Sub Vow: Not buying from Multi-Nationals Fearlessly

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At the beginning of January, Alex proposed that for one month we would not buy anything from multinational corporations. The idea came to him when we were in the store buying milk, choosing between a tetrapack of nestle milk and a tetrapack from Mother Dairy (the local brand). I think I readily agreed because of my tendency to the black and white in this regard: corporations are evil. Not buying from them is standing up for something. Swadeshi maybe.

But it's not as simple as that, nor was it the intention of practicing this vow. No matter how evil I think multinational corporations are (and to be fair, some are probably not. Maybe.), we're not really trying to condemn anything because I've accepted that MNCs have an influence on my life. For right now, one major purpose is to really understand how I buy. Now I am pushing myself to understand the extent of that influence, and also seeing if I can extrapolate some of those learnings to the world at large. Who knows, during these next few posts we might see the words I made a point to drop all.the.time in college, like neoliberalism, globalization, or dependency theory. Or perhaps words on a more personal level, where I'll see which brands I am the most loyal to, which products I've decided I cannot do without.

The idea is to ask questions. Does the multinational name give me additional comfort when I compare two boxes of milk? Is it somehow different when Nestle uses the exact same supply chains as Amul or Mother Dairy does, and err, competes more than well? Where does the government's new policy on increasing FDI (foreign direct investment) factor in, and how will this change things?

So I guess I'll start this with a memory. I think back on the India I knew when I was very small. The policy shifted to a more open economy in 1990, but the shift did not happen over night. I remember the time when only Ambassadors were on the road, one brand of soap in the bathroom, and how all my generic clothing I bought from roadside stalls. And then at some point in time how exciting it was when my uncle just bought a Ford, or when my mother stopped bringing Revlon lipstick for her sisters because they could just buy it themselves from local stores.

But I guess what I recall is the persistent idea that Indian goods were somehow shoddy, crappy goods that were awful simply because they had no competition and therefore no incentive to be functional. These foreign brands were something worth aspiring for, they represented a better India; we have a right to demand a car or a tube of lipstick that might legitimately be better quality. But this is just a memory, and foreign= better is not necessarily a universal idea. The point is the economy changed, the definition of economic development changed, and way we interact with goods on a personal level changed. 

For the next few posts I'll try to think of other questions that have come up, and if I can coherently dismantle them in some way. So far the effort to avoid multi-national has had mixed results. Alex has definitely been more successful in self-control. For example, in Ahmedabad I insisted that I needed a bottle of Nutella (it was cheaper than Delhi and came in this adorable glass jar!). I bought a coke because my stomach was upset, and then a box of Tetley tea because there was no other option in the store (perhaps more on this later: I honesty thought Tetley was an Indian tea company. And it was literally the only box left in the store). I've had some successes. I turned down the invitation to join friends at McDonald's and Subway during our frisbee tournament in Ahmedabad. Also to clarify, this means all MNCs. Which includes Indian companies that are now reaching out into other markets (Tata owns Jaguar, and a French steel company). 

So we'll see. This could be interesting. It could be utterly boring for anyone who isn't me or Alex. But more than anything, we hope to be more conscious about how we purchase, and take a critical look at the bigger questions at play here. To be honest it's amazing to see how little I understand my buying habits. If any of you want in on this vow, or have thoughts about this, please please post! We can all learn something here!

Link to Alex's Blog.