How do I ethically consume under capitalism? Being vegan is right now one of the only ways I’m being ethical, and that doesn’t yet include buying products that have not been tested on animals. I worry sometimes.

  • southerntofu
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    4 years ago

    Hello, good question! The fact you’re troubled by how everything is fucked up around us is a pretty good sign that you’re a decent human being with a functioning heart! Unfortunately a system of extraction/refinement/production can very hardly be ethical.

    See for example this article about whether manufacturing computers would be possible at all in an anarchist society.

    The best we can do is consume less, as a society. As individual, there’s nothing we can do at all. Even if you buy nothing at all, our surroundings as westerners is more destructive to the environment that many people living fulfilled lives. Concrete, plastics and electronics are probably the WORST that can happen to the environment, and they’re all that our cities are made of.

    Dismantling industrial capitalism and its cities is the only way forward, if you want to have a semblance of ethics. Buildings/production on a smaller scale can be very ethical, by following principles of permaculture for example. In the meantime, consuming less is a course of action, but liek i said individual action isn’t gonna cut it: forming workers/buyers cooperatives, though, can help a lot in developing autonomous infrastructures that can surpass and survive capitalism.

    • uhohOP
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      4 years ago

      If there are no computers in an ideal world, and I love computers, what can I do?

      • southerntofu
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        4 years ago

        Fair enough question. I’m in the same situation as you. To be honest i don’t think polluting processes like manufacturing computers should be ENTIRELY stopped. Maybe if we built more durable computing and reduced software bloat we could enjoy using the same computers for decades, not months/years? There’s more smartphones in circulation than human beings on earth, so i would argue planned obsolescence is a crime against nature/humanity.

        • k_o_tM
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          4 years ago

          happy cake day 🥳

          /u/southerntofu and /u/dessalines same person confirmed? 🤔🤔🤔