Luckily, we’re not just “consumers.” We’re also citizenswho can exercise political power. That’s hard work – but so is organizing a co-op or a boycott. The difference is, when we dog enforcers who wield the power of the state, and line up behind them when they start to do their jobs, we can make deep structural differences that go far beyond anything we can make happen as consumers:
We’re not just “consumers” or “citizens” – we’re also workers, and when workers come together in unions, they, too, can concentrate the diffuse, atomized power of the individual into a single, powerful entity that can hold the forces of capital in check:
Antimonopoly policy is the foundation for all forms of people-power. The very instant corporations become too big to fail, jail or care is the instant that “voting with your wallet” becomes a waste of time.
what’s the solution, then?
i can see a somewhat clear path in moving people not off of social media, but to fairer platforms.