As a boycott dissident, I often feel like I'm not doing anything positive, but just leeching off other people who at least are doing something, and spending my life moaning at them.
I think I've fallen into the trap myself and become obsessed with Middle Eastern politics along with everyone else. And this is wrong - the point I've been trying to make has started to take over and I'm not doing anything positive.

Someone in another thread has asked when I am organising my own protest and why I'm not doing something useful rather than shouting at people, and I think these are valid complaints, so I'm going to rise to that challenge. So here it is:
My alternative proposals for boycotts, which if they went as viral as the anti-Israel campaign, I honestly think would actually improve everyday life right here and now as well as on the other side of the world, and generally do a lot more good too.

For a start, I don't think that countries cut it anymore as targets for boycott. This isn't the 80s, capital is multinational, in fact many of the worlds largest economies are corporations. If you boycotted, say, China, on account of its cheap labour, and it was actually successful, the slave labour companies would just move to India or somewhere. To boycott successfully one must boycott not the country, but the product. But which product?

There are so many things that are worth boycotting, but the two main ones right now would have to be oil and electronics. The use of petrol / aviation fuel and mobile phones / computers in particular can be boycotted or minimised with so little negative effect on your life, and much that is positive for society and for you, over and above what the boycott itsself would achieve.

For instance - If the market for petrol collapsed, energy prices would fall, which would help the economy. It is also well known that all the imperialists, clerical fascists, and religious crazies of the world are funded by oil money. American oil money in particular as been fuelling the Empire in general and right-wing politics in particular for decades, but in addition Saudi cash has funded a network of reactionary madrassas world wide, fuelling the false oppostion to the American empire known as the "terrorist threat".

I repeat - every time you buy petrol you are funding both American imperialism AND Islamic fundamentalism, putting money in the hands of people like the Bush dynasty, the House of Saud and the notorious Koch family, founders of the proto-fascist Tea Party movement. These people are tearing our world apart. And of course, when you buy petrol you're also trashing the environment.

It isn't hard to have a petrol-free life, it just takes a little bravery and a little imagination. If you can afford a car you can afford an electric moped, which is cheaper, quieter, FASTER (bye bye traffic jams) and a lot more fun than cars.

Air travel should of course be included in such a boycott as well, as it too is massively consumptive of liquid fuels and is such a serious pollution hazard that when air traffic is stoppped for a few days, the weather almost instantly improves! Additionally the noise and light pollution from aircraft can ruin huge swathes of formerly lovely coutryside - for example, has anyone tried hanging out at Stanton Drew recently? If you have, you'll notice that since they built the international airport, it is almost impossible to enjoy the area. This is a direct result of the mass use of cheap air travel. It's got to stop.

So let's not drive or fly - buy a cheapie electric scooter or take the train instead. You can probably afford it, it won't exactly kill you and it'll make life a lot better for everyone. Did I mention that my carbon footprint is 1.64 tons?

Which leads me on to electronics. The rape and genocide of Africa over the last twenty years or so has been fuelled by greed for blood diamonds and precious metals such as coltan, which is used in the electronics industry. Of course, it is unreasonable to demand that people completely cut themselves off from the modern world, but the electronics industry as it stands doesn't just require you to buy their stuff - they require you to buy their stuff again and again and again.

A new phone every three months, a new computer every year and a half. Nobody needs a new phone every couple of months. In fact I've been using the same phone for a couple of years now. Additionally I've had this computer since 2004. I'll probably get a new one this winter though. When did you last buy a PC or a gadget? Did it really make your life better? I last bought a phone in 2003 - my "new" one that I mentioned is a hand-me-down. If everyone lived like that, and made it clear that this was at least partly a result of the Blood Coltan scandal, perhaps they could be persuaded to adopt a Kimberly Process-type thing. Additionally, we'd all be spared a hell of a lot of boring conversations about what people's bloody phones do.

So yeah - boycott petroleum and air travel, and see how long you can make your electronic equipment last. Even if it doesn't work, you'll probably find that your own life is a lot less hassle as a result - no more sitting in traffic, no more paranoia and waiting at the airport, no more boring conversations or endless mobile Facebook updates. Try it!