Post #3420278

2026-06-27 01:09 UTC

@pluralistic@mamot.fr had a very interesting point on @democracynow@campaign.openworlds.info Something along the lines of "We can'tbuy ourselves out of a monopoly." I like to think the purchasing power of consumers in a free market could take down some of these huge corporations but I guess the point is there are systemic issues that need systemic policies to address them. And unsubscribing from Prime isn't a systemic approach.

Replies (2)

@BenjaminKlein@mastodon.nu 2026-06-27 04:33

@keoni@mastodon.nz @pluralistic@mamot.fr it reduced citizens to consumers and clearly doesn't work on it's own. Boycotts only work as party of a larger collective movement, don't buy from Amazon but also join unions and support political movements pushing for anti monopoly reforms and taxation. https://thenewpress.org/books/anti-monopoly/

Open ##3420277
@isaacfreeman@cloudisland.nz 2026-06-27 21:21

@keoni@mastodon.nz There's no tactic that works in isolation. A consumer boycott on its own can't bring down a large monopoly. Even if it grows very large, the company can easily defuse it by publicising a trivial concession (“Now available with 20% less asbestos in a fun green wrapper! We listen! Only twice the price of our regular product! Now show us which you're going to buy.”). You need a lot of other parts to the movement to educate people, look after them, build viable alternatives, maintain attention, assert legal power… even demonstrate a threat if you're ignored. Rosa needed Martin, and Bayard, and Malcolm.

Open ##3435546