“Everything As A Subscription”: People List 35 Industries They Want To See Disappear In 10 Years
InterviewFrom college textbooks to scam call centers, we’ve all run into industries that have somehow persisted despite the majority of people hating them. For one reason or another, these institutions are still alive and kicking, to the dismay of most people.
Recently, internet users shared what sort of businesses they thought should really not still be a thing. Some users also specified industry practices that really need to change. After all, fast fashion is terrible, but we still need clothing! We’ve gathered some of the most interesting and relevant examples, but be sure to add your ideas in the comments! And upvote the ones you absolutely agree with as well.
This post may include affiliate links.
Puppy/kitten farms.
We got Cleo from someone whose dog got pregnant from their sisters dog they were looking after. This is her at 8 months old pretending to be asleep Cleo-cheek...03761a.jpg
Let's just say all meat. Why care for just the cuter pet animals and not all animals?
Load More Replies...I have current Amish ads selling puppies if anyone wants to help jam their phone lines up.
Load More Replies...Got my dog from one. She is a little terrier of some kind, she doesn't even come to my knee and I'm only 5'2. Anyway, she was in a pen with much larger dogs. So, every time they pooped, it built up. They weren't cleaned out for weeks, so my poor girl was swimming in s**t by the time she was found. Makes me feel sick to think about. She is currently 14 (we think, no exact age), laying on my bed, demanding belly rubs like the diva she deserves to be. Only truly cruel people could do this to another living creature.
Those people should be put in tiny kennels strictly for breeding (including inbreeding), being fed barely enough to stay alive, never getting to run, play or just being a cool-a*s, loving, beautiful, happy dog. F**k you for taking that from those incredible creatures and taking them from the world.
I live in Amish Country- could sure use some help jamming up the phone lines of the people selling here. We have new bank buildings going up at least 2x a year even though everyone's poor. Its puppy money.
I asked them to come here to Amish country and help and they just sent me a form letter. Didn't take it serious at all.
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Child beauty pageants- are they still going? That.
Pedo Catalogue. Get rid of them and let the kids play and have fun instead of becoming anorexic divas at 5 years old
To be fair, they did give us the movie, Little Miss Sunshine.
Load More Replies...Saw an ad for how to get your K-5th girl into pageants. One of the categories was swimsuit. How is this not grooming and even still legal?????
Because America. I've never seen it anywhere else. It's still legal to marry a child in most states!! (https://www.equalitynow.org/learn_more_child_marriage_us/)
Load More Replies...The idea of these makes me sick. Stop enforcing the idea of unnatural beauty and appearance at such a young age 💔
not only is it disgusting for obvious reasons, but it's setting these kiddos up for a load of self esteem issues
I was reading an article on this a few years ago. One of the moms exclaimed 'it raises her self-esteem so high!' Hello, mom, maybe that's your self-esteem? I don't think 3 year olds think this way.
Load More Replies...These are absolutely disgusting. The same women screaming pop songs are songs for devil worshipers are putting their child in these grooming pageants
I never understood what's the matter with the parents. They'll tell you "She wants to do it". Nope. You do. How do they not realize that those shows are a pedo magnet?
Social media influencing.
If you see an influencer in the wild, play Disney music as loud as you can for as long as you can. The video will not be usable without a copyright strike and most videos are 'in the moment' meaning once the moment has passed it is too late and can't be re-shot
The funniest kind of influencers are the ones with like 1000 people on their social media and still describe it as their 'job'. At that point you're not so much influencing people as just publishing your cringy scrapbook. It's just a sign of the times too that kids that are failing school are clinging onto unrealistic dreams of easy money - my ex's kids were totally of the opinion that they were going to be the next big gamer on youtube and it's f*****g heartbreaking watching them uhm and er though 5 minutes of cringy video and trying to get them to focus on a 'backup plan' without saying 'guys... in 5 months you've had 32 views... and i know for a fact at least 10 of those were mine just making sure you're ok and not being bullied'
Stop Making stupid people famous...they can only be influences is people get influenced by them.Dont buy Kardashin c**p, and unfollow them ...simple reqlly
THIS. So much this. There is so much absolute S...t on TV / Media because it is making money - because people are watching it.
Load More Replies...This is social media. Even old-school forums are social media.
Load More Replies...I don't mind Social media reviews by people who have some kind of background or experience in that area - for example, Mr Johnny Ross works at Sephora & does reviews that can be found at Sephora. But random people's opinions? Just add a Google Review.
Why wait 10 years for this to disappear? I want this gone in much less time!
Common contenders for being removed were scams and online tech support scams in particular. While digital technology has expanded massively over the past two decades, the main scamming strategies remain the same. Like the con artists of the past, tech support scammers will forest try to get the confidence of the victim. Tech-illiteracy plays a large part in their strategies, as many will try to make the normal functions of your computer appear like hacking or malware.
The goal of the scammer is to first get access to your computer and then convince you that there is some issue that can only be solved by paying for some sort of program renewal or having a more skilled technician fix it remotely, at a cost of course. More insidious scammers may try to gain access to your computer to find compromising information or passwords.
Human trafficking.
eliminate poverty, eliminate crime. simple. Capitalism is the cause of crime and violence. Because capitalism creates social classes, to ensure a supply of cheap labour.
That won't end child trafficking. Men traffic children for sex.
Load More Replies...I really hope this doesn't exist in ten years. I live in a state where it's a lot more common than average, and we've been learning about how to prevent it since 7th grade.
Human trafficking is based in demand. No demand, no trafficking. But how do you eliminate demand?
It’s based partly on demand, however also supply. Eliminate the conditions that allow it to flourish and supply dries up
Load More Replies...Unfortunately, I think the only way to get rid of human trafficking would be to eliminate humans
I don’t think that’s the case. Trafficking isn’t ubiquitous. You need to eliminate the conditions that allow it to flourish
Load More Replies...Sadly this will never end because there are too many disgusting humans who proudly voice how good they are to the public and go do horrific things afterward
This is wrong in every way. Not just morally or religiously but in general.
Mega churches.
"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others" - Matt 6:5
Start by making ALL churches pay property taxes. What a crock of s**t that they are tax exempt!
Hear hear! Religion is the biggest scam in the world. Its primary purposes are to control others and cheat them out of their money by instilling fear and xenophobia. If you attend one of the very rare ones that actually want to help mankind with no thought of exploiting others, you have my respect.
Load More Replies...It's Prosperity Gospel that is the biggest problem with these churches. Worship of capital designed as Christianity
Load More Replies...I go back to a comment a while ago... What if the only people who got it right were atheists and God welcomed them with open arms. Here's a thought for you, if god gave us free will then who gave religion the right to push their beliefs on us no matter how many times we say no. even at the end of a gun?
"What if the only people who got it right were atheists and God welcomed them..." This is a paradox. If the atheists are right, God doesn't exist.
Load More Replies...Mega churches kicked into high gear somewhere in the 1980's. Maybe it had something to so with the spirit of the times. In any case they are a testament to the biblical ignorance of their supporters.
He loves you, and He needs money! He always needs money! He's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow just can't handle money! - George Carlin
Conversion therapy.
Or any place where they want you to "change for your own good". Basically re-education camps through physical and psychological torture.
I remember watching "But I'm a Cheerleader" in college and crying my eyes out.
Load More Replies...just remember: You can't pray the gay away, but you can gay the pray away (btw before anyone flames me for this im bi dw its all in good fun)
Christians. They're not doing themselves any favours are they? The type of evangelical and nationalist christianity being demonstrated in the US is making it look like more of a theocracy. Just look at the gop members of congress
There's a dude named Peterson Toscano that had a one-man-show about doing time in the 'Homo no' mo' Halfway House'. He spent years and years and tens of thousands of dollars trying to 'de-gay' himself until he realized it wasn't working. Now he's got some really cool one-man plays going on.
And yet the UK is still dragging its heels on this one. So annoying. What's the problem? Just stop it...
Load More Replies...There was a study a few years ago that claimed that conversion therapy works. Caused a huge uproar because it was presented as real research, with statistics and everything. Every evangelical on earth was shouting "See, see! There's proof that it works!" Then a number of people who were trained in analysing research studies look a hard look at it... and lo and behold! None of the twenty men who participated were gay to begin with.
