People always babble on about voting with your wallet and consoomers driving the market. Despite the vast majority of business not being public facing.
Are we supposed to vet the supply chain of every product we buy?
No of course not, that’s where governments should step in. But most governments are reluctant to do anything that will get them voted out and so will not implement any policy that has even the slightest of chance for increasing the price of a product or service for the consumer. In general, on environmental issues, the larger population says one thing, but then is resistant to any change that it would take to implement solutions. If you add a carbon tax, very effective at getting companies to lower emissions. Then there are some industries where carbon will be emitted no matter what, especially big manufacturers. And that cost is passed down the line until a company decides to tank the increased cost (unlikely) or it gets to the consumer, at which point the end customer gets upset that their new item, be it a house, a car, or a coffee table now costs more, and the first people they blame are the ones in charge. And out they go. So any government who wants to make environmental change, real change, will have to willingly and knowingly sacrifice their own careers (and in most places, that of their party’s as well). And it isn’t something most will do, and that’s the problem. The government will not force the change we desperately need in order to save their own careers.
People always babble on about voting with your wallet and consoomers driving the market. Despite the vast majority of business not being public facing.
Are we supposed to vet the supply chain of every product we buy?
No of course not, that’s where governments should step in. But most governments are reluctant to do anything that will get them voted out and so will not implement any policy that has even the slightest of chance for increasing the price of a product or service for the consumer. In general, on environmental issues, the larger population says one thing, but then is resistant to any change that it would take to implement solutions. If you add a carbon tax, very effective at getting companies to lower emissions. Then there are some industries where carbon will be emitted no matter what, especially big manufacturers. And that cost is passed down the line until a company decides to tank the increased cost (unlikely) or it gets to the consumer, at which point the end customer gets upset that their new item, be it a house, a car, or a coffee table now costs more, and the first people they blame are the ones in charge. And out they go. So any government who wants to make environmental change, real change, will have to willingly and knowingly sacrifice their own careers (and in most places, that of their party’s as well). And it isn’t something most will do, and that’s the problem. The government will not force the change we desperately need in order to save their own careers.