this post was submitted on 10 Apr 2026
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[–] fluffy@feddit.org 13 points 1 day ago (5 children)

Perfection is the enemy of good.

Most consumerism is problematic and you can blame most people for something, just take your time and you will find something: Are you drinking milk? Are you eating meat? Do you drink beer or smoke cigarettes? Do you use Social Networks like Instagram, Facebook or TikTok? Do you buy stuff on Amazon? Do you use ChatGPT? Do you drive a car even though you could travel by foot, train, bus or bike? Do you watch soccer? Do you watch porn? Congratulations, you are probably supporting something shitty.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to change things. But offending people for doing some of these things never helped. It often just achieves the opposite. Try to encourage others, show them alternatives. Etc.

[–] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Perfection is the enemy of good.

Transphobia isn't good.

[–] BeardededSquidward@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

What's with people who are like "Let's compromise with evil and have a little evil, then." I've been dropping things I enjoyed when I find out the person is either a sex pest or bigoted. I liked Disturbed for example, then found out their front man is a zioniest.

[–] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world -2 points 23 hours ago

What’s with people who are like “Let’s compromise with evil and have a little evil, then.”

Oh, that's simple. They know it's never just a little evil.

[–] Smoogs@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

Finding alternatives isn’t hard tho. There’s like a plethora of magic school books from 2012 onwards. alerting people isnt the problematic thing while we are literally in a wold of countless options and claiming you can’t find any is just you being difficult and lazy.

[–] lexaflexa@sopuli.xyz 1 points 20 hours ago

Some people actually need an angry remark to know they are being an asshole, so there's no need to say all negative activism is bad. Sometimes, it indeed does the opposite of helping, but the same can be argued for positivity. You'll get laughed at sharing vegan recipes if the person challenging you doesn't think animal rights even matter. But them dismissing you isn't necessarily your fault for doing activism "the wrong way".

[–] starelfsc2@sh.itjust.works -1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Even if you do none of those it just keeps going. Coffee? Using too much plastic? Drinking 90% of soda brands?

I just like to think of it like "these things are bad, what good can I do rather than trying to cut out every bad thing?" If every HP fan supported the author by buying it, but then volunteered in a soup kitchen one time, they've done far more good than bad.

[–] sulfidedisburseangledafternoontipper@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (1 children)

If every HP fan supported the author by buying it, but then volunteered in a soup kitchen one time, they’ve done far more good than bad.

Good and evil aren't interchangeable, fungible quantities. You can't punch 20 babies in the face and then feed 100 starving orphans and expect people to forget about one due to the other. The babies stay punched and the orphans stay fed.

With respect to HP in particular, supporting someone who actively and successfully campaigns against trans right hurts trans people. (And tells us that y'all care more about a children's story than you do living, breathing human beings). Volunteering at a soup kitchen after donating to the exterminate trans people fund doesn't undo the donation. It does feed some hungry people, but again doing "good" doesn't erase having done "evil"; both acts still occured.

What people are saying here is literally "please don't donate to the trans extermination project."

Finally, there being no ethical consumption under capitalism is an indictment of consumption, not an absolution for any/all consumption. Just because all consumption falls short of perfect ethics doesn't mean it's all equally unethical. This should be obvious.

[–] starelfsc2@sh.itjust.works 1 points 18 hours ago

That's not wrong but I'm not expecting anyone to forget about the negatives. If you punch 0 babies but you are so worried about causing harm that you're miserable all the time and doing less good as a result, the world is on the whole worse off. It's not a math equation but I would rather someone eats meat if that means they're working to change the industry rather than someone who doesn't eat meat and does nothing. Someone actively working against transphobia and contacting whoever their officials are and canvassing does far more than their $20 does.

I'm just saying there's no possible way to exist without doing harm, anything you can cut out you should, but if it's to the point where it's stopping you from doing good in the world, that might be the line you should stop at.