This got a lot of press at when it was compiled but I'm going to link to it here in the hopes that the message will spread. Fight, fight for your right to...not be screwed by mega international comglomerates. Or even local, meany-peeny good for nothings.
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I was under the impression that consumerism is "bad"! When did this appellation cease to carry that innuendo? Is there something noble in accumulating stuff? Is the title of this group some sort of existential joke, perpetrated by cosmic jesters?
In addition to the above criticisms, the auteurs of this farce have the audacity to excoriate the bedrock of their very existence, for there is no consumer without a producer. Furthermore, the more greedy and selfish the consumer, so needs be the producer. You want cheaper, more abundant food? You ought to believe they're going to use more processed food! You want greater credit? Be prepared for irresponsible sub-prime loans.
I am fearful that we have become inured and even proud to describe ourselves as consumers. Are we in any way greater than the sum of the food and entertainment we digest? Of course we are!- nevertheless, as long as modern society reinforces and perpetuates the myth which equivocates the everyman with "victim", his ironic enslavement to his "stuff" remains inevitable.
Thus, the only person who is not beholden to "corporate greed" or whatever banal invective which is en vogue, is the person who refuses the dichotomy, someone who has transcended the utter silliness that is consumerism.
Okay hombre, a couple of things. Firstly, consumerism does carry some negative connotations, much like any other catch- all generalization. With a definition as broad as it has, the word is rife for abuse. The context I'm using it in however is the most basic, that of people that consume, or use products of any shape or scope. I'm not talking about those early adopters obsessed with the new shiny, the latest thing. Not people using baubles to prop up their ill defined self worth. I'm talking about all of us that don't live at Walden pond. You know, everyone. We all use products, sold goods because it's easier than making them ourselves.
These companies that make these products or services are literal sociopaths, concerned only with their bottom line. The organization of a company allows people to schism from day to day ethics and cause damage to people that Joe or Sue public would never do on their own. They possess the resources for shaping the legal system and public opinion for their gain, often times to the individual user detriment. I think it only just that we ,as people, as consumers or users of goods and services find away to fight back against not just the wide injustices our elected officials are supposed to assist us with but against the small, plinking of ill will that we can be saddled with. The consumerist guide to fighting back is just such a guide. A methodology of righting wrongs and evening the score against anyone who would do you wrong. The site itself is a ground up focal point for concentrated action. These tips are just steps to escalate a problem to someone who understands the value of PR , good or bad, away from the lowly script monkeys that have no leeway to allow positive action. The guide is a good thing, a powerful thing and a first step into reclaiming the justice from companies that we have at least partially empowered to screw us. It's a minor call to action, a statement of intent. A guide to your own mini Boston tea party to be used sparingly and only as needed. Without it, you're just one more person to be blown off in the name of profit. With it, you're a force to be reckoned with. There is nothing wrong with a little reckoning when reckoning is due.
Post scriptum: We get it. You read dictionaries for fun. Now read Strunk and White for advice about using words that don't require foot notes.
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