memes

Where do the local farmers get their tractors and tools? Where does the fabric, dye, looms, sewing machines etc. for clothing come from? Where does the furniture maker buy his tools and who makes them? Are your solar panels homemade? What does that electricity power?

Whether directly or not, some portion of the money we spend will end up in the hands of these corporations, even if it just means you paid the furniture guy for a chair and he used that money to buy his kids mcdonalds. And while it's great that you sound like you're actively trying to live in a sustainable way, I don't think you get to deny that if you're a part of the economy you're still supporting corporations, simply due to the sheer depth and breadth of these companies.

That's all neat but there's a few problems with advocating this approach as a solution to anything.

1. The supply chain problem mentioned by the other reply to your comment.

2. The economic viability for this approach from both the side of supply and demand.

Local, especially "ethically" produced goods are usually much more expensive, and when people are barely making ends meet.

It's also much harder to expand a business that sources their goods "ethically" and so on.

3. This is just not a solution. It's an individualistic approach to an institutional problem.

Companies are largely not accountable, there is largely no economic democracy (vote with your dollar doesn't count), and increasingly all matters of government are once again captured by large corporations and wealthy individuals.

The solution here cannot be to just consume better, something needs to change drastically.

I don’t have the option to buy any of those things locally. Just because you can doesn’t mean it is viable for anyone else.

unless your poor, then you buy the cheapest available.