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Comment by Red_Leaves_Flyy | Hacker News Reader

That being said, some owners are so reprehensible that buying at a mega corp is the better choice. A local business to me was boycotted out of existence after they had a meltdown on Facebook when they were criticized for their support of the fascists that tried to overturn the election on Jan 6.

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This reminds me of a local business owner who, in the span of a week,

* made a big rant on his company Facebook page about Starbucks and law enforcement, advocating for a boycott

* made another big rant about the local pride parade

* made a rant that was half "woe is me" and half "everyone is a sensitive snowflake" after people started boycotting his business for his remarks

Unfortunate political views aside, I was tickled by the prompt response from the public and his visible confusion of "Wait, I can be boycotted??"

That’s a pretty extreme case and an exception to the general principle of preferring to buy local. Some local shops are owned by assholes, it’s true, but usually you can just shop somewhere else locally. Almost all big corporations exploit their workers, the environment, or society to a certain degree. Unfortunately there are some things you cannot avoid using big companies for, because they hold a monopoly or technological advantage on the product or service.

Certainly. “Buy local” is a decision weight, not a categorical principle.

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