- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
The central bank’s GDPNow tracker of incoming metrics is indicating that gross domestic product is on pace to shrink by 1.5%.
I can’t speak for anyone else here, but personally this whole fiasco was the final kick in the ass I needed.
I’m not looking for the US to fix themselves so I can buy from them again, I’m looking to divorce them for good.
They’ll probably pull back from the brink in the next few years. I will still avoid buying American.
They’ll probably go through a period of rebuilding and political/economic outreach. I will still avoid them.
Because even if they recover from Trump, they’ll eventually do it again.
As an embarrassed american, I agree.
You can’t recover from what you are.
I’m doing my best to give the red states the single finger salute and avoid their products. Purchased a case of Molson Canadian and Labatt’s Blue Light…lol! Bottles only!
Oooof, I promise you we have better beer than that! But damned if I don’t appreciate the support!
As an American, please, more more! It’s not like they can make the minimum wage lower, they’re already only giving us the dusty crumbs of profits. Let them burn.
As an american, please keep this up.
In the words of Omar Little, “oh indeed.”
“It’s all in the game (yo)”
Pretty sure betraying their allies and bringing back absolute monarchies are also contributing to this.
Absolutely!
Look at all those eggs! I bet their price is acceptable right now! I had to mortgage the backyard to buy some eggs here.
you know animal abuse is optional, right? like millions of people manage to get through the day without paying to have billions of individuals subjected to atrocity every fucking day.
I’m vegan but the kids are not and the wife is not either. The things I cannot help are things I can only throw humor at. As an example, when trump is done with the white house, what foot will the Democratic party shoot when they win next? Lol…not lol, we’re screwed!
Given the planned government sector reduction, we should expect a much more than 1.5% decrease.
Yup! But every bit helps!
American here. We spend more money in Canada in the first quarter than we did in the USA. We loved returning to Quebec again for a visit, and also spending a week in Alberta for the first time. Our president is an idiot, and he’s harming my Canadian brothers and sisters. Keep buying Canadian, and I’ll try to keep doing the same.
Thanks for visiting! I’m happy you enjoyed your stay. I’m from Québec and I love hearing people enjoy it : )
Thanks for visiting, we appreciate it, really!
We can’t wait to come back! I hope we’ll still be welcome in your wonderful country in the future. I would not blame Canada a bit for turning us away at the border however. Please continue to protect not only the land but the idea of Canada. Its a spark of modern enlightenment too important to be extinguished as it is in the USA right now under our current president.
Thank you very much for your support.
Embarrassed American here and I hope the rest of the world keeps it up, these stupid assholes only speak one language and it’s money.
I fully believe half of them will delude themselves into thinking it’s just part of cancel culture (woke-ism or whatever the raison d’être), and if they just keep holding on to technocrat authoritarianism just a little longer, the world will have to give in.
I’m American, I needed new work boots. Got some Canada Wests. They are high quality and very comfy.
American here too. I needed snow boots for our trip to Alberta. I specifically wanted Canadian. I bought a pair of Kamik boots. While I couldn’t find Canadian manufactured snow boots, these were at least a Canadian company (made in Vietnam). They performed amazingly and kept my feet warm and dry while tromping through the Canadian Rocky Mountains.
I believe Kamik makes work boots too.
Baffin boots for cold weather.
The new red wings!
deleted by creator
??
I’ve already cut ties with Walmart, and will be drastically diverting purchases away from Amazon whenever possible.
Once you get it in your mind that “yeah, I’m not supporting Nazis”, it’s really easy to reject anything and everything American.
And for anything that isn’t made in Canada or by a Canadian company, I’m happy to support our allies from around the world, too.
I’ve got some Amazon gift card balance on my account from Christmas. I’m not sure if it would be better to spend that (which would mean buying from Amazon) or to leave it (which would mean letting Amazon keep my money.)
The best you can do if you want to spend that on Amazon is to look for Canadian manufacturers. Amazon has a lot of small, local businesses, especially on food items.
Edit: also consider that Amazon already has the money if it’s a gift card. Spend it on stuff you need and don’t sweat it. Finding Canadian items should be easy.
Was also about to comment this. Amazon already has the money from the gift card purchase. Not spending it would technically leave Amazon with more profits. Try to find Canadian products there and use only the money from the gift card. Thanks for doing that : )
Maybe buy some groceries and donate them to a food bank to get rid of it? Then at least someone in need gets something.
Depending where you are it’s honestly not hard to avoid amazon.
