Microgoods

We are what we do. Nothing more, nothing less.

Everyone can do something. It doesn't have to be big. In fact, the impact of everyone doing something small is much greater than a small group of people doing everything they can. The current situation is, by design, making everyone feel that all these problems are beyond our control and there is no point to try. But giving up is exactly what they want us to feel. The key of defeating this mindset is realizing that you alone do not have to move mountains. This is a group project, and WE are moving the mountains. These tiny acts add up, and they absolutely do matter.

"In the Who Cares era, the most radical thing you can do is care." - Dan Sinker.

Another thing to recognize is that we should do the right thing regardless if we are optimistic or not. We are defined by our actions. That's it. To be fully honest, I don't believe that my personal efforts to boycott Amazon is hurting their bottom line and will lead to their downfall. But I do it anyway, because my actions define me. For the same reason that we should do the right thing even if no one is looking, we should do the right thing regardless of what we think the outcome will be.

Below is the list of things that you can do right now that require little effort, but still counts. (List is continuously updated)

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Climate Crisis/Environment:

• Deleting your emails. Unsubscribing from junk emails. Digital stuff have a carbon footprint too. Remember that the cloud is just someone else's computer which requires power and other stuff to run.
• Consume less. This saves you money too. So much of our purchases is unnecessary and influenced by marketing. If you have to get something consider thrifting, buying certified refurbished, or borrowing/sharing with a friend.
• Don't use AI. It uses so much energy, resources, and water and supports the amoral tech bros. From the looks of it, it also fuels the active cognitive decline of the general public.
• Switch to a local credit union. Pretty much all of the big banks are awful for the environment as they invest your money in problematic places (fossil fuel, etc.) There are also green banks, or banks that make pledges to not invest in detrimental things.

Democracy:

• Vote in every election you are eligible to vote in.
• Contact your representatives at all levels (local, state, federal) about all the things you care about. Honestly, it's quite fun to write out my concerns big and small and send them on to my representatives.
• Don't use twitter or meta.
• Don't give money to NYT, WP, The Atlantic, and other mainstream media. Support non-profit, indie, and local journalists. They need your money more than legacy media, and they actually have a spine.

Being a good human:

• Don't use Amazon. You can buy almost everything directly from the seller/maker of said thing.
• Support Wikipedia, either through donation or becoming an editor. It is the last bastion of the good, collaborative internet.
• Sign up for a library card and use your local library.