Boycotting Boycotts
I am a bit of a history buff. I found it very interesting that people were doing that thing that we now call boycotting for many decades before someone named Boycott earned immortality through his action.
Charles Boycott was actually the representative of the British Crown in a place in Ireland where the tenants had organized and made the decision not to carry out the long held requirement of labouring for the Lord during harvest. Boycott made attempts to undermine this act of civil disobedience and he was subsequently ostracized in an overt and absolute way by the entire community.
Some Orangemen volunteered to carry out the harvest and 1,000 British soldiers protected them while they did it. It is estimated that the cost of bringing in £350 worth of potatoes was over £10,000.
Boycott left Ireland soon after.
When I found out about the details of the animal food tainting that was recently discovered, I had an emotional response. I was shopping for china of all things this week when the idea of a personal boycott came to mind. I remember being quite over the top with my insistence with regard to the boycott of South African products when I was a kid. I often look at the complexities of every issue these days. The issues of trade and ethics in China is hugely complex.
