7 Ways To Reduce Corporate Influence In Our Lives

7 Ways To Reduce Corporate Influence In Our Lives:

'via Blog this'

You can’t deny that corporations, though not all bad, have taken control of our jobs, our economy, our government, and our environment. But what’s more, they now appear as trying to tell us how to:

•educate our children
•entertain ourselves
•look and feel good about ourselves
•conduct our relationships
•communicate
•spend our spare time
•coexist
•create music and the arts

...we can begin opposing corporate products and influence in our lives by choosing:

{Not to eat at corporate restaurants}
Instead we can…
-Stay home.
-Learn to cook frugal and nourishing meals.
-And when we do go out for a treat, we can choose to support the local ma and pop joint.

{Not to buy corporate coffee}
Instead we can…
-Find a small company that sells fair-trade, directly from sustainable farmers coffee and buy from them.
-Set the timer on the coffee pot while we’re getting ready for work and make your own at home.
-Stop drinking coffee altogether (yeah…okay that’s a stretch).
-Look for the the little local coffee shop and go there if we have to have a hit.

{Not to buy new clothing made by a corporation} 
Instead we can…
-Simply live with less. I ask myself all the time, “Why do I need 6 pairs of jeans, 20+ pairs of shoes, God only knows how many shirts, and 4 different jackets?” At some point I felt proud to own all this stuff, now I see it as a burden.
-Exclusively shop consignment for the whole family.
-Learn to create, hem, repair, and re-purpose our own clothing.
-Retrain our minds…buying that new, super cute dress will not bring me happiness!

{Not to have logos on everything we own} 
Instead we can…
-Learn to produce/create for our own needs.
-Shop Etsy. I love supporting independent entrepreneurs. Etsy is my go-to online shop. Whenever I’m looking for something, I go to Etsy first.

{To stop watching corporate entertainment} 
Instead we can…
-Make your own!

{To engage in non-corporate vacations} 
Instead we can…
-Retreat to nature. There, God has given us all that we need.
-Stop thinking that our children must be entertained. Have you ever just let them loose in the forest? Have you ever let them dig in the dirt without fear of getting dirty? Children are inquisitive. In a lot of ways, I feel like we have deprived them by giving them everything.

{To find non-corporate ways to celebrate Christmas}
Instead we can…
-Institute a Homemade Christmas.
-Remember the joy we celebrate.
-Choose to make a memory this Christmas and not give a gift.

For too long we as a society have believed a lie, that money and stuff equal power. I say that true power is found in our ability to produce. It requires intentional living. It may even require sacrifice.