with my money?
- Local instead of global.
- Repair instead of dispose.
- Less new, more reused.
- More knowledge about where pension money goes, who I'm supporting with all my choices.
- Less stress, more reflection.
Each choice a whisper, barely heard alone. But many choices add up to something bigger.
It's easy to believe that change will come from the top - through legislation, regulation, innovation. But what if it's already stirring in our smallest choices? In the split second before we act, in the quiet voice of conscience, in every time we choose differently than yesterday.