Gilly wrote:
It's clear you're a hypocrite, and select a great many points raised in a debate to ignore, because your honest answers would be damning.

Mike wrote:
If I was to sit here and condescendingly explain to you how easy it is to not only avoid passive consumerism but to actively work against it then yes I would be a hypocrite.
That actually makes no logical sense whatsoever.
You see, for all your 'isms', and spouting reams of stuff you've read in political texts, you talk a lot of twaddle.
And I'm calling your bluff. Do tell!
Mike wrote:
That's good you've got your priorities in order, earning money is far more important than spending time thinking about your material surroundings and the part you play in maintaining the Status Quo

Sadly, it costs money to purchase one's material surroundings, food and so on. I'm shocked you didn't realise that. There are other ways, I suppose. You could go out robbing. Doesn't seem ethical though.
Oops - and more hypocricy!!! Didn't you post the other week about some female you thought fancied you because of the way she composed her rejection letter? Wasn't that rejection after a job interview? In connection with a job of work you'd applied for, to try to earn a wage?
Mike wrote:
Out of interest how did you think they were made if not by exploitation?
So all manufacture of products, in your book, is exploitation then?
Mike wrote:
It's fairly common sense and well known that many commodities are affordable because of the sweatshop labour used to produce them.
As are many expensive products. But hey, can't afford expensive - daren't risk buying cheap? No problem. We'll just thatch together a few fig leaves and weave some hessian undercrackers.
Avoided actually answering the question again though, haven't you.
Mike wrote:
Most the passive consumers who live for cheap commodities wouldn't have known though, they revel in wilful ignorance and selfish self interest, the only thing that matters is that they have money to spend and things to buy, when they don't they blame immigrants, dole scroungers or some other scapegoat.

Fuck off! If people don't know, it's hardly as you describe. Yes, as pointed out before, sadly, people do need money to buy necessities like food & clothes. I'm going to stick my neck out here, and risk betting most would like to have more at their disposal, so that they can afford to be a bit fussy where they shop.
Ooh - these immigrant 'scapegoats' you mentioned. The ones who come into the country accepting pitiful wages, hence driving the cost of labour right down. That would be a bit like creating the slave labour you object to, wouldn't it?