Think with an open mind

I have been receiving too many forwards of late asking us to boycott products from a certain country or from some manufacturing giants. I prefer to keep it general and let's just dwell on the concept of boycotting.




I dunno. I am not convinced we will win by going this route. Why do I say that?

Firstly, it can only work if everyone did it. It is a guarantee that not everyone will do it in tandem!!

Secondly, if we were boycotting products from some giants, the mere fact that we regarded them as giants, this itself will give us clues that these giants will not take such actions (boycott I mean) lying down. Surely they are smarter or else they were not giants in the first place. You see, they can divert manufacturing plants to elsewhere. Boy! They do have the means. So instead of saying made in somewhere, then they can label the same products as made in elsewhere. They'd change the name too and we didnt know about it and we merrily bought these products while boycotting some others..makes me look silly really.

Thirdly, we go happily boycotting say something like McD (just serving as an example of a service related giant). What good is that? Don't we realise, that all the workers are locals? These workers need their jobs for livelihood. You boycott, and they lose their jobs. Dont we realise some of the products are produced locally as well, thus giving livelihood to the other local folks too. What about the franchise owner? He/she is a local too!

Fourthly, if we were to boycott products from one particular country or a particular manufacturing giant, boy! are you sure you got it right? When the country or the manufacturer is huge, don't you think it could almost be about everything that we should boycott? How do we know a local manufacturing plant did not buy some parts to manufacture their products from that country or from somewhere related to the intended giant manufacturer (we wish to boycott?) eh? Should we then boycott that local produce of ours?

I mean these are the things that are going on in my head when I received all these mails and news about boycotting. I think if I went this route, I will only be hampered with paralysis. Every shopping trip I make I will be seriously stressed out with all the 'was-was' (harassed with uncertainty) as to what should be boycotted and what should not, there will be no space in my head to think of more dynamic issues, (such as which funny movie I need to see this week to unwind?). At worse, I will find myself faced with the scenario of a huge lack of choice. Boy! That is so depressing and defeating, indeed. We merely make our life less dynamic and more difficult, therefore just adding undue stress.

Believe me the intended leader will not be un-seated by our acts of boycott. I bet he's a bit beyond this!

Think, what would happen if the country we boycotted turned around and reciprocated and boycott us too? We being small, I think our economy will suffer. Two can play the game.

We must look at issues in a more global and dynamic way. It is imperative that we think with an open mind. We must find solutions that at the same time allow us to move forward better and most importantly, allow us to think better too.

But hey, this is my personal take on this issue. There are many ways to look at it within your own context.


mcdonalds.hu