This. This is a large part of what “there’s no ethical consumption under late capitalism” means. On top of everything else, when the same company owns both the product you’re boycotting *and* the “organic, free range, fair trade, no prison labor” version of that product, your choice is literally meaningless. Even before you factor in the strong possibility that those labels are lies, you’re still just choosing one prong of a two prong marketing strategy meant to capture 100% of the market. Your objections to their cheaper, less ethical brand are being used to wring more money out of you, money that all goes to the same place. Your morality is being used to exploit you, and they still win.
remember when you used to go over to your friend’s house and you’d go down to the “computer room” to the dad’s old shitty desktop computer and sit on the giant black leather computer chair and your friend would show you charlie the unicorn and epic rap battles of history type of stuff on youtube while their younger siblings bugged you for a turn to use the computer
capitalism stops the growth of knowledge, when one is forced to work endless hours to simply survive, they never get a chance to research and improve their surroundings. there is no way you can argue it’s the most efficient way to “advance” society technologically, academically, etc.
this even goes beyond the whole “humans always have to work to survive blah blah” most of us are working far more hours than humans did a hundred thousand years ago to survive lmao. here’s the shocker they had far more free time than we do lmao.
there’s no excuse for the amount of hours people are forced to work, when the vast majority of it is simply busywork that does nothing to improve the lives of people, and creates grotesque amounts of excess waste never to be used.
all that fucking labor appropriated and for what? to be thrown in a landfill or the ocean, etc. and to deplete our scarce resources? yeahhhh real conducive to societal advancement right there.
"The spores are launched with a massive amount of force in a specific direction, almost like a cannon," said Chuan-Hua Chen, associate professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at Duke.
Researchers from Duke University have uncovered the detailed mechanics of the way fungal spores have evolved to harness the power of merging water droplets to launch in a uniform manner.
Fungal spores grow on the ends of long, thin tethers called sterigmas. Once mature, the spores must break away and be transported to a new location to grow. Some spores rely on animals or their own power to travel. Others—called ballistospores—are actively ejected from the surface of the parent organism. And in the case of some fungi, water droplets provide the liftoff.
When it comes to multiplayer first-person shooters, few items are more controversial than the season pass.
After paying $59.99 for a base game, some companies expect you to pay up to $49.99 for upcoming additional content. Whether that extra content is worth it varies by game, but at least you have the option to play without it.
Now, imagine if instead of paying for extra content you had to pay your internet service provider for the privilege of just connecting to a server?
It may seem far-fetched, but if your ISP is no longer subject to Title II regulation, you can kiss net neutrality and the ability to access all of the web at one price freely goodbye. Read more (Opinion)
A transition to renewable energy even makes sense for capitalism, but this is a system where sense doesn't count for much.
There are other problems with relying on market forces to drive a “renewable revolution.” One of those was highlighted in a recent issue of the Economist, under the tantalizing headline: “Clean energy’s dirty secret.”
This wasn’t, as you might think, a form of clickbait for coal industry executives or Australian politicians looking for a “dirty” centerfold spread on how wind farms and solar panels are bad for the environment. As a mouthpiece for the liberal wing of the Anglo-American bourgeoisie, the Economist is prepared to admit the benefits of moving toward a decarbonized global economy.
The “dirty secret” is that renewables are too cheap. “It is no longer far-fetched,” the magazine says, “to think that the world is entering an era of clean, unlimited and cheap power.” There is, however, “a $20 trillion hitch”:
To get from here to there requires huge amounts of investment over the next few decades…Normally investors like putting their money into electricity because it offers reliable returns. Yet green energy has a dirty secret. The more it is deployed, the more it lowers the price of power from any source.
The problem, in other words, is that the rise of renewables is making it more difficult for big energy companies to make the kind of profits they’re accustomed to. The Economist argues that this will create a drag on investment and make the transition to a sustainable energy system impossible without direct government intervention: “Theoretically, if renewables were to make up 100 percent of the market, the wholesale price of electricity would fall to zero, deterring all new investment that was not completely subsidized.”
This is a good read from the Socialist Alternative scene because it’s an argument against the old canard that we can sit back and let the market work it out. There’s no way corporations and capitalists heavily invested in them will permit dwindling profits.
Disabled and chronically ill Americans protesting the repeal of the affordable care act today outside senate majority leader Mitch McConnell’s office, June 22nd. The response? Capitol police violently moving them as always. Fuck the police the state and our president for their vicious ableism
Just like if you break apples and grapefruit down into their chemical components, I’m willing to bet that most people wouldn’t recognize the “ingredients” either. It’s a bunch of words you don’t even know:
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Don’t use these scare tactics - Chemicals aren’t inherently bad. Literally everything is made up chemicals. Trust me, your body knows what niacin is. It knows how to digest fructose and calcium sulfate. Even if you only consume the most basic and “real” foods that are pulled directly off the vine, you’re still ingesting a series of chemical compounds that you probably can’t pronounce. That’s okay.
“If you can’t pronounce it, it’s bad for you” is literally the worst pseudo-scientific scaremongering bullshit tactic. I hate it so much.
I’m pretty sure you can pronounce “arsenic”, but that doesn’t change the fact that arsenic is highly toxic. On the other hand, you couldn’t pronounce “cycloadenosine monophosphate” or “nicotine-amide-dinucleotide-phosphate”, though both of them serve vital roles in human biochemistry and you would die if your body wouldn’t produce them.
This is especially hilarious because grapefruit is well known for being dangerous for some people because of how it can interact with certain medications. Do fruit loops do that?
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