I firmly believe that agriculture was a mistake that has led humans to become animals that are mismatched to our environment, both physically and culturally.

I am aware of the tradeoffs.That is worth its own discussion but I want to focus on consumption.

The move to planting and gathering vs just gathering of food was inefficient. We have developed systems to increase the efficiency of planting and gathering but each increase in efficiency is held up by a scaffolding of steps that increase work and consumption sum while removing the autonomy of individuals. With all the technology and advances we have made we have a created a system that in summary has increased work, increased consumption, and still does not feed everyone as well as hunting and gathering.

I'm not suggesting anyone make the hard transition on their own to a lifestyle our ancestors were forced to abandon, and would be difficult to support against forces that would opppse it. However, does anyone think about the life that our ancestors lived until just a short time ago in human history as the nexus of anticonsumption?

I am a firm believer in the do-what-you-can philosophy. Perfectionism is the enemy of progress.

Here is my dilemma, my local grocery store, has doubled the price of noodles. I like giving my business to this store, because it isnt a giant chain.

Walmart, which I traditionally dont shop at, due to their business practices, has the same noodles, at their "regular" price, as in-not doubled in price.

It literally is just a package of noodles.

In your household, how do you draw the line, on such things?

Look, I'm 100% in support of purchasing media and holding onto physical copies over streaming, but I feel like this is just another consumer manipulation tactic. And of course, it would be in Target where all the cute, trendy things are. 45s have already been around for ages and play on a regular turntable. Do we really need to repackage and rebrand this with a whole new player and collection of tiny versions of the real thing?

who the hell is asking for all this shit 😭 walked into my local Big W (Walmart equivalent in Australia) and there’s just SO MUCH halloween stuff everywhere, like this animated skeleton taking a shit. like genuinely who is buying this 😭 every year there’s a whole new collection which makes me feel so overwhelmed. WHO IS ASKING FOR THIS AND WHO IS BUYING THIS

https://www.bigw.com.au/product/halloween-animated-skeleton-on-toilet/p/6069287?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_id=21501740563&utm_campaign=BIG+W+%7C+Home+%7C+Shopping+%7C+Decor+And+Furnishings&utm_term=&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21501740563&gbraid=0AAAAADkZkLiYpzgczD94ltiBke-OSbdgE&gclid=CjwKCAjw88HWBhA3EiwAo2Zd6ELp60hWMFmUGD0wq0mANdx_R9eh6b6do8oBhFjdBWJzMb3EkvocHRoCYJIQAvD_BwE

I'm sorry if this isn't the place to ask, i just really dont know what to do.

I never buy stuff online, and when i do it usually doesnt come with Styrofoam, so i am completely lost now that i have a box full of it. It's non recyclable here, floats easy with the wind and very easy to be mistaken for food by animals. Is there any way of upcycling small pieces or disposing of it correctly?

I just moved my family from an almost 4,000 sq ft house with a huge attic space over the garage, to a 2,500 sq ft row home in the city with almost zero storage and the amount of stuff we just HAD and never used makes me feel ill. We donated and gave away so much before leaving and now we are unpacking and I am giving away and donating even more. I feel sick at the amount of money I wasted, the terrible example I’ve set for our kids so far (luckily they are young) and also just for the terrible impact I’ve had.

I guess I’m just yelling into the void but also hoping to have a permanent lifestyle change. The small space should help but any tips to not fall back into the consumption that is pushed. The idea of Christmas coming and people already asking what to get my kids is making me nauseous.

Image Description: Drawing shows the back of Donald Trump with his hands clasped behind his head and on his suit: burning trees, a wrecked car, dead fish, sinking buildings including the Federal Reserve, factory smokestacks billowing thick smoke, floating oil barrels, and an oil-covered bird floating down a flooded river.

Medium: 1 drawing : gouache on inkjet print ; sheet 33 x 49 cm.

Image Source: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2019634723/

I see so many people saying they would never buy a mined diamond because of blood diamonds, and that lab-grown is the only ethical option.

Fair enough. The diamond industry has real ethical issues.

But how many of those same people check whether their chocolate is Fairtrade, where the cocoa was sourced, or whether child labour was involved in producing it?

What about the cobalt in their phones, which can be linked to dangerous working conditions and child labour? Or the fast fashion they buy every other week?

I’m not saying people shouldn’t care about ethical diamonds. I’m questioning why we apply such strong ethical standards to one luxury purchase while overlooking the supply chains behind everyday products we buy without a second thought.

If the principle is that we shouldn’t support exploitation, shouldn’t we apply it consistently?

I’m genuinely curious: do people who exclusively buy lab-grown diamonds also actively avoid other products linked to exploitative labour, or do diamonds get singled out because the issue is more visible and easier to make a statement about?

.

More here: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/09/anti-private-equity-comedy-influencers

I support the right to repair movement. It's a great thing, and I think products should be built in ways to allow repair, with tools and documentation easily available.

But it's not enough. No matter how repairable, they will always be trashed because it takes more time and skill to repair than to buy a replacement.

Repairing complex consumer objects takes time and skill that it's not reasonable to expect normal people to have. Basic economics then tells us that paying for their repair is always going to be expensive, because it takes time and skill to do. Consider a phone, or a stereo, or a car. They can be made repairable, but even for a skilled person it can take longer to diagnose and repair than that person's time is worth.

Spending 10 hours fixing something that has a replacement cost of $50 isn't something a person will do unless they feel ideologically driven to prevent the waste. We cannot depend on that ideology to be inside everyone.

