Brown students like to complain. Sometimes this can be a really good thing, as bringing attention to otherwise silenced issues is step one toward fixing them. Unfortunately, as a community, we often complain about things without trying to fix them. Instead, we expect others to make the change. This is an ineffective way of changing things. We should stop.
This seems especially true with regard to outcomes that depend on many people taking collective action. For example, last year, a couple of friends were describing to me what they considered to be terrible working conditions at Amazon. After we had spoken about the workplace at length, I asked them if they still ordered from Amazon. They did. I asked them why they would continue to support a company they found so deplorable. They did not really have an answer other than that they, as a handful of people, could not really move the needle in an entire market. In their view, they could not be held responsible for societal problems because they were few in number.
I have seen this attitude — that anything dependent on the masses, like a company’s or politician’s success, is out of our hands — countless times at Brown and elsewhere. I have been guilty of feeling this way myself just as many times. We need to stop, though, because we have the ability to change things.
Let’s run with the example of a bad company. If a company does something that you personally hate (pays low wages, outsources jobs, whatever), you can help stop it by taking two easy steps. Step one: Stop buying things from the company. Step two: Get other people to stop buying. If something does not bother you enough to prompt these basic actions, then I doubt it bothers you much at all.
The other realm in which it is easy to fall into this feeling of helplessness is politics. Instead of complaining about corruption, we should pay more attention to local elections, what our state legislatures do and how regulators use their power. If we all stayed legitimately informed and committed to increasing civic engagement, then a lot of that corruption would disappear. Politicians are like companies in that they need the support of the public to survive. If we were more active in giving support to (only) the right people, then things could change.
Some may respond that one person does not have the market power to actually make a difference. This is wholly untrue. In effect, this issue is a large-scale prisoner’s dilemma: Things would be better if we all did the right thing, but if we cannot trust others to do so as well, then why sacrifice for nothing? But, unlike the classic prisoner’s dilemma, we can observe others’ behavior. It only takes a handful of people to make a leap of faith to start getting people on the same page. This is especially true in the 21st century, when coordination and information dissemination are easier than ever. Make a Facebook post. Tweet. Go on Instagram and do a #TBT post to the last time you ever shopped somewhere. If this seems too small, then write an op-ed for The Herald or the Providence Journal. Just get a few people to pay attention, and then people will know that they, too, can make a difference.
There are bad people in the world, and unfortunately, a decent number of them have a lot of power. But they are dependent on us. Changing purchase patterns and paying more attention to political details are not large burdens. If we cannot handle them, then we should stop complaining.
George Reynolds ’17 can be reached at george_reynolds@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and other op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
