Those mouse ears you bought the kids at Disney World funded a concentration camp.

The Tesla charger you used to refuel your plug-in vehicle paid the salary of a DOGE dope.

Your flipflop order on Prime Day Two bought a truffle cream canapé at an overwrought wedding in Venice last month.

The president is an addled megalomaniac, Congress bows to his will and the Supreme Court accedes to it all. News media, corporations and universities cave to his BS lawsuits like sandcastles in a tsunami.

Americans disgusted by this point in our history (hand raised!) feel powerless to stop what’s happening.

We’re not. At least not now.

We might not be able to 86 the sycophants who approved the ridiculous Trump spending plan until next November.

But we can show our disgust and make this nonsense hurt them a little bit with the power of our wallets.

We need to spend money. To buy food, services, goods, vacations.

How we spend it makes a difference. We don’t need to give it to people, organizations and places that spit in the face of our values.

A friend calls this “casting your dollar vote.” When he said it, he referred to an awful soap commercial we watched in his dorm room. The ad was so bad he swore never to buy that brand of soap.

It no longer exists.

I doubt it was just my friend’s disgust that sank the brand. But other people might have drawn the same conclusion – why should I buy a bar of soap made by people who think THAT ad is clever?

That isn’t always going to happen. But you can inflict economic pain on people who find contentment in inflicting real pain on real people.

Florida is a prime example.

Its malevolent dumpling of a governor brags about cooperating with the American Gestapo, ICE, in building “housing” in the Everglades. It’s a facility meant for the people being rounded up from the streets, without any form of due process or respect.

They call it Alligator Alcatraz. That’s a misnomer. In Alcatraz, prisoners were men convicted of crimes by a jury of their peers. There isn’t a jury verdict in the lot here, which makes this a concentration camp.

And they sell merchandise for it and chuckle at the idea that any potential escapees face death from predatory wildlife.

Why, why, why, why would a family of decent people like yours spend a penny of your money in a place like that? Especially in a place that generates a whole lotta income from vacationers like you.

In the summer, it’s a no-brainer. What with the hurricanes, tornadoes, miserable heat and almost hourly thunderstorms, why would anyone want to suffer through Florida?

But, when winter comes, there are places to go that aren’t run by Hothouse Hitler wannabes.

Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are part of the United States. So are California and Hawaii. You can leave the country, too, and feel better about it for not supporting evil.

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Every time you look online this week, somebody or something is mentioning that it’s Prime Week at Amazon.

But you’re also seeing that the sales this year aren’t particularly good. I’ve seen the word “stink” used.

I wouldn’t know. I’ve quit Prime.

Jeff Bezos saw Lex Luthor in a Superman comic and decided he found a role model. He gutted the Washington Post’s independence and donated money to the MAGA cause.

And he flaunted his wealth. Sending Katy Perry on a joyride to space. Ordering up a $500 million superyacht with a helipad aboard.

And, of course, his recent $50 million wedding in Venice.

Why should you pay for that?

To be fair, it’s hard to wean yourself from Amazon. You need something somewhat urgently at the cheapest price. You know you can get it tomorrow. That’s tough to walk away from.

It seems a lot tougher to live in an oligarchy.

While vacationing in Mystic, Connecticut, this week, I visited Bank Street Books and did my part to keep their business going.

Could I have gotten the book I bought for less on Amazon? I don’t know. I don’t care.

The same applies to Elon Musk. I’ve been off X since he took over Twitter. Not interested in what he does with Space X. And when I rent an electric car in September, I’ll make certain I charge it somewhere unaffiliated with Tesla.

And then there’s the companies that support Trump overtly or tacitly.

Take Target. Once the darling of people who believed chic could be affordable, the company turned its back on one of its largest customer groups – black people. It roiled Back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives because MAGA types squawked and Trump growled.

Black ministers understood the power they held in their wallets. They organized an open-ended boycott of Target that has severely pared company sales.

And here’s the thing: there’s no guarantee Target will ever get those customers back. Instead of admitting its mistake, it’s trying to muddle through. People can find other places to shop or make do if they think giving their money to people who don’t respect them is a bad idea.

Earlier this year, I wondered about my orthopedist. His mug is plastered or digitized on billboards throughout New Jersey.

Just for my information, I went into the Federal Election Commission’s data base of 2024 campaign contributors. And – surprise! – this doctor donated at least $30,000 to various incarnations of the Trump campaign.

He’s now my former orthopedist. I feel awful that any portion of that $30,000 came from me – even if it was through my Medicare account.

Don’t feel like this. Before you spend money on things that are important to you, think about who’s getting that money.

There are companies determined to keep DEI initiatives and not cooperating with ICE goons.

There are companies run by men and women not just unafraid of a changing society, but willing to embrace it.

You don’t have to shop at Home Depot or Wal-Mart. You don’t need a MyPillow.

And you don’t have to go to Texas or Florida, where diversity and equity are ridiculed and met with a 21st century concentration camp.