Supporting local is a political act because it deliberately shapes community, economy, and power structures, as opposed to simply being a consumer choice. It puts your taxes to good use and boosts the local tax base for public services, keeps money local and circulating among neighbors, and resists corporate homogenization, ultimately acting as a form of grassroots activism.
Supporting local stimulates economic empowerment (68 cents on every dollar remains in the local economy) and democratic engagement, encourages values-driven spending, and fosters social connection and community.
Eating Local is political
Eating at a local restaurant is a powerful source of communal strength and functions as a form of civic engagement. This allows consumers to use their purchasing power to influence the economy, environment, and community. By choosing to eat local, you sustain nearby farmers, preserve farmland, keep money within the community, reduce reliance on industrial food systems, create shorter supply chains, and foster more resilient, sustainable food networks. Essentially, eating local bolsters the local economy and supports a healthy environment.
Beyond that, food itself is political. Government policies, corporate interests, and cultural values shape everything from what’s grown and who can access it.
Do you like food and eating local? Whether you think so or not, you are involving yourself in political interests.
Supporting Libraries is Political
Public libraries are taxpayer-funded, government-managed institutions that require voter approval for funding and act as democratic spaces for free access to information. They face political funding battles and censorship.
Libraries provide a wealth of resources to the general public beyond books, DVDs, and music, including internet, computers, community events, educational and career services, MakerSpaces, Discovery Passes, and so much more. They are particularly vital for lower income communities that don’t have access to technology.
Have you ever checked out a book or used the public library’s resources? Wanting a library system for your use is political.
Free Things to do in Cincinnati
Visiting parks is political
Parks are publicly funded, regulated, and managed spaces. They are sites that foster community and where political actions occur, from rallies and protests to policy-driven decisions on inclusion and history. Local, state, and national parks exist because of environmental policy that protects land from climate impacts, which means that discourse regarding how to manage these spaces is inherently political.
Do you ever go to the park? Ensuring they are managed and maintained is political.
Going to the museum is political
Museums are often funded by public tax dollars, serve as community infrastructure, and curate narratives regarding history, identity, and science, which can influence public perception and democratic participation. Just this past year, the current administration proposed to eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences (IMLS), which provides funding and grants to area museums such as the Cincinnati Museum Center, National Underground Railroad and Freedom Center, Cincinnati Zoo, Taft Museum of Art, and Contemporary Arts Center.
Do you go to area museums? Wanting them to exist is political.
Experience the Arts at Little to No Cost in Cincinnati
Supporting the arts is political
Supporting the arts* involves public funding decisions, shapes cultural narratives, and influences civic discourse. The arts are used to stimulate local economies and improve quality of life, which are direct policy goals of local and state governments. Supporting the arts is not merely about funding leisure; it is an active, political choice that shapes the culture and values of society.
Additionally, the arts have historically played a significant role in providing a voice to marginalized communities, enabling them to share their unique cultural narratives, express resilience, and advocate for social justice. The arts allow them to foster self-expression, challenge dominant narratives, and build social cohesion. Arts participation correlates with lower rates of juvenile delinquency and truancy.
Do you enjoy going to the theatre and stimulating the local economy? Both of those things are inherently political.
Accessibility in Cincinnati
Transit is Political
Transport, which includes buses and rail (e.g. streetcar) involves public funding, land use decisions, and competing visions for community development. Transit planning serves as a tool for economic development and connects residents in low-income and suburban areas to jobs, appointments, and grocery stores. Buses and the streetcar are cost effective, ADA accessible, and convenient for people who are unable to drive a vehicle for a myriad of reasons. Metro even offers Paratransit services for people whose disabilities prevent them from riding Metro buses.
Have you ever ridden the bus or taken the streetcar? Do you have neighbors who rely on public transit to connect to everyday needs? Having that access is political.
Supporting our neighbors and marginalized communities is political
While humanity is not inherently political, many marginalized groups are excluded from mainstream social, economic, cultural, and political life and policies. Marginalized groups—BIPOC and other minorities, LGBTQIA+ people, disabled populations—work and live in our communities and face ongoing systemic discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or socioeconomic status.
Tour de Cincinnati aims to to foster an inclusive environment that advocates for equal access, opportunities, and protection for all of these vulnerable communities, which means …
Tour de Cincinnati is Political
Everything I do and support as a local influencer is political. Food, parks, small businesses, and the very people who support me and make my account what it is—including and especially marginalized folx. Supporting our neighbors and marginalized communities is political.
Whether you care to believe it or not, politics are in every aspect of our life and I will never “stick to” whatever it is people think I should be sticking to. I’m a tax-paying citizen with a voice and you damn well better believe I will be using it.
*Visual arts (drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, ceramics), music, theatre, dance, literary arts, decorative arts & crafts
