The Left's Worst Phrase: "No Ethical Consumption Under Capitalism"
This phrase SUCKS guys. I also complain about leftists in this one (I wasn't on substack when that was hot), but mostly this specific phrase, because man is it really not good.
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If you assume all companies are evil because some are, then there’s absolutely no incentive for any companies to become good, ever. If you assume everyone who uses AI is horrible without any examination, you lump together normal people doing their jobs in the most efficient way with scammers doing deepfake fraud. And worst of all, if you gaze into the horror of the world, see all the evil and suffering and tragedy and blood that surrounds us, and your reaction is “Welp, guess I don’t even have to try to do good then,” then I stand against you.
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"No ethical consumption under capitalism" is a mess of a phrase that’s commonly used to absolve the individual from having to try to make good decisions, implying an abstract “revolution” is the only way. I think this attitude is bad, and doing good things is good. The phrase also has no less than four completely different potential meanings, that seem to encourage the exact opposite actions. That is also bad, and it’s unhelpful.