the problem is systemic, it's not limited to just Musk or Trump, or just American corporations. Boycotting corporations without a clear target, a clear goal, and active organization efforts, is just a waste of time for everyone involved. All you will accomplish is move some money from one capitalist to another, nothing more.
The ruling class are very happy if you choose to boycott, because they know it, just as well as I do. The revolution will not be televised. The boycotts are getting press coverage. You should consider why.
boycotts can work if they're targeted, have clear goals, and comprise part of an organized effort, but as a standalone tool, they are very rarely effective.
boycotts, like petitions and elections, are generally slacktivism - participate if you want to, and they can be helpful, but if those are the only things you are doing, then you're not doing enough.
i'm not sure i'd call it "least effective" while petitions still exist :p
you're totally right on everything else though!
i didn't say it didn't matter, I said it's harm reduction. that's totally worth voting for.
but even if everyone voted, it wouldn't fix any of the major systemic problems we have.
the oppression and exploitation of the working class is inevitable under capitalism. it is impossible to vote to end capitalism.
the fact you're being distracted from something that would actually work - organizing, unionizing, real activism efforts - by elections, is why i call them circuses.
the main purpose of elections is to give us a false feeling of political influence and power.
we have real power, but only when we work together and withhold our labor.
our power does not derive from our vote, or how we spend money. our power comes from our labor, and our ability to withhold it.
imagine if all of us, collectively, just refused to work for capitalism anymore, and instead, we worked only for the mutual benefit of our fellow workers. some of us would produce food, some of us would repair vehicles and machinery, some of us would provide education, healthcare, childcare, and so on. and we could collectively withhold all of these from the ruling class.
that is how we end capitalism. that is what I consider revolution to be. but we NEED to work together, and stop getting distracted by shit that barely achieves anything.
you should definitely vote, but voting is really mostly harm reduction - the system is designed to work for the benefit of the ruling class.
you've probably heard the term "bread and circuses" - elections are our circuses.
the rich and powerful control the state. we cannot vote our way out of capitalism for that reason.
oh sorry! sometimes i struggle with sarcasm online :p
solidarity!
Great, now you need to take a look at some of the links I posted to learn about what I mean by organizing.
Individual acts of sabotage offer little more than a fleeting sense of revenge, which may admittedly be all that keeps you sane on a bad day at work. But for a real feeling of collective empowerment, there's nothing quite like direct action by a large number of disgruntled workers to make your day.
you're misinterpreting that list, it is not exhaustive - it's a list of banking apps which someone has tried and updated the list. the lack of a specific country or bank on that list doesn't mean it doesn't work, it means nobody has tested it, or nobody has added it to the list, at least
the common person is suffering and of course that's fucked up. i didn't say your suffering wasn't real, i totally agree that working longer is suffering.
you're totally right that i wasn't seeing things clearly, i was emotional because of all the horrible shit going on, and seeing someone complain about not getting to retire early was just... very painful to read.
as i mentioned before, i regret my original message, and i've apologised for it. i should have been more compassionate and sympathetic.
i hope you do get to retire early.
solidarity
The bank doesn't need to manually support GrapheneOS, the app just needs to behave appropriately - which, as you can see from that list, the overwhelming majority of them do.
If my bank stops supporting it, then I will move banks. But I doubt it will ever really become an issue.