Opinion: Ethical consumption is a notion worth striving for

 I often read the buzzword phrase on the internet that there’s “no ethical consumption under capitalism.”

The idea, at least how I interpret it, is that it is difficult to fully support social causes because many corporations that we rely on for goods and services have unethical practices. Nestle has a host of consumer products that are so synonymous with American life that it’s hard to avoid. But if you do some research, you’ll find child labor allegations at overseas cocoa farms lurking beneath. While a lawsuit against Nestle and others related to the accusations was dismissed in 2022, the allegations still are worthy of reflection. The extent of the company’s holdings – from bottles of water and coffee to pet care products and frozen food – make it difficult to boycott, if that’s your aim.

But if you’re determined to ethically consume based on your value system, it’s doable. The internet is a vast wealth of knowledge with information on company practices.

The practice of voting with your wallet becomes easier the more narrow the scope.

Chicken sandwiches are easy for me to avoid at Chick-fil-A, for example, when its top-level executive has blatantly opposed same-sex marriage. Equality is worth more to me than a sandwich, and there’s a bunch of places in Springfield to get chicken.

That brings me to “Harry Potter,” a multibillion-dollar-brand that’s had its share of controversy.

The media franchise started with seven books that I, like many others, absolutely adored as a child. I went to bookstore premieres and would avoid perusing the internet for fear of spoilers as I binged the books as they released. I even listened to the audiobooks on trips during my early 20s.

All this to say, it would take a lot to make me turn away from the franchise. Unfortunately, author J.K. Rowling has given me all the reasons I need to never go back to the books and to certainly not consume any new media in the “Harry Potter” universe.

In recent years, she’s come under fire again and again for her views as a trans-exclusionary radical feminist. TERFs, according to a definition in an article by Vox, spout theories that trans women are really men and that trans women can be a threat to cisgender women’s safety.

Her comments on blogs and Twitter have been criticized as transphobic by LGBTQ rights organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign, and actors from her films have responded with support for transgender people.

Across the United States, the rights of the those who are transgender are being taken away via legislation.

Transgender adults have been bracing for treatment cutoffs in Missouri after Attorney General Andrew Bailey moved to impose a number of restrictions on hormone therapies, and the Missouri House has approved a bill that would ban transgender athletes in women’s sports.

Violence against the transgender community is a sad reality, as evidenced by the killings of trans people tracked by the Human Rights Campaign, at least 304 deaths since 2013.

All this to say, there’s so much harmful rhetoric toward transgender people that boycotting a washed-up, bigoted children’s author feels like the least I could do for trans people and their allies.

Rowling continues to benefit from the famous franchise she created, with video games such as Hogwarts Legacy paying her royalties. And according to media reports, she’s also an executive producer in an upcoming HBO television series based on the books.

In this case, if you’re someone who cares about transgender rights or that of the greater LGBTQ+ spectrum, ethical consumption is pretty straightforward: Don’t buy the video game and don’t watch the TV series. Because new media in the “Harry Potter” universe keeps being made, Rowling must feel validated. People continue to buy in to the franchise, and therefore her soapbox grows stronger.

This concept will be viewed by some as woke pandering, but my intent isn’t that. If we don’t use our shared privilege to help marginalized groups, then how can we look ourselves in the mirror at the end of the day?

Money, too, is a privilege. The use of money supports the practices of companies that you buy from, so it’s important that those practices line up with your own beliefs.

Ethical consumption may be difficult to achieve, but I believe it is a worthwhile endeavor.

Multiple research reports indicate that kind of thoughtfulness in purchasing is happening. A Harris Poll research report commissioned by Google Cloud that was released last year found “82% of shoppers prefer a consumer brand’s values to align with their own, and they’ll vote with their wallet if they don’t feel a match.”

Please help me in supporting that trend. We’re heading down a dangerous path if inclusivity gets put in the backseat.

Springfield Business Journal Digital Editor Geoff Pickle can be reached at gpickle@sbj.net.