By a somewhat roundabout method, I got to thinking very heavily today about how I use my dollar as my voice, and I was wondering how other Geeks see things on this matter. I'm feeling a bit guilty as I do enjoy my Noodler's Inks, and I plan on buying more, but I don't exactly cotton to Mr. Tardiff's politics, or the fact that he uses his product as a soapbox. It's certainly his right to, I'm not disputing that. However, I'm the sort of person who will not shop at Hobby Lobby or Wal-Mart because I find their politics and practices abhorrent; I won't eat at Papa John's because I think John Schnatter is a wretch. (Also, I live in NJ, and eating chain pizza is grounds for execution.) These are great big chains though, and they carry lots of different products that can be gotten elsewhere (aside from the pizza of course.) Noodler's is a tiny, tiny business, and although I can get a whole lot of ink colors elsewhere, some might not be dead-on, some might not be as colorfast, etc. It's a good product at a good price. Not for nothing, I've heard that Mr. Tardiff himself is everything from a "bit of a character" to "FBBSC", and I've known more small shops owners and crafters who fall on that spectrum than you can shake a stick at, and while they might be awkward-to-definitely nuts, they make awesome stuff. They just aren't terribly likely to be taken seriously outside of whatever it is they produce.

What do you think? Do you speak your mind with your spending? If you do, where you draw the line, if at all?

(Please note: I'm not interested in turning this into a Red v. Blue smackdown or debating personal politics; I don't care what your personal politics are. I am curious as to how you shop with them. Worm can opened!)