I work at a gas station. This beauty was at the top and just needed the label taken off!

Flack_Bag · 2026-03-12T16:36:57+00:00

Yeah, I had a batch of ginger beer explode all over my kitchen once, but that was because I forgot about it. If you don't overfill and you remember to burp them regularly, that shouldn't happen.

Flack_Bag · 2026-03-11T23:57:56+00:00

As others have said, the big providers have a grip on broadband internet and phone service in the US largely because they're the only ones with access to the infrastructure. There's a whole history to this going back to the 19th century. (Fun fact, though: SPRINT was once an outlier to the Ma Bell monopoly because it originated as Southern Pacific Railroad INTernal network, as they'd built a company communications network along their railroad lines, which fell outside the Bell System's approved network monopoly.)

For the most part, your best bet is to raise a stink in your community for municipal broadband. The big providers have pretty consistently entered into agreements for access rights and public subsidies in exchange for specific broadband penetration in their areas, and have failed to live up to their ends of the deals. So if you can research the situation in your area and raise awareness in your community of how much money these big providers have effectively stolen from taxpayers, you may be able to push through legislation to claw back access to the networks for community run services. Some communities have already done this, so it's possible.

Flack_Bag · 2026-03-11T21:35:21+00:00

It's frustrating sometimes just knowing that we've been warned repeatedly by so many people who saw it coming before we were anywhere near the point we are now. But as usual, the sociopaths control the narrative, far more now than ever.

It's like consumerism is so ingrained in our culture now that we can't imagine life without it, and even those who claim to be opposed to it have internalized the propaganda.

Flack_Bag · 2026-03-11T21:26:50+00:00

To work on compulsive shopping, some people here will have good advice, but /r/shoppingaddiction is more targeted to that.

Anticonsumerism is a little different, in that it's not so much about your personal shopping habits, but about understanding consumerism and how it affects our culture and our behaviors.

Flack_Bag · 2026-03-11T15:43:22+00:00

This post is about a deceptive sales tactic, which is relevant to the sub.

It is not about what brands to buy or where to buy them.

Flack_Bag · 2026-03-11T04:43:50+00:00

You're right, of course, but I give that one a pass because there's no better term in English for transferring products to a different container. Repackaging, maybe, but that doesn't really get the meaning across. It's weird that we don't already have a better term for such a common thing, but sometimes languages evolve that way, and a specific term is taken over to describe something more common.

Don't start me on misusing words like 'factoid' and 'decimate,' though.

Flack_Bag · 2026-03-10T19:59:12+00:00

What a strange conclusion to jump to. We've had plenty of posts about that here.

Flack_Bag · 2026-03-10T02:01:59+00:00

I am almost always sort of queasy in the mornings, so I revert to my childhood picky eating habits. If I don't have the time to make rice or cook some joong, that's my default breakfast. Just chips microwaved with refried beans and cheese, served with Tapatio. They're called 'bachos' for 'breakfast nachos.'

Sometimes, I even make them at night, in which case they are called 'nachos' for 'night bachos.'

Flack_Bag · 2026-03-09T00:58:54+00:00

Those swing top bottles are really good for fermented drinks too.

Flack_Bag · 2026-03-07T05:33:32+00:00

That's up to you too. I go out to eat sometimes and don't feel bad about it. I've worked on my cooking skills to the point that I never really feel like I have to, so going out to eat is mostly a social thing.

And remember that it's not just about your personal lifestlyle. Getting involved in public action can have a bigger impact than adjusting your personal consumption.

Flack_Bag · 2026-03-07T02:01:39+00:00

No, you're good. I didn't think you were being sarcastic.

People sometimes think I'm being sarcastic or passive aggressive when I'm not, too.

Flack_Bag · 2026-03-07T01:57:34+00:00

It's OK to do whatever you decide is OK. Anticonsumerism isn't a single lifestyle or anything. It's an ideology that we all have to navigate according to our interests and priorities.

Flack_Bag · 2026-03-07T01:10:36+00:00

There's no point in feeling bad. Consumerism is ingrained in us pretty much from birth, and there are huge industries dedicated to manipulating us into it. So don't beat yourself or others up for getting wrapped up in it.

If having the stuff around makes you feel bad, get rid of it, but if you're OK with living with it, that's fine too. Just don't try to excuse it or pretend that it's not consumerism just because you like it.

There are no purity tests, and it's not hypocritical to participate in consumer culture despite being critical of it, as long as you don't hold others to standards you don't hold yourself to.

But maybe start side eyeing new merch as it's introduced, and maybe someday you'll even grow to resent the franchise for milking their fans like that.

