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Companies are too influential to not be held accountable for the social justice issues that affect their customers. Companies can make a real difference in the world, but the irresponsibility of large corporations causes some of the world’s largest social issues. 

A free market is not the answer for every issue, and some regulation is needed to hold businesses accountable for their impact. But passing meaningful regulations is hard to do. The informed public, including students, must demand change.

Consumer sentiment, in response to a lack of government leadership on COVID-19 and mounting evidence that wearing masks controls the virus’s spread, led to safety campaigns by a conglomerate of supermarkets. For Walmart, one of the largest retail markets in the United States, mask-wearing in stores became mandatory July 20. Other businesses followed suit.

But the federal government never imposed a mask mandate. Private firms needed to fill this role, highlighting the real-world impact companies have because of their decisions. To enforce this responsibility, well-informed consumers need to campaign for change as well. 

The phrase ”voting with your pockets” describes a conscious consumer choice to shop at businesses that align with their ethics. In the absence of legal accountability, the idea that a consumer can hold a company responsible is a logical notion. But it’s only true when enough informed consumers demand a company’s goods or services.

Critics of ethically shopping argue that the informed population is too marginal to make a real difference. According to this principle, consumers who ultimately have the choice to shop elsewhere are too small of a voice to change industrial practices. 

This social inadequacy highlights that the very problem people face in solving global issues is systemic: without political intervention, large companies are free to further global inequities.

Meaningful regulation under President Donald Trump’s administration has been removed in bulk. Meanwhile, large companies have increased their profits astronomically. In the pandemic alone, Amazon generated record profits, while small businesses were forced to shut down. 

But this doesn’t mean the informed consumer has zero impact on companies. Instead, Amazon launched a COVID-19 and sustainability marketing campaign to target consumer concerns over the company’s impact. Clearly, consumers can demand some change in a large corporation’s decisions. But corporations rarely enact meaningful change without law.

The problem lies in how to encourage responsible business practices. But change can be made by consumers, and its effects can be seen in many industries. Residents must demand better business practices. That includes students, too.

Students have more than marginal power in their political demands. After pressure from its students, Syracuse University in 2015 made a complete divestment from fossil fuels in its endowment. Activism can have a real impact in making institutions and businesses more responsible.

One doesn’t need to be an expert on global issues to make a real difference. An example of daily environmental activism includes Not My Dirty Money, a facet of the Stop the Money Pipeline Campaign, where new bank account holders can pledge to only open accounts at responsible businesses. Although “voting with your pocket” is not plausible in all circumstances, upholding activist practices daily highlights the plethora of opportunities students have to make a real difference.

A company not being held accountable for their actions hurts society as a whole. A shift in a company’s impact requires an informed public that partakes in meaningful activism. As a result, society will have a better opportunity in tackling social issues that have plagued residents for generations.

Harrison Vogt is a sophomore environment sustainability policy and communication and rhetorical studies dual major. His column appears bi-weekly. He can be reached at [email protected]. He can be followed on Twitter at @VogtHarrison.

Published on October 26, 2020 at 11:18 pm