The Quiet Satisfaction of a Consumer Boycott
I joined NYA’s boycott of companies that support ICE and Donald Trump for the obvious reasons: principle, protest, and conscience. What I didn’t expect was a small but surprisingly powerful side benefit—joy.
It turns out that even minor consumer choices can deliver a three-part hit of satisfaction. Take something as mundane as bird food for my two parakeets. I used to order it automatically from Amazon. Now I just changed to Chewy instead. The product is the same, and the cost is actually a bit less. The birds are just as happy. But the experience feels entirely different.
First, there’s the simple pleasure of not giving Amazon my money. When a company aligns itself with policies and politicians that undermine democracy and human rights, leaving them just feels right.
Second, there’s the upside of directing that money somewhere else. Chewy gets the business. A different corporate culture gets reinforced. Even if the alternative company isn’t perfect, the act of choosing breaks the sense of inevitability that giant platforms like Amazon depend on.
And third—most unexpectedly—there’s an emotional payoff. A quiet, personal sense of pushback against an administration and a political movement that often feels overwhelming and untouchable. I’m under no illusion that switching bird food vendors will change national policy. But it changes me. It replaces frustration with action, cynicism with intention.
Try it yourself, you may be surprised at how much better you will feel.
Phil Baker