Writer’s Block from July 24, 2010:

Have you ever boycotted a company or product? If so, what was it, and what caused you to boycott it?

Yes. I boycott Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club.

I initially started boycotting Wal-Mart for personal reasons: the one in Greenville, NC, did me a dirty turn that cost $150 — at a time an unexpected expense of that amount could destroy my monthly budget — and left me with a criminal record. It also hurt some friends and family with deceptive pay and benefits practices, and used its economic power to intentionally close down a long-standing community store and force the City of Greenville to change a perfectly constitutional ordinance…simply because they didn’t want any competition or limits.

It’s been a long time since then, but the more I learn about the company, the less I want to patronize it. From their sweatshop-labor products to their intentional attempts to disenfranchise their employees, and everything in between, I find the chain disgusting. That most of the stuff they sell is cheap junk doesn’t help matters.

I’m not naïve enough to believe my boycott really hurts the company, and I’m low-key about it. (I will walk into a Wal-Mart/Sam’s with friends and family, although I won’t actually buy anything.) But it means a lot to me personally, and I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. My money is better spent elsewhere, and my conscience is appeased.