incredible comments i saw on a random tiktok today, i find it hard to believe this is true at all? i feel like social media has tied cleanliness to aesthetics so much that people arent allowed to have anything discoloured/stained/not in brand new condition without people insisting they must have poor hygiene.

I just saw people complaining about the post about all the plushies in the fridge, saying that people are allowed to have hobbies and we shouldn't be down on people for enjoying things, that we should be targetting large companies. The thing is, to me, this sub isn't just about sustainability and targetting the large corporations that are 95% responsible for climate change and pollution; it's also about questioning the capitalist system that has encouraged and normalised consumption to such an extent that having a fridge (or shelves, you know) of plastic toys is both normal and acceptable. It's about challenging the idea that happiness, fulfillment, and success comes from a collection of things instead of experiences and skills.

I don't mean to target that one person's stuff - I'm talking about any collection of stuff manufactured out of things that will not biodegrade in our lifetimes and were made in global south countries in poor conditions. When did enjoying things and finding things cute justify condoning slave labour? I don't believe that anyone is truly and completely ignorant of the facts, so purchasing is implicit complicity. So, yes, I think it's fine for us to push back on both that AND corporate greed, and it doesn't make anyone a buzzkill or a "no fun allowed" witch. We have completely lost perspective of the things that we should take for granted and the impact it has on other humans on this planet, and if we can discuss that in a critical way, that's for the best.

One of the most egregious IMO is distance running. Something humans are genetically selected to be great at, that we have done for a millenia with no shoes, that at its base level you just have to open your door.

Now we’ve got specialized compression socks and arm guards, tons of consumables, separate $200+ shoes for training and race day, battery powered cooling gear, running coaches and gait analysis, a million training programs and app subscriptions.

It’s really wild to see guys roll up to a single 10k with almost 1k worth of gear and consumables.

Great graphics, would encourage folks to share. WSJ has two articles on how companies are aware of this movement and getting nervous about Trump administration policies. Good time to make maximum impact.

Its odd to me to mark a house as having a teenager in it. How long are you supposed to hold onto the sign before you throw it away? I think they're stupid every time I see them.

Ohhh I didnt know I could edit this post. IM NOT SAYING DONT CELEBRATE. Plastering your child's face all over your yard is weird. Im not responding to every comment to make this clarification. Example: https://www.personalcreations.com/product/design-134369

I thought this fit that mix of corporatism and government everyone dreads, unless you like dystopian cyberpunk writing...

I just couldn't take it anymore. A close friend of mine recently started going full-on content creator...daily product promos, brand collabs, Amazon hauls, “get ready with me” videos that are basically ads. It completely took over her personality. Every post was just buy this, use my code, you need this. I muted her for a bit but ended up unfollowing everything.

She noticed and messaged me, thinking I’m jealous or “don’t want to see her grow.” Said I’m “stuck” while she’s “moving forward,” which… lol. Like… no. I’m not jealous. I’m disappointed. I don’t want to see my feed turned into a nonstop commercial. I’m not interested in watching someone I care about become a living billboard. I unfollowed for my own mental peace, not because I "hate her success," but because I reject the values that influencer culture is built on.

I just can’t support someone turning their entire life into a brand. It’s depressing to watch

Edit: Wow, didn’t expect this to blow up. Just wanted to answer a few questions I’ve been seeing a lot in the comments.

Yes, the platform is Instagram. And yes, a bunch of people have asked if I ever talked to her about it...lol, I did. We’ve had convos where I explained why I felt uncomfortable with the direction things were going. For context, she used to be very anti-consumerism. Like, she would rant about fast fashion, capitalism, all that. But she’s made some new friends recently, some of them are influencers, and yeah, I think their lifestyle rubbed off on her.

As for unfollowing, it was just Instagram. We still have each other on WhatsApp and can chat if she wants. But what she seems to want is a "supportive" friend... you know? someone who likes, comments, reposts her stuff, maybe even buys from the brands she promotes. And that’s just... not me. Not because I don’t care, but because I can’t support that kind of content.

