Advertising and marketing are forms of social manipulation. If they didn't work, and were not effective, they would not be used. A thought-experiment: how many

Advertising and marketing are forms of social manipulation. If they didn't work, and were not effective, they would not be used. A thought-experiment: how many people would be obese if it were impossible for manufacturers of unhealthy foods to market their products to anyone? Look at the obesity levels in countries that such manufacturers exclude from their marketing campaigns. The point is that advertising makes people do things they otherwise wouldn't have done. That's kind of the whole point of it. It's an entirely valid and important argument for something such as obesity, that advertisers and manufacturers of obesity and diabetes-linked products, may play a major, even dominant and causal role in those diseases proliferation. How could people become obese, for example, to take it to an extreme, if there was nothing but healthy fruit, vegetables lean meat and water to buy - anywhere? If you're a coder or engineer you'll know you find the faults of a system by pushing it to its extremes. Society/health and the struggles we face in those arenas are no different. As for the pandemic, there are countries in "free Western Europe" that have violently arrested people for attempting to go and buy food. I've seen elderly assaulted, who - with trembling hands, hold their medical exemptions to merciless and uncaring store security, and a hopelessly split society pouring derision either upon the woman or the security staff. It's up to people such as ourselves to pick up the pieces. These scenes are familiar to some of us, and people such as yourself discounting it is heartbreaking and frustrating. Spend a little time rooting out what it is you're "not supposed to see". Maybe your perspective will shift. It's all there, if you're willing to look.