There's also a fair few parties who have led the "pray out the gay" crusade only to be closet homosexuals themselves. Like much of the Catholic church really...
A Convert To Catholicism Here: The (So Called) Lavender Mafia Is A Lie Promoted By Neo-Fundamentalist Sedavacantists. It Has No Basis In Reality
Load More Replies...Generally, the average tech support scammer wants to simply take your money and run. Fortunately, consumer protection laws and tools have come a long way since the early 2000s. These days scammers will try to get you to pay them with digital gift cards. These are less regulated and generally can’t be traced back to the scammer as easily. If you have ever seen signs saying that your bank, Microsoft, and all government agencies will never ask you for gift cards and wondered what those are for, now you know.
For profit health insurance.
Every year over 500,000 US residents have to declare personal bankruptcy due to medical bills. Insurance companies take your hard-earned cash, then d*ck you around when you make a claim.
Load More Replies...For-profit health insurance is why some people with multiple or chronic pain medical issues choose to move away from their life (suicide) It's not a negative suicide, they choose to stop being a burden to whoever cares for them or themselves or the pain finally was just too much for them... and for-profit health insurance either wouldn't approve medication or procedures that would help or heal, or the doctors were more interested in future appointment$$$$
Illness, or disability, should not be seen as weakness or criminalised. You should not live in poverty because of it, nor should you lose your home. The community and society .should shoulder the costs for its members. This is civilised. For an insurance salesperson or company to dictate your treatment is truly abhorrent.
Move to a country that is not third world and in which healthcare is a right and not a business
Mommy/Family vloggers. They're sinister... a podcast I listened to did a 7* episode deep dive and it was horrifying. There needs to be laws to protect these exploited children and in 10-20 years we're going to see a LOT of these kids telling their horror stories and suing their parents.
EDIT TO ADD: The podcast is called Some Place Under Neith. It's episodes 56 - 62.
There's already kids out there telling horror stories about life with their influencer parents.
There's a current article here on BP where basically it's a mum that has filmed herself acting like a f*****g nutter to her kid about not tipping on his first date... she later clarifies that it's not his first date at all, but just the 'first were he drove himself to'. and it's all just so f*****g cringy that kid's perceived mistakes and growth are filmed and shared for internet 'likes'.. and they have the temerity to try and spin it as good parenting.
The most I had to deal with growing up in the 70s was 'the family' having a laugh at my mistakes when my mum had said something like 'we'll say no more about this now'.. and immediately told everyone else in the family after she said she wouldn't... that was bad enough and tbh I still don't tell her anything private now 40yrs later but christ.. to put kids embarrassment on the internet for the whole world to see just for a few likes? I personally see that as throwing your own kids under the bus and no good parent does that.
Load More Replies...Coogan law should apply. Or child abuse. Would have to listen to the podcast
I remember listening to Tiffany from internet analysis go over it. worth a watch.
Bored Panda is social media. So are old school forums.
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Call Scammers that steal from the elderly.
I love watching Scammer Payback on Youtube. Hilarious how he destroys these places
Never heard of Scammer Payback before but just watched it for about an hour. I'm hooked. ty
Load More Replies...Got my nan to start saying-Welcome to Grannies Funeral Home and Taco Bar/Where yesterday's Grief is Today's Beef. She got off their lists so fast...
My grandpa and grandma have been struggling with money because my grandma has a brain tumor and has been getting treatment for it (she is relatively ok as of now) and my grandpa got a scam call and lost like 500-1000 $(I don't remember what it actually was) and my mom set up a go fund me for him and he made like 1100+ dollars from family and friends.
Years back I read in a UK newspaper that an elderly woman made herself unalive due to the fact she was already donating money but they kept calling and harassing her for more. She felt like a bad person for not being able to do more, she was left with next to no money to live on and just ended it. There was an investigation launched at the time but nothing came of it. The whole world is just one big scam, everywhere you look there are adverts, on tv, the radio, magazines on posters on bus shelters we are being brainwashed subconsciously, these little adverts throughout our day, even on buses it's everywhere.
if you get one of these, keep them on the line to stop them from scamming people.
Job scammers too! I can't tell you how many I've had to deal with just looking for a job. I feel bad for the people that actually fall for it. The ones I've come across have been very elaborate and I almost fell for one myself.
Thankfully there a good few people stopping these scammers and making sure that the scammers receive justice. I’d recommend Jim browning on YouTube.
Others listed the college textbook industry as being in desperate need of disappearing. To explain this to non-Americans, US college students sometimes have to pay between 750$-1000$ a year just for textbooks. At an institution, they are already paying to attend. It’s not hard to see why most think this industry is just predatory and ultimately unnecessary. Even worse, some law schools make students pay for books of legal cases when these cases are often freely available online.
Everything to do with planned obsolescence.
Massive industry, disproportionately responsible for obscene levels of environmental damage.
I was just going to say so, even as a diehard apple user, my god I hate how they are unrepairable these days. I've kept my main machine really ancient so that I can keep repairing it. They were not always that evil.
Load More Replies...Retail shoppers who MUST have the latest anything - we should be looking in the mirror and changing ourselves.
I have a Ford Focus that is over 12 years old, almost 200,000 miles and still running like a champ. Planned obsolescence and making things impossible to repair is downright criminal!
My vehicle is 20 years old. Built great, I baby it, low insurance and taxes, I love it.
Load More Replies...I do wonder how much stuff COULD be made to last, but deliberately isn't because it would undermine industry. Are there actually batteries that last forever, or light bulbs that never fail?
and they get away with it by making one of the panels out of bamboo and drawing some green leaf art on it or something
Got my perfectly good android phone paid off, working great. 6 months after being paid off, no more updates. The best part is the new phone is worse and destined for the same fate.
I dream of a day when EA makes one sports game (NHL, NBA, FIFA, etc) and you download updates every season rather than buying a whole new game every year.
Every fcking thing!!!!! It drives me crazy! There is a website with things you buy for life but unfortunaltely it is British and man product are not available. But I am saving up for a Miele washing machine. (Although the Miele dishwasher of my paretns has been a disappointment. Even Miele barely last longer than ten years)
24 hour propaganda media outlets masquerading as “news”.
If your news source is emotionally manipulating your opinions, it is propaganda.
I am finding most news sources do this. It is an easy way to get more viewers and ratings. I hate it.
Load More Replies...The real problem is the 24hr news cycle. Most days there just isn't enough real news to fill 24hr, so they fill in the corners with "editorial content". Content that almost always has a pro corporate bias.
*Choking *cough CNN abc NBC cbc man *cough*choking
Load More Replies...You all know there are many TV stations online right, like Al Jazeera, BBC, etc?
awww, you think those are newsoutlets rather than propoganda as well. How cute. You know Al-Jiz is owned by the Govt of Qatar which has the right to alter any story they wish and set down "guidelines" for topics. They've even promoted holocaust denial before on air https://www.arabnews.com/node/1499276/media . And the BBC, a former governor of the BBC testified that the BBC creates narratives for certain types of topics, and then makes any stories on them fit the narrative regardless of the facts, further they will send Journalist "with the correct mindset and views" to cover certain topics to ensure they will write the narrative that was pre-scripted. 2 former editors and several former journaists at the BBC have confirmed this as true
Load More Replies...Or just news media in general, as not a single outlet delivers news, only opinions on news.
Insulin,s**t should be free or at least very inexpensive
Because the parent was sold for $1 to ensure that everyone who needs insulin could get it for next to nothing. Instead companies in USA charged an extortionate amount for it. You are right though. Medicine should not cost the earth
Load More Replies...Because all other civilised countries treat the sick without making them bankrupt. Or dead if they can't afford their meds. The US literally lets people die if they can't make a profit from them.
Load More Replies...So should be all medication and health care. America has created a monster!
All diabetes medication and healthcare connected to it are free where I live. The main reason is that diabetics develop other medical issues over time and it actually lowers the costs overall. Our government doesn't care about our well-being as individuals, they do it to save money. Other healthcare and medications have a maximum you pay per year and I think that's great too, however, I think the price should be based on your yearly income. 30€ to see a Dr is a lot of money for poor people and it happens that they have to prioritize other things.
