Sat, 25 Aug 2007
Money meets mouth
Mark Pilgrim wrote a lot a year or so ago about his switching from Mac OS X to GNU/Linux. One small bit says:
if I bought a new Mac, I would be subsidizing the development of an operating system that contains code whose sole purpose is to lock me into a specific hardware platform. I realize that most people don’t look at it that way, but there it is.
This is as good a start as any to the MMM section of asheesh.org. I currently have a full-time job, and in this world, when you fund something, you are voting with your dollars for that thing's continued existence. That's as true for Apple's lock-in technology as it is for AT&T's illegal wiretapping program.
I claim to think that consumer freedom is important, that software freedoms are important, and that the environment is worth saving rather than trashing. In that case, if I'm ethical or at least not a hypocrite, I should put my money where my mouth is.
I read a few years ago about some remarks by some guy at some open source software conference. A young-looking dude wearing a suit and a weird expression and holding his arm asked:
How many people have given to EFF more money than they have given to their local telecom to give them shitty DSL service? See? Four. How many people have given more money to EFF than they give each year to support the monopoly--to support the other side?
(For context, the Electronic Frontier Foundation is a non-profit whose sole focus is legal and lobbying action to protect digital rights.)
For years, I had been thinking in terms of this challenge, but I knew I didn't have the kind of income and spending money where my actions would be substantial. In fact, I was in a tough spot like lots of people with very litle money: You have needs, and then wants, then somewhere hazy after that there's a planet to think of.
Well, now I'm a rich man - I have a job that pays me thousands of dollars every year. Those thousands of dollars get to go somewhere, and I get to pick. (Later on I would learn that this guy Lessig who raised this issue was an interesting guy in other ways.)
When you vote with your dollars that a movie industry that sues its customers should continue existing, or when you vote with your dollars to Microsoft that their illegal tactics are okay, your dollars will turn around and be used (quite literally) to oppress others. I say, not in my name.
As Mark Pilgrim noted: "[M]ost people don’t look at it that way, but there it is." I'm creating this section to make sure there's a record in public that I started down this path so, if I ever want to abandon it, I can see how far I've come.
