6 ms·

Who is working on trying to make people feel compelled to buy more stuff, that they don’t need?

by amiga_500 7y ago

pio42 7y ago
This is the only question we have to ask.
- rdudekul 7y ago
  How can we ask that question, if the companies we work for and all the work we do, is asking exactly the opposite question?
  - bigato 7y ago
    this is an area where i think that voting with our wallets as consumers is one of the best courses of action, if not the only, that can yield results
    - abyssin 7y ago
      Neoliberalism replaces the citizen with the consumer. Voting with your wallet is part of the ideology that destroys public power, creates short-term selfish thinking and behaviour. So I don't think counting on wallet voting makes much sense in reality.
      - tossAfterUsing 7y ago
        i was pretty young (<10) when i realized the television was always referring to me as a "consumer" and it felt awful, even then. if anything, i'm a "customer". i hadn't, until today, realized that it was a Neoliberal thing. thanks for your comment.
        abyssin 7y ago
        As Mises wrote: "When we call a capitalist society a consumers' democracy we mean that the power to dispose of the means of production, which belongs to the entrepreneurs and capitalists, can only be acquired by means of the consumers' ballot, held daily in the marketplace." https://mises.org/library/meaning-market-democracy https://mises.org/library/meaning-market-democracy
        tossAfterUsing 7y ago
        https://mises.org/power-market/was-mises-neoliberal https://mises.org/power-market/was-mises-neoliberal
  - elil17 7y ago
    Exactly - this is why direct action that challenges the root of power is needed. Instead of organizing to get the government to ban straws, we need to get the government to ban plastic fishing nets, cap carbon emissions, etc.
tootie 7y ago
Me me me! I've spent a year working for the most egregiously unnecessary luxury brand. We do really cool work that is just utterly pointless.
- amiga_500 7y ago
  Read David Graeber: bullshit jobs
gambiting 7y ago
I mean....what do you really need? I work in the games industry - do you need to play video games? I'd guess no.

Who is working on trying to make people feel compelled to buy more stuff, that they don’t need?

pio42 7y ago

This is the only question we have to ask.

rdudekul 7y ago
How can we ask that question, if the companies we work for and all the work we do, is asking exactly the opposite question?
- bigato 7y ago
  this is an area where i think that voting with our wallets as consumers is one of the best courses of action, if not the only, that can yield results
  - abyssin 7y ago
    Neoliberalism replaces the citizen with the consumer. Voting with your wallet is part of the ideology that destroys public power, creates short-term selfish thinking and behaviour. So I don't think counting on wallet voting makes much sense in reality.
    - tossAfterUsing 7y ago
      i was pretty young (<10) when i realized the television was always referring to me as a "consumer" and it felt awful, even then. if anything, i'm a "customer". i hadn't, until today, realized that it was a Neoliberal thing. thanks for your comment.
      - abyssin 7y ago
        As Mises wrote: "When we call a capitalist society a consumers' democracy we mean that the power to dispose of the means of production, which belongs to the entrepreneurs and capitalists, can only be acquired by means of the consumers' ballot, held daily in the marketplace." https://mises.org/library/meaning-market-democracy https://mises.org/library/meaning-market-democracy
        tossAfterUsing 7y ago
        https://mises.org/power-market/was-mises-neoliberal https://mises.org/power-market/was-mises-neoliberal
- elil17 7y ago
  Exactly - this is why direct action that challenges the root of power is needed. Instead of organizing to get the government to ban straws, we need to get the government to ban plastic fishing nets, cap carbon emissions, etc.

tootie 7y ago

Me me me! I've spent a year working for the most egregiously unnecessary luxury brand. We do really cool work that is just utterly pointless.

amiga_500 7y ago
Read David Graeber: bullshit jobs

gambiting 7y ago

I mean....what do you really need? I work in the games industry - do you need to play video games? I'd guess no.