It would be less than $10 a prescription fill if it wasnt for US Govt Regulations. Professor Robin Feldman has noted how certain US Govt regulations are the reason why so many medications are sky high and simple reform would fix it, but no one in congress wants to. She notes the change would literally be the retraction of one single section of US Law that is just a few paragraphs. It's there to protect Pharma companies, which is why neither party wants to do it. Much easier to pass $40 caps, which just covers over the issue without solving it, and gets the rest of the cost spread out throughout other meds. Read Robin Feldman
I'm in Scotland - all medical care, including medication, is free at point of contact. We just pay a little on top of taxes and national insurance.
U.S. here. We d pay ALOT more here bc the government wld add dozens of layers of bureaucracy and have to hire a zillion new bureaucrats. The government would just suck up all the money and medication‘s all medications including insulin would barely trickle to the population. I think we have a much bigger problem than we even think we do. Ps. After all the bureaucracy and money sucked up by the government, the government with jack the whole program up. People would die. There would be investigations. Congress would hold all kinds of hearings. Everyone would take one side or the other. Again just a big mess bigger than we know
Load More Replies...We reached out to tech support scam expert Jim Browning to learn a bit more about this profession that really needs to disappear. We asked if growing tech literacy will help people avoid the more common forms of online scams. "I think this is already happening because I see the tactics of the scammers changing a little. These days, they are scamming a wider range of countries. Slovakia and Austria were two countries I hadn’t seen targeted until last year for example. Sadly this doesn’t mean that we will see a reduction in the scam phone calls though; it’s still a numbers game for scammers. Their ideal target is someone who isn’t very computer literate, has online banking (the scammers will kindly assist someone to sign up if they don’t already have this), and is generally trusting of someone trying to help (supposedly from their bank or the police). Sadly this fits the profile of a lot of older people and they are still the most likely to be scammed."
MLMs/Pyramid schemes
If you have to pay to work you are not working. You are a customer or in this case a victim
Over a decade ago, but my wife was invited to a "business" gathering. Supposed to be about selling a product, but the entire presentation was about brining other people in and how much you'd make when you did. Not word about selling the actual product.
I am never quite sure what to think of long establsihed MLMs liek Tupperware, Avon cosmetics and that cleaner brand Germans like. I mean, the idea that products are distrubuted privately and on recommendation rather than commercial distributors is not THAT bad in principle. When did it turn into borderline criminal schemes??
Quite a few years ago in the early 2000s when I was looking for a job, I had a friend talk me into selling Amway. Had to pay $100 for the sample kit. Asked friends and family to try the products. No one was impressed. Went to a few meetings. It was all about building my downline, how to call around to get friends and family to sell Amway but I was never trained on how to sell the actual Amway products. Years later I made a critcal comment on Facebook about Amway and other MLMs. I got a 4 paragraph long DM from a girlfriend berating me on how insensitive I was because her family used to sell Amway and that I don't know what I'm talking about etc. It was like I insulted her culture and religion or something. It was odd.
Factory animal farming. I'm not a hippie but I love and respect animals. If you wouldn't allow it to happen to your pet don't pay big business to do it to your food.
The conditions in factory farms was the main reason I became vegan back in the day. I don't think eating meat is inherently wrong, and I'd never tell others what they should be eating, but for me, personally, I never wanted to contribute to an industry where abuse is rampant. I always felt there had to be a better way for these animals to live and die.
I'm vegetarian but I have my own chickens who are happy and I wish they gave us less eggs.
Load More Replies...The problem is people/consumers. The industry promoted it was good for you and they just wanted more $$$$ Now people continue to believe there's nothing wrong with eating 1+ lb of meat every day, multiple times a day or that eating a 20 lb steak contest is something to be proud of.
We had a neighbor who gave us some chickens one time. They were factory chickens. They had spent their whole life inside of a building. When we got them they never left the coop. They always stayed inside and would sit in their laying boxes. My dad actually had to take them out of the coop to get them outside. They acted so weirdly, almost not like chickens at all.
They suffer horrible psychological effects, and usually find it hard to socialise with other hens
Load More Replies...It has been proven that separating the cattle from farms has hurt the ozone. But when animals and farms are combined this leads to soaking up more carbon dioxide than releasing. Plus it provides more financial stability for the farmer because they have multiple income revenues. Of course this model works better for the family farms than agribusiness and which one has the money to decide how it is done?
Unfortunately even if that were the case regarding carbon (animal agriculture is one of the main causes of climate change due to methane) the space required to family farm widely would lead to yet more deforestation. Add in the staggering water usage, and horrific pollution to rivers and water courses and you have a recipe for disaster. There is no carbon sequestered in livestock farming, factory or family
Load More Replies...Yes!! To all the eco-conscious: factory farming is terrible for the environment and is a top contributor to global warming. Also, look into how pigs are killed- it is by heatstroke and suffocation. Truly horrific torture.
Read up on how milk is obtained, how pigs are tortured. Go on, I dare you, face facts.
Fast fashion.
I understand why fast fashion is bad, but, to be fair, even average income workers and their families cannot afford made to order clothing. This is also obviously true for those surviving on less than average wages. Families, like mine, pass down clothing to younger children - sometimes multiple times, so it's not like their clothing is being used and discarded before their time. The industry needs an overhaul instead of being wiped out completely. If I'm wrong, please explain what the alternatives for middle to low income people and families are. I'm not being sarcastic - I'm genuinely curious.
Fast fashion is a term used for mega stores that keeps putting new collections out, sometimes every two weeks, and trying to keep “trends” changing so that your clothes from last year feels outdated even if it is still in good condition. In order for people to keep coming in and buying new stuff they have to make it as cheap as possible which often affects quality and the conditions for the workers who made the clothes. Slow fashion can still be ready-to-wear clothing just kept in styles that you will still appreciate for the duration of the clothing’s life, in better quality and with proper conditions for the workers. This will also mean a higher price tag but the reason ethical clothes is so expensive at the moment is because the system isn’t set up for it. It is very hard to track the whole supply line and takes a lot of work but that can be changed if enough people want it. The cost-per-wear is often cheaper for higher quality clothing despite the initial higher price.
Load More Replies...A lot of fast fashion (and a lot of today’s clothing) is made out of very cheap materials which break down during the wash cycle into micro-plastics, ending up eventually in our water supplies.
I don't like buying clothes and it really bothers me that it fell apart in a year. I have some super old clothes like for 15 years and still wearing it.
"Forewarned is forearmed. Show relatives videos about scams. Watch the TV programs about them. We’ve probably all heard “Banks will never ask you to move money” and most people wouldn’t dream of doing that. But what happens if your bank calls and they are able to give you convincing details about your account? What happens then? The short answer is “Never trust a call that you receive. If you want to make sure it’s really your bank. YOU MAKE THE CALL TO A PUBLISHED PHONE NUMBER. Seeing the language and techniques scammers use, it’s far easier than you think to be scammed. Anyone can be scammed (myself included)," was his advice for how the average person can defend themselves against scams.
Anything involving cold calling, or massive phone call farms pimping random s**t.
I once had a cold caller try to convince me that I was in a car accident and that I should claim compensation. True Story!
Nobody on the line I’ve ever talked to sounds like they look like the dude in this picture!!!
Always stop them as soon as possible. Be polite and ask them to remove your name and number from the lists or to flag it as do not call. Works more often than you think
I used to do that for a political campaign. Granted i was not selling anything. But the low-level shame that accompanied every call...at least most of the voting residents were nice.
Hence, never accept a call from a number you have not saved, and, when it is a call centre, block the number immediately after answering, so they never call back.
Everything as a subscription. As a tech worker I understand why this is so popular but god do I hate it
Edit: Some subscriptions can genuinely offer amazing value to consumers. My problem is the mass adoption of subscription on products and services that have no business being a subscription. Those that exist solely so companies can make more money off of you. Not everything should be a subscription
I still use old office software because there is nothing wrong with it and I bloody well paid for it
I'm still using Office 2003 and doing just fine.
Load More Replies...It's basic capitalism, the company charges what the market will support. If they have a monopoly on their product (or an effective monopoly like Adobe), they can pretty much do whatever they want.
Load More Replies...As in like what is happening in the automotive industry where you have to pay monthly for your heated seats to work. This should be illegal.
Subscriptions to turn on things you have already purchased, like BMW's heated car seats.
If they keep doing this, opensource will eat the closedsource market. I've already abandoned MS Office for this reason.
