At what point do you stop boycotting something?
So I have never been before but I definitely boycotted Typhoon/The Hump in Santa Monica after finding out that they were serving endangered whale. Even though there is some aspect of Japanese culture that eats that as a delicacy, that is so obviously bad in Western culture. I talked people out of going there.
I just wonder if there is some point when you call off a boycott. Both personal ones and organized ones. There are somethings that you can boycott for the rest of your life. But is there any point that you can return or start going somewhere like Typhoon/The Hump?
My inital reaction is absolutely I won’t go to Typhoon/The Hump. But why?
This is not a perfect example but I am boycotting Arizona right now. Just like I boycotted Florida after Bush “won”. I assume that I will boycott AZ until someone overturns their new laws. But I also think that when it gets overturned, I will eventually go back (not that I really have to because even before these racist laws were enacted, Arizona was my least liked state in the union).
As reprehensible as serving endangered whale is, I’m confident that what is happening in AZ is 1000x worse than what happened at Typhoon/The Hump and has done much more damage. So if at some point I feel like I can go back to AZ again, once they have redressed their errors, shouldn’t logically I be able to do the same for Typhoon/The Hump? The thing is that I don’t feel like I want to go to Typhoon/The Hump but logically I should be able to. Why is this? Is it because Typhoon/The Hump as a restaurant, is not as important to me as the freedom to travel to a state (even a state I despise?), and so I can cut it out a restaurant easily? Do I feel like their reparations are not enough? It’s true, I don’t think a fine and an apology is enough reparation but what is enough? Will anything be ever enough? What if they had to pay for a whale breeding habitat? Would that be enough? If it will never be enough, why will nothing ever be enough for this but why will some point be enough for AZ reparation? Especially since I think what is happing in AZ is multiples worse in terms of ethics. Is it because in AZ, I feel like it’s the work of one Governor? Because it’s not, there are millions of people that back her.
I need to figure this out. I’m still waiting for The Cove in my Netflix. (UPDATED 8/13/10: Watched it loved it. You should too.)
What are your thoughts?
May 21, 2010 at 3:27 pm
Nice! I like all this critical thinking going on. Your examination of the Whys/Whens behind boycotts is like my questioning of the Whys behind why it is so “gross” to eat insects in Western Culture.
I think, if you make a decision to boycott something, you also get to make the decision as to when you’re done. Your boycott is a way of voicing your opinion with your actions. If you have something to say, you don’t HAVE to keep talking forever. You make your point, and when you’re done, you stop talking. If Typhoon noticed their business drop, and all of the bad press they received from the whale thing, and they’re never serving whale again, that’s the end of it. Of course for SOME people, depending on their priorities and the strength of those convictions, they’d choose never to go back. But that doesn’t make it right or wrong, that’s just personal choice. For me, yeah, it sucks that Typhoon served whale, but as you said, there are cultural differences. And if they don’t serve whale anymore, I’m fine with going there to eat bugs. I wouldn’t go out of my way to go there, but I want to try the bugs.
Now for you with AZ, I’d guess that as long as those laws are still in effect, you won’t be going back, but if the laws are reversed, why “punish” the people in the state by continuing to withholding your tourism dollars? Unless this injustice is SO grave, according to your beliefs, that it deserves more “punishment.” And in that case I’d say you should do something more proactive than just boycott visiting there, like get involved in working for immigrant rights or education or something.