every time you buy a monster karl marx’s spirit gets a little weaker

There’s something so sweet about life.

Like, over-consume

And then you die.

Arte por Steve Cutts.

going through all of my ink. I use the same four ones. out of thirteen bottles. it might be time to make that four out of fifteen bottles idk

My beef with capitalism pt 12978536:

DIY is so expensive. With automation, exploitation of labor, and the rampant consumerism we are faced with, doing it yourself is almost always more expensive than just buying something premade. My big one is sewing; where in years previous sewing your own clothes would save you money, now it’s so much more expensive. If I want to buy a nice dress I can find one for $50. If I want to make a nice dress, I’d be lucky to find the raw materials for $50, not to mention tools like a sewing machine, needles, fabric scissors, etc that you need even as a beginner. You can cut corners here and there, I certainly do. I thrift fabric and zippers, I’ve found good buttons every once in a while, and I got my sewing machine secondhand as a gift. But all of those sacrifices take a toll on the quality of the final product and often make the process more difficult as well. Then you also have to contend with how limited time is as a resource. I need to work and take care of my health, my free time is limited. Sewing used to be a practical hobby, and to be fair, it still is to an extent. The ability to alter and mend clothes does save money and is overall very helpful. But sewing clothes is not practical. I invest in this hobby because it makes me happy, not because it saves me money.

And so many crafts and hobbies are like this. Making jewelry, ceramics, knitting and crochet. It even covers stuff like cooking and baking. It is so much easier and cheaper to eat out or pick stuff up from the coffee shop or just get it frozen from the store. Cooking a good meal has become a financial drain, by the time you’re buying a good piece of meat and fresh veggies and god forbid you’re using eggs, you might as well have gone to a restaurant. And the rising prices of groceries is a different conversation than the mass production of previously crafted products, but they are both about losing financial access to things that promote joy, self-sufficiency, and community. And it makes me mad.

I’m constantly reminded why tumblr is a better space (ok it isn’t perfect, but still) when I see videos about TikTok bullies and drama. TikTok is just a huge high school cafeteria of constant cruelty and consumerism.

TikTok is for you if you want to spend the rest of your life in high school.

Saw a youtuber I previously liked make a video being like: “If want to stop doomscrolling/buying stuff just have some SELF DISCIPLINE” and then proceed to not give any advice/methods on how to actually have self discipline. It’s like yeah girlie we already know we need to have more self discipline. It’s just that self discipline is a skill and not an inherent quality, so just Trying Really Hard to not be addicted to the Device That Was Specifically Designed to Be Addictive isn’t actually helpful advice. And then she proceeded to argue with everyone who tried to point this out to her.

Change yourself for what others prefer - duh!

What you own is NOT who you are. How you behave, how you treat others, what you do, what you say, what you don’t do or say, what you think, what you don’t think, what you believe, what experiences you create for yourself, what experiences you create for others, these things define who you are.

“The system of consumerism separates desire from real needs, consumers engage in fantasies for ‘sublime objects’ that can never be fully satisfied” (Bernd Schmitt)

#advertising #consumerism #society #political-economy

Advertising Apathy

not indulging in capitalistic consumer fashion culture for years and the one time i do need a new bag for school i spend a lot of money and get ghosted by customer service after my order not being shipped for a month is one of the most dystopian shit i have experienced in the last months, like damn, yall live like this every day??

could not give less of a shit

disabled people are used as walking billboards by medical device companies.

TELL ME WHY I JUST SAW A PAIR OF CONTACT LENSES WITH LOGOS ON THEM.

it is SO fucking dehumanizing that disabled people who have no choice but to use these medical devices/tools have to wear these logos and company brandings and be living advertisements.

PROSTHETIC LEGS ARE A BODY PART. NOT A BILLBOARD FOR YOUR PROSTHETIC BRAND. IF SURGEONS STARTED SIGNING THEIR PATIENTS WITH A TATTOO GUN AFTER THEIR SURGERIES SO PEOPLE KNOW WHO PERFORMED THE SURGERY, THERE WOULD BE UPROAR. THIS IS THE PROSTHETIC EQUIVALENT!! WHY IS THERE NO UPROAR???? PEOPLE IN WHEELCHAIRS— THAT IS A PART OF THEIR BODY. YOU WOULDN’T TATTOO THE WHEELCHAIR BRAND ACROSS MY BACK. WHY PLASTER IT ACROSS THE BACK OF MY WHEELCHAIR EITHER????

FUCK MEDICAL DEVICE COMPANIES. FUCK EM. FUCK EM. WE ARE NOT JUST A MEANS TO YOUR CAPITALIST END. WE ARE PEOPLE WHO DESERVE DIGNITY AND DON’T DESERVE TO WALK AROUND WITH LOGOS AFFIXED TO US BECAUSE WE CAN’T CHOOSE NOT TO!!!!!

Those “viral dumplings squishys” on TikTok are an example of how people will buy dog litter blind boxes, if it was viral.

“The Analog Bag” is another Consumer Trend, like obviously…

Humans are stupid, especially women with no actual power in a fucked up capitalistic system, like exercising the idea of agency by participating in consumerism, because they get to make a choice. Still, that choice comes at credit card costs.

Women, in the last few decades, have gained buying power, but sadly, that has not translated into greater political agency; rather, it is the opposite. We are seeing the rights of women backsliding globally.

With the erasure of the third space that existed outside work and home, and the breakdown of communities. The only place left for women to go to that doesn’t cost a huge amount of entry fee? Internet! Women come to the internet to gain a sense of community and communication. Unfortunately, the Internet is no longer a free space; it is the GLOBAL MARKET, waiting to prey on women’s insecurities and joys!

Thus, women jump onto trends, but why? Because the very-hyper virtual capitalist society is constantly telling people that they can “purchase”, “buy”, or “subscribe” to an identity and a sense of communal belonging. In a desperate bid to be part of some cultural identity, women hop onto these trends. In the process, they avoid inner reflection, which would show them how fucked the immediate reality is.

The rise of consumerism centring on ‘garbage’ among women is a symptom of the breakdown of society as a whole, where human experience has been killed for a little more profit.

On consumerism

So lately I’ve been going through cabinets and drawers, cleaning out and reorganizing things. Most things are still of use (especially now that I know we have them).

But I got a grocery bag full of old eletronics - old phones, tablets, chargers and wires, computer mice…stuff like that.

Of course, I’ll bring it to the recycle station rather than just toss it all. Wires will be stripped and reused, phones and tablets (wiped of course) will hopefully be repurposed…hopefully.

But it seems striking to me. It used to be that a TV or house phone was fine for 15+ years. Now a phone is only good for a handful of years before being considered outdated.

And yes, I get that in ye olden times the stuff was less complicated. Not computers with software that needs updates etc etc…but even so: things are no longer made to last. And it makes me frustrated.

I recently replaced my phone because the sound had broken. I’d had it for 11 years and everyone were amazed by it.

But shouldn’t we be able to have set a standard for our electronic solutions to last?

Why do we accept this use and toss mindset that the coorperations have implemented in our lives?

And it’s not just electronic solutions, it’s everything! The quality of clothes has dropped. I’m sure there are more things too but it’s 6am and I’ve been up for 2 hours already and need caffeine before I can think of more.

Anyways…just me ranting.