I don't entirely understand this comment, but I'm intrigued. Can you explain for the uninitiated what "open source" is? I get that is stuff that's available to all, but what options are out there? How close are we to stamping out the closed source market?
Load More Replies...Oh good yes. I hate this culture. I vaguely get it, but now there is soooo much choice and competition you never really end up being an entirely satisfied customer. I'm sure as hell not signing up to all of them just in case.
THIS. MS Office 97 would still do everything I need it for if it wasn't obsolete. And I do (for now) have a single purchase copy of Office. But I'd also like to play around with Photoshop but for casual home use I don't want to subscribe. AND BMW CHARGING SUBSCRIPTION TO USE THE SEAT HEATERS... -- RRHHEEEEEEE! I own an old van, not a BMW. But I despise the concept and hope it does not trickle down.
I work in the industry.... Restaurant Tipping industry. It's getting out of hand in the USA. You have to tip everywhere and pay extra "fees or services" due to covid or inflation. Businesses need to pay their employees and not the customers. I'd rather pay a little higher prices than paying a tip. It's not my responsibility to pay their employees. I ended up using my tips to pay for their tips and so called service fees....smdh which is redundant. After I went out to eat a few times after the pandemic; I stopped going out to eat.
Many people don't want to end it because they use their tip as under-table money. My boss requires us to claim all of our tips even cash. Customers are required to pay at the front desk where there are cameras to watch us. Most of the time he is there overseeing us. He pays way over minimum wage ($15+ an hour) for us which he doesn't have too. The customers don't even have to pay service fees or inflation fees or any bs fee. The boss just raises the prices accordingly.
Summary: Get rid of the tipping industry.
It was a bit awkward to get foreigners at my tables when I worked as a waitress. Was that money for me? Did they forget their money? Don't they know the restaurant pays us to work there? It's not as we walked in from the street and started waiting tables, expecting the customers to pay us. I made more money per hour than my husband that worked as a nurse did, and the foreigners never tipped him. Wouldn't it make sense to tip the people that earn the least?
In Brazil we usually round up to the nearest dollar, but it's because we're lazy and don't want to wait for change. When my family visits me in the US, I have to leave the tips, because they will just round up. Check was $122.75, you get a $0.25 tip. That would make an American waiter very unhappy
Load More Replies...Agreed. Tipping should be voluntary and a way to show gratitude and appreciation
I live in Australia, and I’m the part that I live in (unsure if this applies to the rest), it’s extremely weird to tip someone. I tried to leave a tip for nice waitstaff at a restaurant and they thought I accidentally left some money there
Exactly! Pay workers a living wage, and they won't depend on tips to eat.
Load More Replies...Tipping is not an industry. Industry makes products. Tipping is compensation, a crutch for restaurants, bars, clubs and coffee shops so they don't have to pay a living wage. Until servers are paid fairly then it is up to the consumers to compensate. Yeah, you can opt out, but that means you are demanding service from the starving poor.
Crazy how we tip the pizza guy all delivery guy etc..but if the company I work for sells a jobs nd I'm in your yard felling trees and making your backyard beautiful I don't even get offered a water most times..
I just got promoted for an ADDITIONAL tip today. I created a pick up order with a 15% tip, and when I went to pick up my food, there was a line for “Additional tip”. WTAF?!
Originally used as an excuse to underplay Black Americans who were blocked from straightforward wage jobs.
OR, tape a plastic cup to your arm and write 'tips' on it. Just walk around.
Single-use plastics: Some people hope that the production and use of single-use plastics, which contribute to plastic pollution, will become a thing of the past as alternatives are developed and adopted.
Alternative exist already. IF anything, they need to be enforced.
France is doing a great job of eliminating plastic, and Tanzania already has a ban on single use plastics. If these countries can do it, others should be able to also.
They can look at what Canada did. Single use plastic has been banned.
Load More Replies...I have these really lightweight reusable hessian veg bags. Weigh out what you need and then take the printed out price label and put it on the bag then tip the vegetables and fruits in the bag. They are cool. Also, the food lasts longer in them
When last in the US, staff in Walmart and Publix found it weird/cool/ingenious that as Brits, we turned up at the supermarket with plastic bags from our last shop. Granted, they're they were cheap disposable c**p (and awful for the environment) compared to the "bags for life" we use back home, but we at least tried. The UK government introduced a charge for plastic bags in 2015, so we all now have numerous sturdy, reusable (recycled) "bags for life" and it's just part of normal life less than a decade later. We hardly think anything of it. And yet when you go to a US supermarket and walk away with 6-8 bags that would otherwise go to landfill, it's horrifying. I couldn't do a second shop and end up creating yet more pollution. Is there anywhere in the US that's taken steps in this direction? It's so easy and effective...
Thing is, if we supported the plastic recycling industry over the plastic manufacturing one, we'd have an instant ' alternative ' that would also be be a lucrative business for atleast the next 50 years.
Plastics recycling isn't a complete solution. Post-consumer recycled plastic is not nearly as pure as virgin plastic. This poses problems for manufacturing processes that depend on consistent feedstocks (like injection molding), and industries which require the utmost purity (like food packaging). Screen-printing, paper/poly labels, adhesives, product residues, and contamination with other plastic types degrade the usefulness of recovered materials. Would you be willing to risk making beverage containers out of recycled pesticide jugs?
Load More Replies...My supermarket uses compostable bags in the produce department, so you can use the bag to save your peelings and other compostable items.
Make plastic illegal. Very simple, but also impossibly stupid. So what? I'd rather discuss the impossible than to sit still and be lectured about my consumer habits or that I'm not recycling properly. Everything has plastic in it. It's inescapable. And I am one of millions, billions of consumers. But how many producers do we have? How many mega corporations do we have churning out plastic? It's got to be less than a hundred. Even if I am grossly wrong, there sure isn't a million of them. Math here looks pretty simple to me. Go to the companies that make the plastic and force them to quit. Push this responsibility back on the industry that has created it, perpetuated it, lied about it, and continues to stammer efforts to stop it. At the very least, quit placing the blame on the powerless.
Televangelism
Phony TV preachers who make millions scamming their viewers. It isn't as common as it used to be, but it still exists.
Load More Replies...They’re on YouTube now. Some are in addition to an actual church but others are pretty much online. Hemant Mehta of The Friendly Atheist gathers information about lovely things like Christian Nationalism, p**o and hate preachers, campaigning from the pulpit, church-state violations and other delightful things. Check out the podcast and you’ll have even more reasons to understand that there’s no hate like Christian love.
Millionaires television scammers, who make their money by scamming lonely, scared, guilty, grieving people by using God or Jesus will save them if they donate money.
For profit prisons.
The US is by far not the only place with private prisons, and, I think, by percentage not even the largest.
Load More Replies...Guess who provides millions to lobby against sentence reform and legalizing marijuana? Right, the for-profit prison industry.
Animal testing: Some people hope that the practice of using animals for scientific testing and research will become obsolete, as more ethical and effective alternatives become available.
I've listened to several podcasts in which several medical doctors and researchers were interviewed. Apparently, we often have to use animals to do testings because we have no other way to know the impact (of the tested procedures, drugs, chemicals, etc.) to human bodies. Sometimes they make the animals sick (with cancer, obesity, diabetics, etc.), euthanized them, and harvested their organs. It is very sad, but I understand that we have no choice if we want to survive. It is our lives vs. theirs. What I cannot stand is the experiments to animals for cosmetic purpose. Are we that vain to let other living beings die for our beauty????
As a whole species yes, yes we are. Personally I want to say that animal testing should only be done for medicines, and only when they have no other choice.
Load More Replies...I know people will be angry about this but I fail to see how this is more morally horrible than abbatoirs. In both cases an animal is unalived for our benefit.
Typically animal testing equals animal torture. That's also true at factory farms. Hence why I don't eat meat.
Load More Replies...That photo breaks my heart!! They are trying to comfort each other before some horrible cruel test!
if we didnt testing everything in specific animals, medical tech and many other techs will be on hold for decades. If we never used animals as testers, we still be in 1900 era.
There is nothing ethical about Animal testing. The only reason a percentage of humans do this is that they see themselves as superior to all other life forms. Thus, other life forms, in their opinion, are there to be used for their personal/financial benefit. They'd do it to the poor if they could get away with it, too.
