Do the right thing
Imagine the kind of world we would have if people, you and me included, were truly dedicated to just doing the right thing, in every circumstance, to the best of our ability.
This is ... hard. We're human and have to make decisions in incredibly complex situations. First of all is our emotions. When you're hurt or angry, your judgement about what's "right" can be so skewed from your baseline.
Second is our personal life circumstances. We live in a world where you need money, generally a job, in order to eat and have a home and support your family (if you have one). Sometimes doing the right thing is at odds with that.
Doing the right thing can be small or huge. An ICE officer quitting instead of becoming a Nazi - that's big shit. A car salesperson refusing to be pushy, refusing to disrespect somebody's boundaries - that's little. But they're both incredibly important.
We live in a world where "I'm just doing my job" is seen as a valid excuse. But it's not. It shouldn't be your job. Don't do the bad thing. Don't sign up to do the bad things. And when your personal ethical lines are crossed, stand up for what's right.
But then you risk going hungry.
And it's often hard to know what the right thing is. The world is complicated. It is vast. Do you know if this product was made with slave labor? Do you know if animal cruelty was involved? Do you know the climate impact? Is there a viable alternative?
So it's not simple. It's not easy.
But imagine what kind of world we would live in, if engineers refused to design products that can't be repaired, if truck drivers refused to deliver an endless supply of plastic trash to retail stores, if homeowners refused to mow and rake their lawns excessively or nobody were willing to take a job spraying poisonous chemicals on yards, if lawyers refused to prosecute non-violent drug offenses, and so on.
We look to our elected leaders and owners of businesses to do better, to set better policy, to do the right thing.
Yet we refuse to do the right thing. We take the plastic bags, we give Amazon money, we work the countless jobs that are destroying our climate, and we pretend it's somebody else's problem to solve it.
I'm not suggesting you or I be perfect. I'm suggesting we make a real effort. I'm suggesting we always consider refusing to do the wrong thing. I'm suggesting we stop giving cop-outs like "it's my job" or "what difference do my actions make?" or "there is no ethical consumption under capitalism." I'm also suggesting we just consume less, because much if it is harmful, and much of it is unnecessary.
Imagine the kind of world we would live in, if we all just did the right thing.