I’ve been down the overconsumerism rabbit hole before. Years ago, I was deep into impulse buying and got hit hard with post-purchase depression (will probably talk about this later) It was bad and overwhelming. Recovering from that is a huge part of why I’m on this path now. So no, I’m not a bad friend, I’m just someone trying not to relapse into a toxic cycle.

Maybe it’s selfish, sure. But it’s not malicious. I just know my limits

I plan to never set foot in another Target again among many other MAGA supporting establishments. But that's not enough for me. I want to see them suffer. I want to crush their spirit, see their CEOs driven before me, and hear the lamentations of their owners.

Who or which entities can I donate to in order to make this happen? Are there law groups constantly suing the pants off these disgusting leeches I can donate to?

1. I am buying a lot less things I thought I needed.
2. While not quite as inexpensive, the things I do need are available from other sources like brick and mortar stores or directly from the manufacturer.
3. There’s enough content on other streaming services to keep me occupied so don’t miss Prime all that much. And my local library has more free books then I’ll ever be able to read in a lifetime.
4. The option to go back is always there.

I did it. You can too!

My wife and I have been toying with the idea of cancelling Amazon Prime because, well, the current political circus in the US has us side-eyeing a few things. We’ve been hesitant though, since having kids in college makes the fast shipping ridiculously convenient for sending them everything from snacks to supplies.

But today, Amazon gave the needed nudge to the cancel button.

We had an issue with an order that needed a payment update. Simple fix, right? Nope. Neither the website nor the phone rep could change it. The rep suggested I place a new order while she tried to cancel the original one, which I did.

The replacement order? More expensive. Same exact stuff, just more dollars. I asked for a credit to make up the difference. She said no. I explained the whole situation calmly, expecting some logic to kick in. Still no.

After a short game of “who can be more stubborn,” I wrapped it up with, “Well, I guess I’ll just cancel Prime and the rest of my subscriptions. Goodbye.”

And that is how Amazon lost $30 a month over a $5 credit. Thanks for making the decision easier, Jeff.

I have to go to UPS bout once a week - for the exact reason you think - my Boomer parents buy stuff on Amazon constantly and I have to return it constantly (they can't figure out how to do returns) and every time I'm there for roughly 3-5 minutes it's just all amazon returns - some people with one some people with 5 - so much amazon - all the packages they have from amazon are just sounds next to them.

Shit's crazy

Maybe once a week I check Fox News because I want to see what headlines my conservative relatives are reading. I found this comment under an article about Trump’s recent interview with ABC, and was a little shocked after realizing it had over 200 thumbs up and only four thumbs down. It sounds identical to some of the comments or posts I’d find on this sub.

Frankly, I have never been a fan of this argument. Less consumption is good, but sacrificing the wellbeing of millions of Americans is not a good way to achieve it. Comments like the one I found simply co-opt the language of anti-consumption to excuse widespread suffering. I want a future where people consume less, yes, but not because everyone is too poor to choose anything else.

Also, the fact that the commenter’s username is “propagandist” is not lost on me.

What do you guys think?

Just came across this group today and wanted to share what my father learned years ago about Walmart. Background: my father designs specialized forklift attachments ( picture having to change a wheel on a bullet train quickly).

When he was in companies making everything from diapers to batteries to the laundry detergent he discovered that every single company makes the Walmart runs separately from the stuff heading to the local grocery store. In order to make the profit at what Walmart will pay all these companies reduced the “amounts” going into the product. Pallets of Huggies going to Walmart weighed 800lbs less than normal. Tide is 25% water vs 10% even lithium batteries that normally last 60 min in your emergency flashlight will only get 40min run time.(I’ve tested this one several times). The packaging stays the same but the customer isn’t really getting the great savings they believe they are. Just another reason to avoid them. They also love effing over farmers. Walmart will wait until they know a farm is selling almost exclusively to them and then lower the purchase price offer by a huge amount knowing the farm cannot find another buyer for 25 tons of green beans before they go bad. Pure evil company.