Just like the nazis experimented on jews. A lot was learned abt hypothermia and other things, but does that make it right? No.
Load More Replies...Universities don’t. Researchers write grants for funding to do specific projects. Everyone I’ve ever known who is engaged in research that involves animals is very aware of ethical treatment.
Load More Replies...They do have rules that the animals must be played with, have toys, get treats and kept in social groups they like.
It IS obsolete, there ARE more ethical and effective alternatives available. We need to stop the practice.
Plastic. A Scrouge on our planet
Plastic is a joke, I really although it's riskier I prefer glass. I mean it's literally sand!
Once again, I'll say it with feeling: plastic is a brilliant invention, it is the irresponsible disposal that is the issue
Do you work for the US packaging industry? The original anti-litter campaigns were Public Service Announcements funded by the packaging industry. Everyone agrees that people shouldn't litter. However, the packaging industry intentionally shifted the focus off of them and onto individuals, convincing people that the packaging industry is not responsible for the Texas sized massed of plastic garbage swirling in the Pacific. No, it's just a few bad apples who throw away their garbage in parks. Yeah. And if you believe that, you also believe people who don't turn their monitors off at night are responsible for global warming and that coal and oil companies are unfairly blamed. Individuals will always tend to do what is cost-efficient and convenient. Until governments actually *govern* industry, nothing will change. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2006/05/origins-anti-litter-campaigns/
Load More Replies...Who knew a movie line would end up being a prophecy. “One word. Plastics.” From Mrs. Robinson.
Not a defense of plastic; just a thought that always pops in my mind. Back when they said we had to switch from paper bags to plastic to save the world....someone made a grave error.
more like Humans. A Scourge to the planet.....plastic being one of many "gifts" from us.
A program about George Washington Carver talked about his collaboration with Henry Ford to make a plastic for cars made from plants instead of petroleum. I often wonder if plastics made from plants would be better for the planet.
The F*****s that make college text books 2,000 dollars!
There was a website that let you download these for free but the Feds took it down. What you really need to do is create a pressure lobby to stop this industry in your higher ed sector.
I think you can get a lot of these textbooks on eBay or Amazon for much cheaper than the student store. I hate promoting Amazon, but it's still a cheaper alternative for broke college students.
Load More Replies...When I wrote a textbook, I turned it into a pdf and attached it to an email to each student. No one ever misplaced their textbook, and they had it to refer to in future classes. Before the Internet, I printed it out and had a copy xeroxed for each student. You needed the department head's approval for that kind of expenditure, but i - ahem - was the department head. I figured their high tuition more than covered the cost.
Gotta say, my daughter’s at the Uni and the professors are doing a really good job of getting the students out from the tyranny of the printing houses. Tuition on the other hand…
My college teacher said we totally shouldn't pirate our books and gave us some websites to never pirate them off of.
2 Thousand?! There was me thinking the 2 hundred I paid was too much!
Professors publish new editions of their useless MANDATORY textbooks every year to supplement their salaries. It's a scam and very unfair!
Telemarketers.
I stopped using telephones because of them. I communicate in person, regular mail, or e-mail only.
lobbying
Right, let's call it what it is - bribery - and regularly publish the list of politicians who take bribes, the amount, and from whom it came. Name and shame. See who owns the politicians you vote for.
It's the campaign contributions that are the bribes. There are many lobyists who actually represent fine causes - but it's the ones who are bagmen for the rich who are the problem.
Load More Replies...How about not letting any politicians make money outside of their salaries - and they also can't own stocks while in office. This should include family members also. I would increase their salary, but beyond that, they have to budget just like anyone else has to.
Politicians buy stocks, then pass bills forcing us to use that product. HOW is this legal??
Load More Replies...We have lobbyists for literally every cause some good some bad.
Lobbyists are bad unless they work for a cause you support
Load More Replies...There are bad lobbyists that give the whole industry a bad name, but lobbying in general is NECESSARY. I don't want my local insurance salesman / State congressman voting on a bill about details between a nurse or doctor without knowing what is really best. The Rep needs to hear from the people that are actually effected by the bill. So, hear (from a lobbyist) how it would effect nurses and patients, then hear (from a different lobbyist) how it would effect doctors and patients. Then make a *more* informed decision. Not a perfect system, but I'd rather our politicians get pertinent information from those effected, even if it is biased.
US politicians are all owned by money! It’s the American way!
Whaling.
Especially for "scientific research" where this "research" involves eating them
Exactly, researching the best way to make a meal out of them isn’t exactly the research people think of when they say ‘research.’
Load More Replies...What, the ones that round up hundreds of cetaceans and stab them to death and then leave the excess corpses to rot? How about no.
Load More Replies...I had a mate who thought those were near Egypt. Gutted when I said Iceland.
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The concert ticket mafia. (TicketMaster / StubHub / LiveNation). F**k them.
ETA: I know those entities aren't really an entire industry. They basically have the market monopolized, though.
Ticketmaster has angered SWIFTIES everywhere. F**k TICKETMASTER!
During the televised portion of the Grammy Awards, Trevor Noah challenged SWIFTIES to tackle the price of eggs next.
Load More Replies...Pearl Jam got so much c**p for warring against Ticket Master back in the day. And now everyone else is doing the same.
Just like some of the other things on this list - they only exist because so many of you keep paying for them. To me it is insane that folks will pay hundreds, often THOUSANDS of dollars to watch a concert or a football game. Buy yourself a new refrigerator and a CD (or whatever)
The war industry.
Wars are money business, don't think this will disappear in ten years i'm afraid.
Especially since those who make wars don't fight in them.
Load More Replies...In 1961, President Eisenhower warned ""In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists, and will persist."
When will we start investing on a peace department instead of a war department?
while each drop of shed innocent blood cash in the pockets of the military producers - this business will newer end, so no wonder why most modern wars lasts for 20+ years (Viet Nam, Afghanistan, Iraq...)
That will end as soon as you get rid of human nature. Good luck with that.
Tobacco industry: Many people hope that smoking will become less common, and eventually eliminated, due to the health risks associated with tobacco use.
Please, please vaping too. When people are smoking and vaping it triggers my asthma. I'd like to be able to breathe freely in public spaces. Thankfully, it's illegal to smoke/vape in enclosed public spaces in my country.
Vaping leads to third hand smoke, and it’s just as dangerous.
Load More Replies...Yeah, then they switch to vapes. The amount of times I've turned a corner hoping for a candy floss vendor or something only to find a teenage fog machine sucking on a battery operated biro. Depressing
It has gotten MUCH better (in the USA) believe it or not. I can recall when people could smoke on airplanes and buses and in virtually any building. Smoking on planes went away in the 80s. Smoking in any building open to the public or w/in 25 feet of the door went away in my state several years ago. Probably won't go completely away in my life time. A pack of cigs now costs as much as a carton of 10 packs used to cost and people still buy them.
As a non smoker, I despise vapes more than cigarettes. I can walk 6 feet behind someone smoking a cigarette and it won't touch me. I have to walk an entire baseball field behind someone who is vaping so I don't get a face full of cotton candy!
Switching to vape helps quit smoking. You can dial it down in smaller doses than "one less cigarette a day". But wtf is wrong with these school kids that start vaping. Saw a documentary about one hs where 80% of the kids vape. That school district, parents, and entire community failed those kids if they all fell to "makes you look cool."
As a smoker, I sympathize with wanting smoke-free environments, but to ban tobacco use entirely is asking people to stop breathing. Seriously. It must be allowed for sanity's sake.
absolutely not! ever since the anti-tobacco jihad started, the pension funds collapsed. smoking should be tax-free, and for those above 50, compulsory.
Idk if this falls I to the right category, but everything needing wifi. I bought a scale the other day that needed wifi before it could read my weight. I have a PS5 with all the media apps I need, give me the option for a dumb TV. My washer, dryer, fridge and oven also shouldn't need wifi to be able to do basic operations. Samsung as a company is driving me up the f*****g wall lately.
Bought a air purifier. Best investment I ever made. No apps, no wifi, no connections, no sign ups. Just works
During covid, our school bought these for each classroom...big ones. Found out our wifi in each building was being affected as it automatically went to wifi control mode when first turned on. Had to go around and disable each unit.
Load More Replies...If I put my washer on wifi, I know it would start downloading porn. It's just like that.