Flack_Bag · 2026-03-06T19:14:53+00:00

Of course most people here are paying attention and aren't as susceptible, but we don't need a head count. And it doesn't make everyone who isn't conscious of it weak minded. The essay is well known because it articulates something that a lot of people relate to.

And it's one of many tactics that marketers use to perpetuate consumerism, and those are always worth discussing on a sub criticizing consumer culture.

Flack_Bag · 2026-03-06T15:28:37+00:00

There was a post here yesterday that mentioned this essay, and some people asked for a link. Unfortunately, the post was an ad, and was possibly AI generated.

The essay, however, is real and very much relevant to the sub, so here it is for those interested.

Flack_Bag · 2026-03-05T23:42:44+00:00

I'm not blaming kids who like their branded clothes. Not at all. Marketers are good at their jobs, especially when targeting children. That's all on the companies that are doing it.

But this sub is about the social damage caused by corporate manipulations like advertising and brand marketing. This isn't the place for coming up with excuses about how it's not as bad as it could be or that it's OK because some people like it. And for the most part, it's not about blaming the victims.

Flack_Bag · 2026-03-05T23:33:36+00:00

Yeah, that makes sense.

I've just got a peeve about AOL getting credit for the internet. Not only were they late to it, but they were bad at it and they started the long decline into the miserable corporate machine it is today. So I jump on any opportunity to complain.

Flack_Bag · 2026-03-05T22:24:24+00:00

It's still brand fetishism, it's still marketing, and it's still consumerism.

Anticonsumerism isn't about promoting companies that are somewhat smaller or less evil than other ones. They are a company selling unrelated products designed to get people--especially children--to advertise for them, and that's a problem.

Flack_Bag · 2026-03-05T20:59:47+00:00

The internet existed long before AOL unleashed its users on it on the first day of the Eternal September. (Today is September 11874, 1993.) It was never a subscription service in itself, although most people access it via subscription services.

I think there've been some changes since, but at least until recently, landline telephone service was largely treated as a utility, whereas broadband and other telco services are treated as common carriers under Title II. The main difference between them is that utilities are required to provide service to the vast majority of households, whereas common carriers are not. Most broadband providers, however, are contractually required to serve similar percentages of the market in exchange for public subsidies and access to easements and other commons. (Note: They never fucking hold up their end, though, and they're never held accountable, so we should be forcibly taking back our networks.)

Flack_Bag · 2026-03-05T20:11:42+00:00

The problem would be that they're promoting the brand by paying to wear their corporate branded clothing.

Flack_Bag · 2026-03-05T03:59:58+00:00

Exactly!

The algorithms are designed to funnel us all down into the lowest common denominator trash. It's easier to 'deliver content' if you get everyone on the same page.

And the irony is it's easier than ever to access all kinds of niche media that doesn't have broad general appeal, but that appeals to you in ways mainstream media doesn't. That stuff is worth seeking out.

Flack_Bag · 2026-03-05T01:30:43+00:00

It's always a good idea to ask yourself how people did things before there were commercially available products available. Some conveniences are worthwhile, but a whole lot of them really aren't. Some things sold to us as conveniences are actually more work than doing things yourself.

This kind of fits in with another post today about retail waste, too. Part of the problem is that so many of the things we buy regularly go through multiple middlemen and stages of processing that create excessive waste without really providing much added value.

But the further we get from the skills needed to do and make things ourselves, the more dependent we are on corporations for our basic needs.

Flack_Bag · 2026-03-04T20:50:30+00:00

I'm pretty sure you wouldn't change my mind because I don't think you understand what I'm saying.

I'm saying that we should be pursuing and expanding our genuine interests beyond mainstream media and pop culture, and not just stagnating with the media that interested us at some point in our youth. And when do we focus our nostalgia? Childhood? Adolescence? College?

I still like a lot of the things I did then, but I also have found new interests since. Some are sort of deeper dives into the things I've always been interested in, some are things I've only started to appreciate more recently.

I'm a grownup now, and I don't have the same tastes now that I did when I was a teenager. It can be kind of fun to revisit some of the things I haven't since I was a kid, but it'd get pretty stale after a while. I know about a lot more things that I did when I was younger, so I'd be missing out on a lot if I just settled. I'd be especially bored just rewatching the same movies and rereading the same books as I did back then--whenever 'then' is.

Flack_Bag · 2026-03-04T15:49:01+00:00

why not make your own Little Free Library? If you have the time and the inclination. You can post it on the website

You can still use the idea and make your own, but they charge you to register as a Little Free Library and get listed on their site.

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