As you do on your hols, I've enjoyed reading the papers more thoroughly than ever. Two particular themes of news have stood out:
- It seems that that a war has broken out between supermarkets competing for the ethical consumer's weekly shop. Earlier this week Sainsburys announced it was shifting 500 of it's own brand products from plastic to compostable packaging and just yesterday Tesco announced a new 10 point community plan, including a focus on buying more products locally.
- An article in the Guardian and a report on tonight's Channel 4 news suggest that bloggers are having more influence on the world than ever, demonstrated by the fact that a group of liberal bloggers met with Bill Clinton last week
Although the two themes are very different as I read one article after the other I was struck by the underlying similarity that increasingly the marginal voice which has been silenced for years is being listened to; the supermarkets are listening to consumers concerns about ethical issues and politicians are becoming wary of the blogosphere. In response to these trends there is the temptation for those who find themselves on the margins to cave in and join those occupying the centreground; to believe shopping at Sainsburys is fine because it's directors are taking the company in the right direction, to pledge allegiance to political parties who give the impression that they are listening.
In both instances I think it is important that those who have caused these changes choose not hop in bed with the enemy but instead stay in that uncomfortable place where your shopping costs more but you keep your local grocer in business and you earn less and have less power, but your posts are not effected by overfriendly politicians.
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