Can you program it to sort and wash by itself?
Load More Replies...Software or Hardware requiring an 'Always On' Internet connection for basic functionality or to even run. I would have thought that after the disasters that was the computer games 'Spore' (a build/evolve your own creature sandbox game) or 'Civilization VI' industry as a whole would have learned.
I would add a negative comment here but all my appliances and electronics are on my Wi-Fi 😶
No, this is not negative, do what you like. But you should be aware of the risks. Many smart appliances were tested and had security breaches and opened way to your internal network exspecialy cameras. If you can be safe, browse on your fridge and be happy :)
Load More Replies...Surely you can buy a more basic model that doesnt need wifi. I bought a washing machine and a very nice fridge in the past year and they don't even know what wifi is.
My washer and dryer have a slot in the top to put your phone. It gets filled with detergent and dust so it probably wouldn't work if I tried it. Why is it there? Haven't a clue. Yep, Samsung.
The only possible benefit I could see to having connectivity in such an appliance is to replace the claxon horn in the dryer with a gentle buzz of your phone to let you know you need to get your clothes before they become wrinkly.
Load More Replies...My printer needed an app to be installed. Just let me connect it to my network via hardline and that’s that!!!
Fairly sure everything said works without WiFi. WiFi is just an option. Also, no it's not an "industry", it's a practice.
Payday loans, it should be illegal to entrap someone in a cycle of debt that they cannot get out of. If you already can't afford to wait for a paycheck, then having to make payments against it, is inherently going to be a cyclical arrangement, in which a loan is paid off and then immediately retaken to cover expenses. Sure, there could be one-off instances, but that seems like it would be a rarity.
We should also be addressing the reasons people are turning to payday loans. This doesn't get much publicity but people obviously feel that a payday loan has less of a downside than the reason they need it - ie poverty..
Let's just make sure people are paid livable wages.
Load More Replies...Elizabeth Warren crafted legislation that would have banned all payday loans. The GOP was unanimous in voting it down. Gee, I wonder why?
The interest rates on these are outrageous. Changing whatever banking laws needed to lower the interest would either eliminate the industry, or actually help people
Isn’t just about any loan (student, high interest car, credit card, etc.) exactly the same though?
It's easy for people with bad credit and a job to get a loan that way. I never borrowed more than $150. That was always because something was about to get shut off and I was short on cash. I don't get loans like that now.
Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). Look them up.
They’re basically bloodsucking middlemen that sit between hospitals and health insurers. Supposedly created to control prescription drug costs and manage formularies, but they actually drive prices up. One of the many terrible causes of high medical costs in the states.
Health insurance is what made healthcare so expensive in the first place. :/ I mean, we need something for when people actually have to be hospitalized, since that's inherently expensive... But health insurance should never have become how we pay for regular everyday medical care. Look up "direct primary care."
These people are pure evil. I have had to argue and enlist my doctors to argue with these morbid profit-takers. They serve absolutely no purpose other than to diminish the quality of care to patients. And make money off of denying that care.
They’re also responsible for ‘shortages’ whenever a medication starts to become non-profitable…a******s!
Zoos where they keep animals in small spaces and people come and stare at them all day long.
I used to feel this way that they would be much better off in the wild but then I got a reality check from a zookeeper who came and did a lecture at our college. The zoos are not there for people viewing. They are there to protect the animals from us. Many are endangered and hunted to near extinction in the wild. Zoos protect the animals from us killing them. For example there are more big cats in captivity than in the wild. Educating the public about this is something they do. It also provides funding for them to exist. Tiny cages? Then donate for bigger and better exhibits. The Ft.Worth Zoo is a prime example of this. We had one major donor that methodically paid for upgrades to exhibit after exhibit making the zoo better and better. Very unlikely person did this. It was actor Jimmy Stewart. Bless his soul. I don't think he ever lived in Ft. Worth or had any ties to the area.
Well said. Not to mention all of the animals sitting in zoos couldn't survive in the wild. They wouldn't know how. So to use them to educate people to help protect the ones left in the wild and raise money for rehabilitation and releasing ones that can be, and protecting the ones in the wild is probably the best option.
Load More Replies...In my view Zoos are DNA backup systems. Poachers are likely to wipe out all wild animals, as well as city growth etc. I think "wild animals" are more or less doomed. So we have to back them up. That''s what a zoo is. That's what a game reserve was meant to be. Note the word "Reserve", as in "keep in reserve" or "keep as spare". The day game reserves are wiped out for golf courses or housing developments you know that zoos will be the last remaining "wild" animals. Please therefore think a bit more about this. If you really want to preserve wildlife, you need to focus on South America and Africa. To do that, you need to (a) stop supporting beef and wood farming which destroys south america's forest - ie make your houses out of brick and boycott macdonalds - and (b) Travel to Africa and invest money here. The richer Africa is, the less likely its citizens will see game as food or exports for the TCM market.
You can not "backup" life like this. If we do not save the wildlife and the ecosphere now by a really hardcore lifestyle change we´re f****d. The sixth massextinction event is already in full effect and no zoo can fill up the barren and bleak or flooded landsides we´ll face end of this century.
Load More Replies...I think zoos are fine if they have large enclosures and their animals are rescued and being treated well. Otherwise, I’m out of there
Many zoos are actively involved in captive breeding and conservation programs. They don't like the exhibition part of it either, but it's how the bills get paid.
And many zoos breed extra animals to be sold for canned hunts. Animal cruelty, human trafficking, a lot of immoral things pay the bills but shouldn't be allowed.
Load More Replies...zoos are a safe place for rare and almost disappeared animals.
Sad places. I'd prefer criminals in the cages, we can point and laugh at them instead.
My god. *Point & laugh at them*‽ Who’s earned that level of enmity from you? Will you reverse it when it’s proven you’ve been pointing & laughing at a person wrongly convicted? Will you sit in a cage w/a sign saying you judged people wrongly & poorly? My partner had a brain injury some 5.5 years ago. This followed divorce from his abusive wife of 30+ years ~5 years prior. Neither his or her family know the words "respect", "boundaries" and decided I’d done something to make him unwell so he needed to violently dump me at a terrible time. His "wife & MIL" (used those words) assaulted me, filed false reports, restraining orders & other horrors- the sheriff decided I was the problem. Did I belong in jail or the woman w/ a 30+ yr history of abuse? Guess who went? Guess who smirked when she got away with perjury? I’ll never call the police again. It’s been brutal trying to get my partner to see a neurologist. John Fetterman may have finally helped him to see the light.
Load More Replies...I’m not against zoos,, as long as the animals have sufficient space and care
There’s wild animal parks that are spacious and animals can roam free on the land like San Diego Wild Animal Park or Safari West in Northern California ♥️
No. Zoos have a place in the world. Just like Sea World does. What they do for conservation and animal endangerment matters.
Endangered = exterminated by us. I see what you’re saying, but the whole system is just… wrong.
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Gambling. Massive issue in Ireland and the UK, betting shops everywhere, i'm sure it's the same in other countries, destroys lives. Can't go anywhere or watch any sport without having it shoved down your throat.
And the USA is all of the sudden pushing online gambling hard in the media.
This is awful. You cannot open web content in my area (2 miles from a casino) without being bombarded with sports betting apps.
Load More Replies...The US isn't that bad yet, but pretty much every politician, democrat AND especially republicans are pushing to make gambling completely normal. It is not normal, it is an illness.
I used to live in Vegas and there were slot machines EVERYWHERE. Couldn't even get groceries without seeing them. Even as a kid I thought it was ridiculous.
It should be illegal to have gambolling ads during the time kids could be watching.
It should be treated like porn, since it is so addictive and detrimental to your social, financial and mental wellbeing. Or cigarettes. Or drugs. I can click off the ads because I'm not addicted, but other people will be triggered and have a very hard time saying no.
Oregon, phew, you can't turn a corner without an invitation to gamble.
Gambling, street drugs, whorehouses, gangs, should all be done away with. I'm a middle-class Joe that has never needed any of that to be accomplished. Get your kicks in libraries and travel rather than psycho-emotional self-abuse. Education and a positive attitude are all anyone needs in life; achievement will follow like a friendly puppy. Learn self-control and be a true winner. You are responsible for you. No blame games. Stand tall with no excuses.
Ad marketing, it is so intrusive everywhere I go, on the streets or on the net.
