Feeling helpless about world events? Don't forget your power as a consumer

OPINION: Every decision you make with your money – from your online subscriptions to your KiwiSaver investments can impact world politics. And it's as simple as a click of a mouse. By Frances Cook

Watching world events unfold from New Zealand can feel like shouting at a screen from the other side of the planet.

You follow the news, you read the updates, maybe you feel anger or fear… and then you close the app and get on with your day, because what else are you meant to do?

For many New Zealanders, as we feel the heat in international politics continually rise, that sense of powerlessness has been intensifying. The decisions are being made elsewhere. The consequences are global. And the average person is left doom-scrolling and stuck.

Except you have more power than you might realise. It’s in your wallet, and even if you're not wealthy, your wallet can have a powerful impact.

While protests and public displays of outrage might seem easily ignored by the new breed of politicians, market movements have already stopped some political changes in their tracks.

So instead of asking people to feel more, post more, or argue harder, a new online movement is asking them to do something much simpler: stop paying.

The “Resist and Unsubscribe” movement, popularised by American academic, author, podcast host and businessman Scott Galloway, is designed to hit the largest companies on the US sharemarket that also hold disproportionate political influence.

Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Paramount+, Uber, Netflix, X, Meta, and OpenAI – Galloway's boycott is aimed squarely at the big tech firms seen as actively supporting Donald Trump and his agenda via money or political influence.

They’re also global companies whose products many Kiwis use and, depending on your politics, can choose to withdraw their funds from.

To cancel a streamer subscription, and get your entertainment via a different streamer, isn’t necessarily a big personal sacrifice. But, as seen last year when Disney+ reportedly lost three million subscribers in the wake of the suspension of late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel (later reinstated), it can have an impact.

And while such unsubscribing and other consumer decisions might be politically motivated, there's often an upside to your personal finances too. To delay a phone upgrade for a few months saves you money, and if enough people do it, it could influence the provider. To avoid a delivery from an overseas distributor, and go for a local option instead, is probably a good outcome for everyone.

In our online era, businesses love a subscription model, because it’s the kind of money that quietly rolls in every month, whether or not you actually use the service. It’s reliable money, the kind investors love.

And it’s also the kind of income that executives hate to see slow down.

The best thing about this kind of protest is that it uses economic power in a way that’s accessible. You don’t have to quit your job, swear off the internet, or cut yourself off from the modern world. You’re not being asked to suffer. You’re being asked to quietly withdraw your support.

For people watching US politics with growing alarm, this option offers something that social media outrage doesn’t. The ability to move out of worried outrage, and into action. From New Zealand, you can’t vote on international politics, and even an old fashioned street protest, however well attended, will probably attract little attention. But you can choose where your money goes.

Money matters. Not just what you earn, but what you choose to fund.

There’s a second lever New Zealanders can pull, if they really want a powerful vote-with-the-wallet.

Many of our KiwiSaver accounts have tens of thousands of dollars in them, and these can be used to express your world views, just like your subscription choices. And similarly, it doesn’t have to hurt your everyday life.

Barry Coates is the founder of Mindful Money, a website that enables you look at where your KiwiSaver fund is invested and decide whether that investment aligns with your values. Those values will be different for all of us. You might want to support companies that champion animal rights. You might want to ensure you're not supporting companies that produce weapons, ignore climate change or whose profit depends on tobacco, pornography or alcohol.

Coates says money and finance are a strong lever when you’re wanting to make a change. That’s why he built his website, to let people quickly check where their KiwiSaver money is invested, and if they’re OK with that.

“As the old saying goes, money makes the world go round - it's true," he says. "And through our KiwiSaver, we can have an influence where the money goes around, in the right way, or to achieve the wrong things in the world. Every little thing that people do is a contribution to a wider movement of people around the world who are thinking the same kind of thing.”

That’s true for unsubscribing. And it’s true for investing. Just like subscription revenue, money invested through your KiwiSaver flows to companies and industries that shape the world.

If the unsubscribe movement is about withdrawing easy money from companies led by people whose views you disagree with, KiwiSaver is about making sure your long-term money isn’t quietly reinforcing systems you’re protesting against.

Subscriptions are the fast lever. KiwiSaver is the slow one.

One works immediately. The other has influence that builds over time.

And neither requires you to be perfect, or give up things that you actually need in your life.

Checking where your KiwiSaver is invested, and switching if it doesn’t match your values, is usually straightforward. It doesn’t cost anything. It doesn’t lock you in. And it doesn’t mean you can’t change your mind later.

It’s admin. Not activism theatre. But admin adds up.