Convenience vs Principle
If you use products and services from companies that actively undermine what you value - can you truly claim to value those things? It's a hard question, but we live in a time where choices abound. Choose to live your principles.
So many people I talk to complain about the companies who provide the tech services they use. And if you've read my posts here, you'll know I agree - so many of them suck. If it's not necessarily how the company operates, friends share that it is who owns the company and what they do with the wealth and influence their enterprises provide that bothers them.
So why does one use a service from a company or a person they despise? When I ask, the answer is often searching for a word - convenience. "It came preinstalled on my phone." Or "I don't want to learn something new." Or, the hardest, "it has [great feature] that I don't want to lose." This makes sense, and I'm repeatedly reassured this is a practical way to approach the world... I'm not so sure.
When a company or its leadership actively acts against what you value, such as: privacy, democracy or workers' rights - and you continue to use their products - what does that say of your values?
It's convenience vs principles. And it's not an easy thing to weigh. I live in this world with you and I constantly have to ask myself when interacting with products and services, "can I really say I hold this value if I support this company?" And sometimes the answer is uncomfortable.
But I also feel as though the discomfort is important. I sincerely believe that you "vote with your dollar." And, often, there are choices to accomplish the same ends in a way that doesn't feel slimy. Wouldn't we all rather see our time, money and attention supporting the things we want to see flourish in our world? Every action counts and ripples out, it all matters.
A small percentage of the population choosing to tune into the good tools and channels can make those viable and give them footing to grow. And I know, I know there are a lot of us out there that don't like the monopolies who control so much of tech and, frankly, many other industries. Who then use that money and power and influence to undermine what we care about, who enrich themselves at the expense of so many.
So let's turn them off. Let's choose principle over convenience. And I guarantee, if we support the principled things, they will become more convenient.
Join me in choosing principle.
As always here are my app recommendations for choosing the principled path.
Principled Apps
First, the open source email client and browser made by a global community, guided by the Mozilla Manifesto. that puts your productivity, privacy and well-being first. Backed by the nonprofit Mozilla.
Meet Thunderbird, the email and productivity app that maximizes your freedoms.
Secondly, the chat app that puts your privacy first. Made by an awesome nonprofit.
Next, social media is a big part of many people's lives. Use the good ones. Open source, open standards, good moderation and control over your data and how it is used.