100% . If I want a product I will search for it. I do not want ads everywhere.
Ads on the net have gotten so bad that some web sites won't allow access if they detect an ad blocker (looking at you, Raw Story).
You can see what's new just by going on to retail sites and then use review sites or watch Youtube reviews to see if the product you are interested in is actually any good.
Load More Replies...right-wing Big Lie propaganda media.
The same goes for left wing. Any political party has their agenda, not all are for the people despite what you've been told. It's absurd to believe one "wing" is more propagandist than the other. Each hold a powerful capitalist agenda
You're foolish if you think the right isn't completely driven by propaganda at least in the States. They literally base their policies off of propaganda and conspiracies.
Load More Replies...Let's avoid false equivalence here - the right, and the right itself has chosen to do so, currently made accepting scientific result of whatever kind a part of left ideology. I consider myself pretty far on the left, but never would have opted for that myself. I'd love to argue about what to do about certain things, but base that on a common ground of solid, valid, proven information that qualifies to be at least a reasonable aim for truth. I know it, in a way, has always been so. Remember supremacy of whatever race was in power at the moment and place in question? Was NEVER a leftwing opinion, but always on the right, usually far to extreme right. Remember ideologies that, basically, claim it was right and just to abandone people in need of help? Although one could argue about whether or not the need of help is self inflicted, then if so, if it is guiltily so, or if it is imposed from outside without them contributing etc - ... , the tendency to not offer, but rather deny help ... is
They're doing a fine job of that, all by themselves. And they know it. That's why they're so much about voter repression and gerrymandering. They look at the voting patterns of younger people and know that the future does not look good for the right.
Load More Replies...Are you saying the left are lying when they say that america has a homeless problem, or that america's medications are overpriced? Or are you saying that it's false that black people are disproportionately murdered by police? OR what?
Load More Replies...The natural diamond industry, we can literally grow them in labs sustainably and to the same quality. But there will probably always be people who want natural diamonds sourced unethically.
Sure, but South Africa relies on selling these things quite a lot and they're important to OUR economy, so you don't get to say what we should or shouldn't sell. We'd prefer if America wasn't selling arms around the place (you know, things that kill people en-masse). America's wars of oil exploitation have cost about 1m muslim lives. So far diamonds have not killed one million people in africa despite being an industry for over 140 years.
The OP spoke of diamonds "sourced unethically". Does that describe the diamond industry in South Africa? I don't connect terms like "blood diamonds" with your country.
Load More Replies...Wedding industrial complex.
The Troubled Teen Industry.
Look up Nexpos video on Elan school and you’ll see what I mean. Abusing minors for money shouldn’t be an industry.
Conversion therapy and “troubled teen” camps aren’t the same.
Load More Replies...You really need to read more about what goes on in "troubled teen camps." There have been deaths and deeply traumatic situations that caused real harm.
Load More Replies...Drug cartels.
The only way to stop drug cartels is to 100% legalise. Make it that you have to sign your name, provide your home address, agree to be visited by social workers, when you buy. And buy from pharmacies. Bulk manufacture at lower cost than the cartels will put them out of business. See portugal model drug legalisation. Problem solved.
Yeah but theres still going to be those people that will sell it without all that sign up stuff. What are we going to do about them?
Load More Replies...It would be nice if drugs could become extinct/impossible to make, wouldn't it?
Hilary Clinton gave the nod for the Afghan Opium industry to restart after the US went in. This was to get the opium farmers onside politically. We need politicians to stop allowing drugs like heroin for their personal convenience..
The Taliban banned opium production until the US invasion. Republican GW Bush was president when the US "went in" (your euphemism) to Afghanistan in 2001, until 2009. Hillary Clinton (D) was Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013 under President Obama (D). Who do you think gave your imaginary, mythical nod under Bush? Secretary Colin Powell (R) 2001-2005, or Secretary Condoleezza Rice (R) 2005-2009, maybe?
Load More Replies...Hollywood mycrml replied: Yes and celebrity idolizing. Esp reality tv stars or celebrities that only have notoriety bc of the media. Admiring someone’s stand-alone talent is okay
Not going to happen. Panem Et Circenses. The most that will happen is the self-made or AI-made movie market will flood youtube and reduce the popularity of hollywood, but not eliminate it altogether. A big production budget can beat most things at the moment, even AIs.
Car dealerships. Give me my damn direct to consumer sales. Death to the sleazy middle-men!
IIRC car manufacturers have been met with enormous resistance with regards to selling direct in the USA. Everything has to go via a dealership.
You can thank car dealership owners for this, and all the golf trips they love taking senators on.
Load More Replies...Used car dealerships would still exist. (1) If you buy a new car straight from the factory, you'd still need to sell your old one somewhere. (2) Some people can't afford a brand new car.
"Dealerships" use their autonomy to decide on their own markup, make their own deals, and attempt to take as much of your money as possible. What we would rather have is a "point of sale" controlled by the manufacturer with fixed prices, and fixed service expectations.
Load More Replies...Hmm in my country (South Africa), you have branded dealers who are the licensed importers for each major brand. And then you have apps for the secondhand guys. Basically you go onto the app (e.g. carfind.co.za) and you just see what cars are there and buy them. Some of them you even can order a guy to come valuate your car (is there such a word? Valuate?) and then once he's done the valuation he places it onto the app.
Poker machines, greyhound racing and horse racing in Australia.
US tax prep. Unnecessary middle man with artificially maintained necessity due to ~~lobbying~~ bribery. Edit: I understand that many people have a reason to use professional tax services. In fact, I'm one of them -- surprise!!! Most people don't need this, though. There should be a better alternative for the average taxpayer, especially considering how confusing and fluid the government's system is.
The alternative is not being dumb and just using Turbo Tax or H&R Block.
why does the government not just tell us how much we owe? genuine question, I don't see the point of making us do the math
I miss the 1040EZ form. But then I didn't deduct or have anything else worth enough to write off.
actually if you're low income, disabled, elderly, or meet a few other criteria, there is free tax prep available for you in the form of a VITA site prep. if you you put VITA tax prep into google, you can find the program and search for a site in your area, make an appointment, and have your taxes done completely free, federal and state, and depending on the site local as well. i've been a volunteer preparer with the program for years. most libraries, community centers, or colleges will host a site a few days a week during tax season. we can also help you set up a savings account or advise on smaller tax matters. i take my exam and get recertified every year, so i'm always up to date on the most recent laws https://www.irs.gov/individuals/free-tax-return-preparation-for-qualifying-taxpayers
We absolutely do. Though there are tons of circumstances which may alter your individual tax liability like investment interest, charitable contributions, educational savings account contributions, retirement fund contributions, medical expenses, etc. On average, Americans expect a small amount of the taxes they have already paid to be returned to them at the end of the year.
Load More Replies...Bottled water.
Flint, Michigan, disagrees with you. Sort out your infrastructure. The world IS watching.
Exactly what I was going to say. I have lived in a couple places where the water was completely undrinkable. Had to rely on bottled water which sucked but it had to be done.
Load More Replies...You may think this is criminal but where I live it is a necessity. The water here coming out of the pipes is full of limestone sediment. It coats everything and makes black clothes look grey and your laundry stuff like it has starch added. Now image drinking that. It has a very salty taste on top of that. Safe drinking water would be a better request.
Maybe... but when a HUGE multinational Corporation pushes the concept that water is not a right, but should be a commodity? Nope, nope, nope.
Load More Replies...Third party student loan "consultants". I used to work as a federal student loan collector for a Department of Education contractor. I have horror stories about borrowers who were purposefully deceived by these people, the worst of whom was someone who thought a consolidation she paid for completely eliminated her obligation. What these legally grey a******s do is trick people into paying to have *free paperwork* done on their behalf. Sure they have the tiny fine print disclosures, but they're extremely predatory and make me sick. Imo getting rid of them could be legislation worthy, given that they interfere with federally owned debts.
Fossil fuel industry: Many people hope that the world will transition to clean, renewable energy sources and reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, which are a major contributor to climate change.
Due to what is happening with Russia, research has increased exponentially in EV technology and the power sources. Look up Nuclear Diamond Batteries. It's very interesting, and it shows a lot of potential
Pseudo medicine.
Me, too. Also the proper term is Alternative Medicine, not "pseudo."
