True, though I don’t think it’s just capitalism that causes this dishonesty. I think it’s any time there’s a depersonalised entity motivated to coerse people. And certainly that happens under capitalism. But you could point to centrally planned communist states peddling bullshit to people too.
I think the antidote (so far as practical ones go) - and speaking of the West - is to ‘shop local’. People find it harder to lie and be disingenuous when’s there’s a genuine relationship there besides the trade.
That’s the most egregious part about adverts (to me), things pretending to be my friend when there’s nothing there of the sort. It would be different if it’s an actual friend of mine suggesting this or that because they thought it would actually benefit me (and holding their tongue when they knew it wouldn’t)
True, though I don’t think it’s just capitalism that causes this dishonesty. I think it’s any time there’s a depersonalised entity motivated to coerse people. And certainly that happens under capitalism. But you could point to centrally planned communist states peddling bullshit to people too.
I think the antidote (so far as practical ones go) - and speaking of the West - is to ‘shop local’. People find it harder to lie and be disingenuous when’s there’s a genuine relationship there besides the trade.
That’s the most egregious part about adverts (to me), things pretending to be my friend when there’s nothing there of the sort. It would be different if it’s an actual friend of mine suggesting this or that because they thought it would actually benefit me (and holding their tongue when they knew it wouldn’t)