Hi everyone,
First off, I’m grateful to be part of a community that shares a (more or less) common vision. I’ve been supporting this movement since before the Orange Turd. To no ones surprise my commitment has only grown stronger over the past few years.
What I notice lately is that many discussions seemingly just celebrate alternative products (“Look, this alternative brand is EU‑based!”), which is great for awareness. However, I’m missing conversations about what we actually do beyond posting links and recommendations.
I’m not here to judge anyone’s level of involvement. Everyone follows their own moral compass. Rather, I’d love to hear about the concrete steps people are already taking (or considering).
Here is a sample of the sort of thing I would be interested in to hear about. Be careful to not spoof yourselves.
Political engagement
- Are you involved in any political activities that align with the BuyEuropean ideas?
- Do you back any European‑focused parties such as Volt?
Outreach beyond the forum
- Have you discussed BuyEuropean ideas with friends, family, colleagues, or acquaintances who aren’t already in the community?
Physical visibility
- Have you placed stickers, flyers, or other visual cues in public spaces (shops, campuses, workplaces) that promote “Buy European” or highlight non‑EU alternatives?
- The lack of such… basic visibility is one thing that surprises me the most where I live.
Fediverse advocacy
- Do you recommend decentralized platforms (PieFed, Mastodon, PeerTube, etc.) to anyone as part of a broader “European‑first” digital strategy?
- I have friends moving off Meta etc., but it all seems… sporadic and unorganized. Without collective movement at colleges and campuses I don’t see how these things will ever actually grow.
Feel free to answer any (or none) of these questions, add your own experiences, or suggest additional ways we could make a larger impact.
I am sorry if this sounds direct and targeted. I think I just want to know if others are… doing stuff while I feel apathetic and powerless.
I am active in nonprofits and adopting a free, libre, open source software there. It is global by nature, so even poor nations in Africa, South America etc can benefit very easily from the resources that are created thanks to usage by rich nations. Also, some of those nonprofits are focused on the language Esperanto, so it is advantageous that libre software is much, much more accepting to have Esperanto as user interface language.
I am even planning to request a grant to make free online video courses about using libre software for organizational work and contributing to Wikipedia.
In my experience vast majority of people will not do anything inconvenient because of some ideology (religion being the obvious exception). They only ever fight to gain something for themselves. Everyone knows how evil Amazon and Bezos are yet everyone is still using it simply because it’s convenient. I have educated, well informed friends that still travel to US for holidays, buy things on Amazon, use Apple products… There’s actually only very small group of people that care enough to sacrifice something in the name of it and you’re not going to change it with talking and stickers. People will switch when they will see it’s better for their finances or security. Constant flow of news about US turning it’s back on Europe will do its job over time. Or not. We’ll see.
As you said, the level of activism is a personal choice.
I tend to stick to my direct environment: make better buying/product decisions and softly talk to friends and family. I welcomed the fediverse early on and nag my representatives about adopting it, too.
As with political movements: there needs to be more to a party than European-centered-thinking. Have a look at the programs and decide for yourself if you agree with the majority of points in the most important aspects.
Volunteer journalism. Contact the Bylines network! It’s a British organisation but around half the volunteers are from or living abroad. We’re also starting in the US.
I try to post on [email protected] from time to time
However, I’m missing conversations about what we actually do beyond posting links and recommendations.
You need to spend more time reading (and participating) in discussions and you should start noticing some more comments related to that (and also to consuming less, more local, and so on).
Also, keep in mind most online activities will refer to, well, online activities not what people may do offline, as well as what people may chose to discuss privately. Which can be very different.
- Are you involved in any political activities that align with the BuyEuropean ideas?
A few years, I have made the choice to never discuss politics online (I was getting tired of the quickly rising hatred and brainwashing going on, everywhere) and to limit my political discussions to in-person and/or private discussions. I have the intuition I’m not an exception.
I always want to do more and never get to it. My small steps are: 1) Went from drinking coca cola to local brand sodas (i drink 1-2 every day so some impact there). 2) Became a member of a pro green and europe political party, although my contribution is only monetary + voting as I don’t live in the country I vote in. 3) Occasionally bring up subject with friends and family. 4) I recently sent my first letter to the municipality. This one was about bike infrastructure, so not about the same subject but it felt really empowering to have a small contribution to the better workings of my local community and they actually changed some signage close to my house.
Once I speak the local language better I’m interested in joining a local movement but I don’t know if I actually manage to cross that barrier when I get to it
