Ryan Taylor is a fair trade jeweler. No, it’s not an oxymoron. It’s just really not that common.
The standard business model in the mass-market jewelry business is to design your wares to appeal to the lowest common denominator, source and buy materials as cheap as possible (regardless of the long-term social impact), then sell the jewelry at the highest price point.
Ryan’s business model at The Fair Trade Jewelry Company reverses the unsustainable model.
Ryan sourced his materials. That’s not easy, considering there are only a handful of artisanal mines left in the world. His research lead him to the Choco rain forest in Columbia. He uses only certified Canadian diamonds for his engagement, bridal, and custom rings.
As he builds his business–literally renovating much of the Parliament Street store himself–he does it in an open, sustainable, and transparent way using the internet to open his workshop to the world.
Philanthropy runs to the core of his business, so much so that people volunteered to help him renovate his shop. His community of Cabbagetown loves him and he rains thousands of dollars on the Daily Bread Food Bank (along with his other HoHoTO cohorts) and War Child.
Why do I tell you all of this?
Because, Ryan didn’t vote in the Toronto-Centre by-election.
You might be getting a touch pissed off at our fair trade jeweler. Or maybe, like some some in Ryan’s online community, you are downright angry. You might be saying to yourself, “He is so socially conscious, so committed to his vision, so cute, so smart–but he didn’t vote? What’s wrong with him?”
Be careful before you write him off as a democratic laggard. Ryan is a highly engaged citizen. Politics isn’t engaging him. And this isn’t just Ryan. It’s the demographic that academic Richard Florida has defined as the “creative class”.
Perhaps the problem isn’t with Ryan. Perhaps the problem is with politics. The robust partisan pugilism turns off voters. The goal of some political strategies is to turn off voters–perhaps not entirely intentionally–but it’s most certainly the outcome of playing “wedge issues” and dividing to conquer a majority in the House. Negative ads work, but not on all people. Most often they work to keep voters home, depressed about the state of discourse in politics.
Jesse Hirsh’s work has informed my ideas and opinions about technology, politics, and how the intersection of both sits a deeply rooted orthodoxy. I’ve learned that you need to look past your own personal beliefs and long held “truths” to ask if there is a better way.
I’ve long been an advocate of voting reform. I prefer mixed-member proportional systems. I think they work more often that not. This isn’t going to happen anytime soon. Why not? Sadly, Ontario, PEI, and BC have all rejected voting reform. So this means people who want change in politics need to be open to incremental voting change.
In Australia they force you to vote.
Greece, Serbia, Ukraine, all have variations of “none of the above”.
A political party exists in the UK for the sole purpose of recording the votes of the disgusted.
The Globe’s Doug Saunders pointed me to trends coming from Switzerland and India showing lowering voter turnout as average income rises. Both, as he called them, “relatively successful democracies”.
This post is ostensibly about voting, but perhaps my real message is that we are informed by the people who surround us. Wherever they are.
If you want to know more about why Ryan didn’t vote, visit this post on his personal blog. Join in the conversation there by submitting a response to his query at the end of the post. Ryan is attending ChangeCamp Toronto armed with this human data from the creative class.
Breaking down my own personal orthodoxy I’ve reconsidered my own long held view on non-voters. I now understand why some people aren’t voting. But, the rights of a citizen come with obligations as well. Voting isn’t the only measure of a persons commitment to democratic society. It’s only one expression of it.
Just engage. Vote or don’t vote. Commit to engaging with your community.
Personally, I know that not voting isn’t an option for me. But. it might be a legitimate option for others. Who am I to judge?
Should people be forced to vote? Should people refuse their ballots, spoil their vote, or join a political party?