I’ve cancelled prime in January and since then, I found that every thing I needed and got there for convenience, I got from elsewhere for the same if not less and with the same kind of shipping speed.
Hell, just this week I was setting up my old vita for my son and found I needed a replacement charger. I found it from a used game store in Ontario, came to me in 2 days.
I’m ashamed of being lazy these past few years and using them so much when I could have supported local businesses instead…
I’ll add - dumped Amazon a bit ago and wish I’d done it sooner. Finding lots of other online stores and getting more quality products. Haven’t shopped at Walmart in decades. Trying to walk the walk more and it’s improving my qol.
Yeah it is amazing how much you realize when that option is taken away.
The problem (for me) isn’t necessarily not being able to find things, but the added shipping costs associated with buying from other retailers.
Paying $10 to $30 in extra shipping per order could costs thousands a year. But I will be exploring local options for every new purchase. 👌
How many of your Amazon purchases are things you actually need?
I deleted my Amazon account entirely – my kindle is a paperweight now. It sucked, but between Amazon and all the other retailers I refuse to do business with my impulse buying has dropped to near zero. Any non essential want has an added barrier to buying it now – and that’s not a bad thing.
Yes: some of the things I buy are a bit more expensive now, but I’m actually spending less overall.
I’m a minimalist at heart, so I scrutinize my purchases and tend to only get things I need. And if I need something, I’ll let it sit in my cart or wishlist and track price changes to get the best deal.
Take the last example. I needed a replacement battery for my UPS. I’ve been buying from a small business for years, but they are an hour drive away and only open during regular business hours. Driving there would be wasteful (time and gas), but I’d have to take time off work to do it.
They charged $19 shipping for the several that I’ve purchased in the past.
Amazon lists the same battery for the same price, but free shipping.
I should have gone with Amazon, but as the latest shipping price was “only” $12, I went with the small business instead.
Even if I had to make only one of those decisions per month, we’re still talking over $100 extra for no benefit to me as the consumer. It’s a hard sell, but I’ve been willing to spend more if it means keeping more money within Canada. I do not expect everyone to have the financial means to do that all the time, but I also don’t think we should be striving for perfection (which could act as a barrier to begin with).
And the other challenge I’ve been facing with trying to support local businesses is that quite a few don’t try to accommodate people like me, who need a safe place to lock up my bike when I shop. No consumer should have to fight to give businesses money, but I still try!
You can get fucking batteries literally anywhere moron. Defending Amazon like your life depends on sucking Bezos dick.
For clarity, not talking AA batteries.
I needed a special lead acid battery for a discontinued UPS backup system.
They most certainly aren’t sold “anywhere”.
Originals are from an American company, so I won’t order from them.
But, yeah. You’re lucky if you live in a place that sells these types of batteries everywhere.
I cancelled Prime’s auto renewal, I think my membership is up in November, but I have uninstalled all the Amazon apps from all of my devices.
I’m only buying European products, and even got some Canadian stuff. No US products at all. Ditched all meta, amazon, google, disney. Hope the US economy is going to take more hard hits, so people realise the Orange Toddler needs to go
Please keep it up! The US economy needs to feel significant pain if we’re to wake up from this ketamine coma or whatever the fuck has happened.
Nope never trust them again. We the world need to diversify.
I’m curious what Canadian stuff made its way to you. I think one thing that should be a more well known thing is Honey Dill Sauce. Yum!
As much as I love people buying stuff from MB, honey dill is obscenely simple to make
Honey Dill Mayo
You can do equal parts honey and mayo or adjust them to your preference, it’s an extremely forgiving recipe. I do usually around half the amount of honey to mayo.
This is true, it’s actually kind of hard to get it wrong. 😅
I moved to Alberta and couldn’t find the sauce easily and found it is so easy to make. But having some to buy for the first time you taste it isn’t a bad thing.
Very true, I do encourage those who haven’t tried it to buy it, i don’t mind that brand but I make mine with more mayo for sure!
Not OP, but one thing that is kind-of a luxury here is maple syrup, which I buy infrequently as a treat - but so far, I had always bought the cheapest (US) variant I found here in Europe. Seeing that I buy it so infrequently anyway, I will go for a more premium Canadian one for sure next time I buy some.
It’s kind of a luxury here in Canada, too, honestly. It’s expensive!
That seems to be regional.
Perhaps there’s some interprovincial barriers that we’re not aware of.
Growing up on the west coast, real maple syrup was a luxury.
Where we are now in Eastern Ontario, we buy it by the litre or even by the case. Our teens pour it freely all over their plates.
