The New Consumer

Advertisements are annoying, no matter what! One might argue that some advertisements are really creative, almost "a piece of art" (sic), but this is not about the content, nor how creative the advertisement might be, not even about the product being advertised... It's about privacy. It's about timing. Not to mention social cost -  fake ads; children as targets; persuasion to make you think you are what you are not and etc.

I remember the old days of telemarketing when we used to receive random calls about different products, promotions, and "unmissable opportunities", usually at dinner time! I remember my father once, after saying 2 or 3 times that he was not interested, saying "Look Joe, why don't you give me your number and I'll call you back when you're having dinner!", and hung up the phone.

Enough of that! Enough of spam mails in the letterbox! Enough of junk e-mails, unsolicited pop-ups in your web navigation, and, most annoying of all, unsolicited ads inserted in YouTube videos (not only in the beginning of a video, but in the middle as well!) and before starting radio streaming.

Unsolicited ads are like unwanted advice: Nobody wants them!!!

Advertising might be causing the opposite effect they very much aim... Instead of creating empathy to satisfied consumers, they are generating repulsion and rejection to a legion of frustrated consumers, which have no much options if they want a way out of this ocean of rubbish and visual/noisy/mental pollution. What can we, consumers, do?

BAN!
REJECT!
EMBARGO!

Do not buy anything that invasively throws an ad into your eyes or ears! The consumer have the power! Down with the ads!

Yes we could...

Of tracks, robots and shores...

What’s robotics’ benefits to humankind?

It was on the radio that Denmark is actively working on a project to integrate more robots into the public sector, as a money-saving measure. To illustrate the way they’re thinking, the project claims that while unskilled worker in health sector costs something around €30, a robot costs 80c! Impressive, isn’t it? More impressive would be to know whether there is anyone thinking about the social cost of the project!

It must be all about money only - did someone say greed is good? How could we produce something which we will need to redress later, if not moved by one’s own selfish benefit over other human beings? Is that humankind?

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Back on track!

The recession is over, and the economy is growing... Let's get the country back on track!

You probably heard these words a lot lately. That's the Irish government trying to convince you that getting back on track is a good thing, thus must be pursued at any cost! Well... here, humbly standing before my laptop, I will disagree! Merely because the track we were - and still are - doesn't look good at all!

Grow the economy - grow to where? Make the banks “health again” (what does it mean?) so they can lend you more money, and then you can get more debts, and be a slave of consumerism and production of goods!

Is that life?

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Shore, Offshore, Re-ashore

"money is not speech, and that human beings, not corporations, are persons
entitled to constitutional rights" - https://movetoamend.org/

We all know Capital can move freely across the globe, hunting for more profitable shores. There’s nothing new on that. But people cannot. People cannot even pay less taxes in Europe! People cannot order goods across the borders within EU, they have to "move" with the good - carrying it. If ordered by post, extra taxes will be charged.

Why the same is not applied to companies? Off-shoring saves dramatically, but this saving is not socially re-passed! Big companies save billions using semi-slavery workers in desperately sub-developed countries and pocket it all!

Is 1000% profit acceptable before the world we live? What about 500% profit? Capital over humankind, profit before people, while we should rule people before profit. Will the big-bag-money companies soften their stone hearts? You better not expect that! Neither should you expect anything from the government. Still, the big-bag-money companies depend on you! They depend on your consumption, in your belief that the recession is over, that the country is getting back on its tracks, and that those tracks are good! So you will keep consuming, indiscriminately, therefore production can be maintained and the big-bags can be filled with even more money.

The way we live is excessive. We should clearly look into our lives and decide by ourselves what is necessary, without privation. The choice of how citizenry spend their money really matters, and can make the difference.

Consume. But consume wisely!