As we honor the life and transformative legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., I wanted to take time to reflect on the principle of nonviolence that inspired his approach to change.
The term “nonviolence” in our modern context is closely associated, for most people, with the likes of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., who both displayed the principle of nonviolence put into action. Gandhi himself was deeply influenced by the earlier work of the 19th century American Transcendentalist thinker Henry David Thoreau.
Thoreau published his thoughts on the act of civil disobedience and how he believed it was right to resist things you thought were immoral and wrong by (nonviolently) refusing to cooperate and lend yourself to unjust causes. Thoreau refused to pay taxes that he knew the US government was using in partiality to fund the Mexican American War, a war Thoreau saw for what it was, unjustified violence and suffering and he went to jail.
He held that he was more free behind bars, having expressed his beliefs and values through his actions (or rather inaction) than he could ever be while paying taxes as a “free” man.
He questioned how free he could ever be while living in opposition to his beliefs.
In this blog, I offer my advice about how to practice nonviolence in your lifestyle as you buy goods and support different brands—I settled on four tips.
1. Support brands that use ethical labor
- Do your research and, if you are able, save your money to buy things made by workers paid a living wage.
2. Buy sustainable materials
- A form of violence against the planet and other beings is to support the unsustainable use of the resources that we all share. Plastics, polyesters, and animal-based materials are all harmful in their own ways. Buy goods made with materials that cause as little harm as possible throughout their lifecycles.
3. Be packaging-mindful
- Bring your own containers and shop the bulk foods sections, choose paper vs. plastic packaging, bring your own bags and produce bags to the store, and always have a reusable water bottle and coffee cup with you while you are out of the house.
4. Shop locally
- Buying local whenever possible also helps cut down on carbon emissions and packaging waste from shipping, as well as spreads support through your local community.
Read the full post on how you can practice nonviolence as a consumer here.
Let me know what you think about the post. In what ways do you practice nonviolence in your life?
The term “nonviolence” in our modern context is closely associated, for most people, with the likes of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., who both displayed the principle of nonviolence put into action. Gandhi himself was deeply influenced by the earlier work of the 19th century American Transcendentalist thinker Henry David Thoreau.
Thoreau published his thoughts on the act of civil disobedience and how he believed it was right to resist things you thought were immoral and wrong by (nonviolently) refusing to cooperate and lend yourself to unjust causes. Thoreau refused to pay taxes that he knew the US government was using in partiality to fund the Mexican American War, a war Thoreau saw for what it was, unjustified violence and suffering and he went to jail.
He held that he was more free behind bars, having expressed his beliefs and values through his actions (or rather inaction) than he could ever be while paying taxes as a “free” man.
He questioned how free he could ever be while living in opposition to his beliefs.
In this blog, I offer my advice about how to practice nonviolence in your lifestyle as you buy goods and support different brands—I settled on four tips.
1. Support brands that use ethical labor
- Do your research and, if you are able, save your money to buy things made by workers paid a living wage.
2. Buy sustainable materials
- A form of violence against the planet and other beings is to support the unsustainable use of the resources that we all share. Plastics, polyesters, and animal-based materials are all harmful in their own ways. Buy goods made with materials that cause as little harm as possible throughout their lifecycles.
3. Be packaging-mindful
- Bring your own containers and shop the bulk foods sections, choose paper vs. plastic packaging, bring your own bags and produce bags to the store, and always have a reusable water bottle and coffee cup with you while you are out of the house.
4. Shop locally
- Buying local whenever possible also helps cut down on carbon emissions and packaging waste from shipping, as well as spreads support through your local community.
Read the full post on how you can practice nonviolence as a consumer here.
Let me know what you think about the post. In what ways do you practice nonviolence in your life?