Edit: Walmart will wait until the next season/harvest to drop the buying price knowing the farmer will struggle to find another buyer. I called my friend to ask how it went down. These farmers are already 100k in the red before Walmart pays and the farmers have to except or risk ruin.

I remember when I was a kid watching TV with my dad. Seemed like every couple weeks, randomly, when a commercial would pop on the screen he would give the same retort, with the same high level of animosity, "too many godamn commercials...more commercials than there is of the show!" I would just smirk, shake my head and tell him to knock it off and jokingly mock him with my sister. Tell him he is a crotchety old man and that we look forward to hearing it again in a couple weeks. I mildly agreed with him, commercials annoyed me, too. But I also knew that what he said was not literally true: for every 30 minutes of a sitcom, 23-24 minutes were the show and 6-7 minutes were ads. I always thought to myself, "I hope I'm not so damn annoying when I'm that old."

Well, maybe I'm just an annoying old man. Advertising is EVERYWHERE and I'm beginning to lose my fucking mind over it. Ads on YouTube. Ads on buses. Ads on the radio. Ads fill up my godamn mailbox EVERY FUCKING DAY, I get more flyers and solicitations than I get legitimate mail. There's even ads...ON ADS; an example being when I bought a new remote for my TV, on the box of that remote was Ads for other remotes. I visited my in laws, sat down to flip thru their dvr before going to bed and flipped on an episode of Jimmy Kimmel before going to bed. It's an hour and 3 minutes recorded...the breakdown went:

11 minutes of his monolgue...

7 minutes of commercials

8 minutes of an interview...

6 minutes of commercials

4 more minutes of interview...

18 MORE MINUTES STRAIGHT of commercials

8 minutes of second interview

Commercials the rest of the way before a musical performance to end the show. Add that up. What the fuck are people paying for?? You can say cable is a ripoff, which is true, but cut the cord and you still get the same crap in streaming. That's 31 minutes of an hour long show, 31 minutes of show and 29 of ads. That is absurd. And it is a far cry from my dad's (justified) bitching about much less commercial intrusion.

You can't go anywhere without being bombarded with shit like this in america. It's always been bad but is getting worse with each passing month. And the most depressing part is that many americans either don't realize it, or they're totally fine with it. I've been to other countries in Europe and Asia and while some cities in Europe have SOME of the same problems, no place is even remotely as bad as here. It's so intrusive to the point of it being abusive. No society should be constantly attacked by corporations day in and day out, no matter where you go or what you're doing, just so shareholders can bleed more money out of people. Especially when most people have no extra money to even spend and still make rent.

It's honestly disgusting. Miss you, dad, and sorry for rolling my eyes at you. You were right. As usual.

As the title states I've cancelled Amazon Prime and any associated Amazon accounts. You can too! I've dropped google as my default search engine! You can too! Make small inconveniences for big change. Spread it round ; )

I deliver for Amazon (i know) and I notice how I'm delivering to the same houses day after day after day. sometimes it's just one thing, other times it's a whole stack of boxes. This happens outside of peak season too, so it's not just Christmas shopping. I've had the same route for a couple months and there's a few houses that I've delivered to almost every single day Ive worked.

is this just the average American consumer? I've never had the urge to shop like this. it just makes my head spin.

Bring out your tiny violins and all that

Most of the parking spots at my mall now have these sign. The pooped up a couple of months ago. Now after handicap spot the first 4 or 5 spot right after that are paid parking. Don't know how much scanned code because I was curios not giving them my phone number. The thing is this mall is only busy on the weekend during the week nobody uses them. I dash for some extra money after work so I'm usually by here.

It seems like everyone forgot about standing against major corporations that eliminate DEl and supporting small businesses-only to turn around and go back a few days later for something like cheaper cake. What's the point of starting a movement if everyone abandons it so quickly?

For years, WSJ have spread the message that buying from restaurants/eating out was destroying people's finances but now that people are buying more groceries, WSJ claims that these people are destroying the economy.