Nuh uh, idiot!

/s

I was so confused, thank you for explaining.

The delightful irony is that late last year, Chinese students started doing a big bicycle ride from Zhengzhou to Kaifeng for dumplings. Too many young folks together gets Chinese officials nervous so the authorities shut it down.

So, master of your own time if the party approves of how you spend said time.

Except most people aren’t buying second hand, so you’re complaining about a non-existent problem.

Edit: As an amazing proof of concept, I’m in a dive bar, saw a pair of gloves in a wicker basket of lost and found and asked about them. The bartender gave them to me, notinf they’d been here for more than a year. These are easily several hundred dollar gloves.

But if things really got to the point where many people were willing to buy second hand, there are in fact ethical brands as well for those who need new. Myself, I buy few things but as much as I can ethical either 2nd hand or from happy factories. (Though, goddamn I cannot find ethical boxers for a semi reasonable price. If you got tips…)

Oh, neat! I didn’t realize that much like clothes there are ethical internet alternatives. Which do you use?

I don’t think “yeah sure, that’d be great but if we all started doing good things it wouldn’t work!” is a particularly valid critique. We are nowhere near the point of too many people buying second hand clothes.

Yes, cheap stores are common.

But the most valuable brands in America are not at the cheap level, they are things like Nike, Levi’s and The Gap. Hell, even in progressive bastions so many people are rocking Arcteryx, REI etc, none of which are cheap.

Again, go to any downtown, look at the outfits and consider how much they cost. Just the same as people wearing hundreds of dollars in jewelry (yes, there’s costume jewelry but that’s not what most folks are wearing downtown.)

That’s a silly slogan, I get the appeal but I think it’s just an easy way to avoid taking responsibility for our own decisions.

At the very least, there is better and worse consumption. It is utter nonsense to say that buying something made possible by modern day slavery is the same as paying a local artisan for something.

I like that viewpoint, I just don’t think it really applies to most people.

I’m sure many people have causes about which they care but beyond ranting online, I’d suggest very little of it gets translated to action.

I think you’re right, people are tired, have limited energy etc but having volunteered at a few charities and seeing how desperate so many are for volunteers who aren’t retired, well, it makes you a little cynical.

Any second hand store means you’re not contributing to the problem!

And look at what people are wearing on any downtown street and ask how much that outfit cost etc.

I love the notion of a Mcdonald’s employee needing MFA.

Or that the only reason people buy smartphones is for MFA (in the years before widespread MFA, I’m sure they were getting them because they knew MFA was just around the corner.)

Edit: I think it’s just easier to admit people don’t really give a fuck about other folks if it would cost them anything. Walk down any street, most people are wearing clothes they know to be made by children who occasionally burn to death and many of those same people will happily fork out $200 for the “coolest” versions of those same child slave made clothes.

Consumers: Well, that’s fine!

How do you reward the work you encounter online?

Yeah, it makes sense and I don’t blame you.

IIt’s one of those tragic game theory problems, like the prisonwr’s dilemma, climate change or anything else where we all suffer because it’s in no one’s self interest to do the socially beneficial thing.

I had multiple involuntary physical reactions to that sentence.

You win.

Yes but if we can’t spell divide I’m not sure I’d hold out hope for nuanced or accurate political commentary.

So again, how should small websites exist then?

Donations and subscriptions almost never work unless you are already a well trafficked website so I’m curious what your solution is…

Back in the day, before ad blockers general unobtrusive ads generated more revenue per site visit. As ad blockers become popular, the value of those same ads were worth less.

So, to answer your question, they were able to pay the bills with discreet ads which we decided were too annoying, leading to the current spiral of decline.

Have you subscribed or paid for many? If so, thank you! But sadly, most of us don’t.

I’m not talking big conglomerates, I’m talking about independent journalism or folks who are working to build something meaningful or beneficial to me, like webcomics or fantasy hockey.

Since people started getting news online for free, quality independent journalism has plummeted and we’ve been left with mostly corpo media with a few indies hanging on or getting absorbed into corpo. I think it’s a tragedy which adblockers have accelerated.

Yup. Everyone wants everything free but simultaneously want a high standard of wages for everyone except whomever is providing them a service.

Folks dress it up in whatever nonsensical rationale they’d like but really, I think we’re just selfish.