We use the medium or amber at the table, and the darkest we can get for baking.
Be sure to buy grade B, not grade A. Grade A just means lighter in color (less flavor) than grade B.
Grade B is now called amber, I believe.
But whatever, the darker coloured syrup has more flavour and is better value.
It might depend on where you are? I still see them labeled grade A/B here in the US, but some will say light or amber too.
I think that may be US labeling still in use in Vermont and New York.
Canadian maple syrup hasn’t been graded that way for some time. We’re in a syrup producing region and get it locally from producers.
Ooh good to know! The stuff I get is a mix of US and Canadian, so they probably are just using the US labeling.
A lot of American maple syrup is really just corn syrup lol
they wouldnt call it maple syrup then. health food store will sell authentic maple syrups.
And ketchup chips and hawaiian pizza! OK OK I know I’m pushing my luck here :)
I’d be surprised if honey dill sauce has made it out of Manitoba yet.
Maple syrup, lentils and an arc’teryx long sleeve!
Hrm, I hadn’t hear of Arc’teryx before. There’s a shop at the mall close to me. I’ll have to check it out!
They are an outdoor brand, like Fjallraven from Sweden (my fav) or Patagonia. They are quite expensive btw. But if i can support some Canadians, why not!
At leastbMaple syrup. A tiny amount is made in vermont.
USA is the next NK/Russia…
usa was already the most right wing Western country even before trump. the fact they are so freaked out by partial nudity on television tells alot.
Californian here. Thank you. Keep up the heat. Those of us on the inside fighting for what’s right need your help in putting as much pressure on these assholes as possible.
I think it might be time for those of us in the blue states to offer a reciprocal sales tax break to our Canadian, European, and Mexican allies to offset the tariff idiocy. If CA nixed it’s sales tax for “Allied Countries”, that’s roughly 10% we could trim the tariff impact by. If it’s reciprocal, then it could be a way to mitigate Trump’s effect on our shared financial interests. I’d be more than willing to vote for this.
Amazing. Too dangerous?
💭
Sort $newAdministrationCalamities by naziDanger, respond(aggression,max),(visibility,min)
That plan wouldn’t be good for California’s social welfare programs, though.
Maybe raising taxes on red state made goods would work better.
i actually disagree here, for a couple of different reasons. First, the sales tax is a regressive tax on the poor, and it will directly help lower income communities while positively changing their buying habits.
Second, reducing the tariff impact directly increases overall economic activity. For instance, that Canadian lumber is still going to be taxed when it’s sold as a dresser made by an Washington woodworker - it just means that the woodworker isn’t paying as much of a tariff to bring the raw materials into the country. This means that overall sales tax revenue goes up because its less expensive to do business.
Third, in terms of specifics (on primarily a West Coast basis) regarding potential lost revenue, California’s loss could be offset by repealing Prop 13 - we have very low property taxes as a result of this Reagan era law, and bringing it more in line with real property values could bring in billions from our wealthiest (and we have a lot of wealthy landowners in CA). Washington (to my knowledge) doesn’t have property tax - bringing on one could similarly offset the revenue loss. Oregon, conversely, doesn’t have sales tax, so in their case it might be more an issue of funding state rebates for allied countries - for instance, a reduction on property taxes for new homes built with allied country sourced materials.
All this being said, the real solution to the government revenue program for social programs in the face of a lawless fascist federal government is for the blue states to start collecting federal income tax directly from their citizens, paying for the programs themselves, and then providing the remainder to the federal government if they’ve been meeting their duty under the Constitution. However, this step would be the prelude to real civil war, so it’s likely a bridge too far for our current political leaders on the left.
I’m not really seeing any effects yet and our government is still at it.
So keep at it.
Don’t stop until all communication stops and you just see smoke coming from our direction.
Dumped all the social media for us and our small business as well as my art sales. Shut down Amazon and the streaming stuff. No more American big box or fast food. The garden is much bigger cause fuck Galen Weston and Sobeys too. Don’t forget those assholes are profiting big from all this shit. I teach a cooking class for kids and I think I might expand that to adults this fall as well.
Slightly related but I just bought this patch
(Happy to provide a link if anyone is interested)
Yes please!
https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/1491522318/save-on-groceries-eat-a-weston-punk
Here you go! I’ve bought several items from ThreeRaccoons and that guy is dope :)
Wonder if he will sell direct cause I won’t Etsy.
Thanks for pointing that out! I actually just looked it up and found his store!
Edit: here’s the patch in question