So when a consumer-grade product fails, it is destined for the trash, no matter how repairable. Because you can buy another used one for less than the price of gas to reach a repair shop much less pay of an hour (or ten) of a specialist's time to either train you or to do the repair for you.

The economics don't work out, and they cannot.

So long as cheap-but-complex items exist, they are destined for the trash. We should expect this and require they be designed for that destiny.

Character.ai’s bankruptcy is the one of the first dominos to fall in the long-foreseen AI bubble. The circumstances of its bankruptcy are exactly what critics of AI have been saying would happen: Character.ai lit a huge amount of money on fire running its product, did not bring in a lot of revenue, and faced enormous legal fees after causing harm to its users. Enshittifying its product to try to make its expenses cheaper did not work, according to a narrative filed in bankruptcy court Tuesday.

Disney has reportedly offered Character.ai $20 million to license some of its intellectual property; Last year, Disney sent Character.ai a cease and desist letter demanding it stop using its copyrighted characters without permission. In 2023, it was valued at $1 billion after raising $150 million in a round led by a16z. 

Character.ai is one of the best-known AI chatbot companies that has become popular in the AI companion space. The company has faced various legal problems after being sued by the family of one of its users who killed himself after chatting with a Character.ai chatbot, and has been the target of regulators pushing for age verification tech because of its popularity with kids. In its bankruptcy filings, the company says that its enormous legal costs contributed to its bankruptcy, but that even without the legal problems, its business was wildly unsustainable. 

Read more: https://www.404media.co/character-ais-bankruptcy-documents-show-the-economics-of-ai-dont-work/

That full grown adults will get into fist fights, armed robberies, line up in front of the stores hours before opening time, etc over TOYS. The latest trend being squishy toys. It used to be Labubus, Stanley cups, Starbucks bear cups, etc

Now it’s squishy toys that are meant for children. And middle aged adults are fighting over them in stores. Useless plastic waste that will end up in landfill.
I would see TikTok and Instagram videos of people screaming and crashing out about the squishy dumpling toys. Some people who have insanely long and sharp fingernail claws will squish them until they break and then act confused on why they broke.
Like I don’t get the hype over these trends. It’s insanity.

Okay I need to vent! I’ve done my best to build a closet of quality clothing that lasts. However, when I need to buy clothes, I often use apps like Poshmark or Depop so that I can find what I need secondhand and avoid fast fashion. The problem is, half the things I purchase end up being drop-shipped fast fashion items anyway!!

I try to actively avoid any listings that are obviously drop-shipped, or new items that were bought in bulk and then flipped for profit. This is annoying as well, because I often have to scroll past dozens of listings to find items that are truly second hand.

I also used to love finding unique handcrafted items to give as gifts, but I can’t shop on Etsy anymore for the same reasons!

This is coming up now because I bought a pair of plain black boots that I’ve wanted for a long time. I’d picked out a nice brand that I thought would last, found them second hand, and purchased them. The listing looked trustworthy! When they arrived, they came brand new, wrapped in plastic. They’re not the brand they were advertised as, and they’re clearly poor quality, made of “pleather” instead of real leather. I suppose I can try to return them since they lied about the brand, but I’m afraid the seller would just toss them since they’ve already been opened.

It’s just frustrating because I live in a small town and shopping for second hand items in person, like in thrift stores or on marketplace is limited.

Anyway, that’s all. I just feel dumb for falling for it and it makes me sad that attempting to consume thoughtfully can be such a challenge. I’ll do better next time.

Is there anything I can do about this? Besides trying to scrutinize these listings as closely as possible?

I frequently read subs on these topics and it often feels like they don't mix at all - there are the rich FIRE personal finance bros who just want to save millions and live in luxury and the broke crunchy granola types who buy secondhand jeans and boycott Nestle and nothing in between. I feel like I'll get a traumatic personality split trying to interact with both. Living in NorCal and seeing former hippies in million dollar homes and techbros "disrupting AI" in flip flops only exacerbates the issue for me

since this community is known for its no BS common sense take on things I'm just wondering if there are any people here who in their personal life philosophy combine certain principles of both of these worlds. Like:

\- working a corporate job because that's what pays the good money, but not drinking too much corporate koolaid and trying to check out of the race as soon as possible
\- saving money aggressively but not hoarding, just getting enough for your own modest living
\- cutting expenses as a personal finance goal, but also to reduce waste; buying less, buying used, driving less, growing a garden whatever else
\- investing in the index funds covering the good the bad and the ugly of the global economy, but using some proceeds to support local ESG initiatives, volunteering etc

Do you see yourself as hardcore capitalist (drill baby drill, screw the whales, greed for lack of a better word is good) or as free spirited tree hugger and how do you reconcile these two concepts in your mind?

is it just me or does every thing these days subscription based things that you would just buy back in the days.

Who wants to keep getting texts from the company they bought underwear from once?

I was at a really fancy hotel as a getaway, and they put out this big block of homemade soap in my bathroom. Square cut, about the size of a tangerine. I was staying there for two nights and barely used enough to rub off the edges. So I asked at the front desk what they do with the used soap, and of course it gets thrown away. I suggested to cut smaller pieces for guests who don't stay that long, to reduce waste, and then I stole a small hand towel rag from one of the public bathrooms, wrapped up my soap and took it home. I usually don't use soap in the shower, but I guess I'll start now, especially since it's a very re-hydrating soap and my skin will probably be fine.