Load More Replies...Sometimes terminal illnesses go into remission on their own. For every person "saved" by quack medicine, there are at least a thousand who aren't.
Load More Replies...It's like the broccoli in another post. Some is good for you, and a lot is bad.
I think of it as like religion as it's faith-based rather than evidence-based. As long as a child is not killed because their mother refused to take them to an actual doctor, I do not really care if people want to eat sugar pills and get better due to the placebo effect.
People are killed by not seeking real medical treatments.
Load More Replies...Custody battle legal system. Each side can spend half a million, easy, and get the same result as arbitration. The only difference is that each side is now poor, and both their lawyers are rich. With each side' attorneys goading their clients to push for unreasonable demands, thereby prolonging the legal bills.
Solution: have a non-contested divorce and custody agreement. In short, BEFORE you get married, write up a contract saying what the outcome would be in divorce. Also, make it legal and acceptable to self-represent before a judge.
Well, no. You can't always just go with an agreement that was made before marriage. Sometimes things happen that weren't anticipated. My dad married my mom not knowing that she's severely mentally ill. She ended up ABUSING me and my sister. So my dad divorced her. If there had been a preexisting agreement, it probably would've just said joint custody or something. That wouldn't have been appropriate in this case. My dad ended up getting full custody with my mom getting visitation every other weekend, and eventually my mom lost her visitation rights. Sometimes there are very good reasons to go to court over this.
Load More Replies...**Sewage cleaning.** In many third world countries people have t o climb into sewer to clean them without any proper protection. I hope the technology becomes cheaper soon.
There are a lot of worse things that have already been said, so OnlyFans and other industries that make a platform for young people to post nudes for money
Prostitution is an ancient profession and will never go away as long as there are men who are so unpleasant as to be unable to form and maintain a normal respectful relationship. The best way to deal with this is the same as drugs. Legalise and moderate/legislate controls. South Africa is just about to legalise the lot for this reason. If you ban stuff (think Prohibition) alll it does is create Mafia/Drug Cartels/Human traffickers. It does NOT eliminate it. It drives it underground, and makes the victims/exploited persons more easy to exploit because they LOSE legal rights. If you legalise you then can protect the workers (whether they are drug mules or prozzies is irrelevant). Once a person's job is legalised they have to get benefits, health care, retirement funds etc etc., and if they are abused their boss can be jailed simply on labour relations charges. It's much easier to prove and prosecute.
There's no reason to downvote this commenter. They are making valid, reasonable, and well articulated arguments. If you disagree, form a structured and intelligent case against them.
Load More Replies...It's a free world, but if it's a world where people feel like they have to give their own bodies for what is essentially online prostitution to survive, I don't want to live in it.
Real estate agents.
Disagree, as someone who has bought and sold a handful of houses. Having someone who knows an area extremely well, who has access to the MLS database, and who can draw up an airtight legally binding contract so the sale goes off without hitches is worth their commission. Recently I sold a property out of state, and could not have done that on my own; I moved back to my home state during Covid.
So my country (South Africa), these guys are seriously in danger of dying out. We have apps for basically everything. You can put your own house on an app and sell it via the app. The app takes a small commission. No human involved directly. You CAN also sell directly between private citizens, but most private citizens do not understand SEO and how to advertise stuff online so their houses would be lost in the wood-for-trees scenario if it weren't for the estate agent apps/websites.
Sometimes, you buy your place, then you have to move hundreds of km away. Then they come in handy
Ever watch "How's Its Made" and there's this complicated a*s machine literally piecing together and building some kind of complicated product. There are arms grabbing, and lasers cutting, belts moving things, and just miracle after miracle of modern automation. Then there's this dude who moves the finished product into a box and slaps a label on. And the viewer wonders why the f**k did they need a person to do that lousy step? That job doesn't stand a chance.
"Fudge" factor. The automatic boxing machines need everything just so. But that problem has been solved in robotic assembly lines. QA, however, still needs human eyes, no matter how much CEO's and business consultants howl about it cutting into the bottom line.
Monopolies. They keep prices high for consumers. Here in Canada we have 2 major companies (Bell, Rogers) who are continually allowed to buy out the competition to keep our mobile & internet prices the highest in the world. Weston owned grocery & pharmacy chains which make it too easy for price gouging & greedflation. Evil empires.
The wedding industry. Any kind of wedding or marriage (including the engagement and all of that jazz) is irrelevant to love. The origin of marriage is horrific for women and I’m amazed that women still want anything remotely to do with it, never mind say it’s romantic and actively pursue it. I don’t know why people aren’t just happy being together. I do understand the motivation more if it’s solely for religious reasons in stricter countries or cultures (religion is a whole other can of worms though).
Why is this ALWAYS about the US?? People live in other countries you know
Absolutely! And we should respect those people! Both of them! 😆 *ducking and running* 😜
Load More Replies...Printer ink prices. Why is ink one of the most expensive items on earth ? Yes, companies supply the ink in fancy dispensers, but those are mass-produced once developed. And then they make it hard or impossible for you to use off-brand ink in their machines. The companies are deliberately keeping the prices artificially high, and it needs to be stopped.
I hope there’s no PETA anywhere outside the US. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals means they literally fill syringes for each animal they get, even when brimming with health. They inject each animal, pop them into their industrial freezer. Sometimes they use a nearby dumpster. They fudge numbers to explain the massive amount of sodium pentobarbital they use because, after all, they wouldn’t use it on healthy animals, would they? Ingrid Newkirk loves off-ing animals. In her previous job she’d arrive before anyone to start, undisturbed. Their “shelter" in Virginia takes in 100s or 1000s of animals/yr, has room for ~10. Once an animal is surrendered it’s almost never adopted, through no fault of its own. After all, it takes minutes for the staff to process an animal from living, breathing, happy creature to plastic bag filler. Why do they do this? The founder, Ingrid Newkirk, is a sick person. Why does anyone work for PETA? Hell if I know. They sound evil.
Here ya’ go. I think I started with these last month ago and then did a deep dive. The (Death) Cult of PETA https://tinyurl.com/5dezu3s6 PETA v. Winograd https://tinyurl.com/yc8n2txu
Load More Replies...Monopolies. They keep prices high for consumers. Here in Canada we have 2 major companies (Bell, Rogers) who are continually allowed to buy out the competition to keep our mobile & internet prices the highest in the world. Weston owned grocery & pharmacy chains which make it too easy for price gouging & greedflation. Evil empires.
The wedding industry. Any kind of wedding or marriage (including the engagement and all of that jazz) is irrelevant to love. The origin of marriage is horrific for women and I’m amazed that women still want anything remotely to do with it, never mind say it’s romantic and actively pursue it. I don’t know why people aren’t just happy being together. I do understand the motivation more if it’s solely for religious reasons in stricter countries or cultures (religion is a whole other can of worms though).
Why is this ALWAYS about the US?? People live in other countries you know
Absolutely! And we should respect those people! Both of them! 😆 *ducking and running* 😜
Load More Replies...Printer ink prices. Why is ink one of the most expensive items on earth ? Yes, companies supply the ink in fancy dispensers, but those are mass-produced once developed. And then they make it hard or impossible for you to use off-brand ink in their machines. The companies are deliberately keeping the prices artificially high, and it needs to be stopped.
I hope there’s no PETA anywhere outside the US. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals means they literally fill syringes for each animal they get, even when brimming with health. They inject each animal, pop them into their industrial freezer. Sometimes they use a nearby dumpster. They fudge numbers to explain the massive amount of sodium pentobarbital they use because, after all, they wouldn’t use it on healthy animals, would they? Ingrid Newkirk loves off-ing animals. In her previous job she’d arrive before anyone to start, undisturbed. Their “shelter" in Virginia takes in 100s or 1000s of animals/yr, has room for ~10. Once an animal is surrendered it’s almost never adopted, through no fault of its own. After all, it takes minutes for the staff to process an animal from living, breathing, happy creature to plastic bag filler. Why do they do this? The founder, Ingrid Newkirk, is a sick person. Why does anyone work for PETA? Hell if I know. They sound evil.
Here ya’ go. I think I started with these last month ago and then did a deep dive. The (Death) Cult of PETA https://tinyurl.com/5dezu3s6 PETA v. Winograd https://tinyurl.com/yc8n2txu
Load More Replies...
