101–110 of 243 posts
Honestly… if we could figure out how to separate agriculture and groceries from the rest of the economy, we’d be a happier species. It’s so fucked up that the ability to feed yourself is tied to a dick measuring contest between a handful of ultra wealthy.
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Yes. Don't hassle the poor clerks. They aren't in charge of any of this stuff and certainly don't have the power to change it. Just say "no" and move on.
Well that’s how nothing ever changes. Personally, I will hassle the clerk until he seriously considers working somewhere else. That’s how we get change!
So, if you want to work for change, the first thing you need to do is to stop spending money in those stores. Every dollar spent at a business is a vote encouraging them to keep doing whatever they're doing.
The second thing to do is to let corporate know you're not shopping there and why.
Those things won't have a huge effect unless lots of people do them, but they'll have a much greater effect than harassing the poor front-line workers.
A genuine question: why does this matter for customers? Is there any foreseeable bad outcome for customers?
Maybe - insurance companies could start using your shopping habits to inform your risk group and therefore premiums. I could see other nefarious uses like tracking when female customers get pregnant for purposes of enforcing abortion bans or targeting of individuals by anti-abortion groups. I think it's a mistake to underestimate the imagination of insurance adjusters and bureaucrats when it comes to how personal dat…
https://www.healthcare.gov/how-plans-set-your-premiums/
It is a political exercise though, seeing as how it was politically acceptable for tobacco users to not be subsidized by non tobacco users, but it is okay for alcohol users to be subsidized by non alcohol users.
Similarly, it is okay for excessive sugar and carbohydrate consumers to be subsidized by appropriate carbohydrate consumers. Or exercise and non exercise...etc
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Edward Snowden revealed that u need to remove the battery on ur phone to make it "safe", turning it off doesn't do the trick. [Which u can't do anymore]. As another commenter says: leave the phone at home.
What about a Faraday bag?
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Yes. Don't hassle the poor clerks. They aren't in charge of any of this stuff and certainly don't have the power to change it. Just say "no" and move on.
I normally wouldn't bother since I hate pushing my views on people (and I'm just there to buy food after all). But she asked me 3 times in a row and after 2 "no"s I decided I might as well try to explain why. It didn't make a difference and I left with a signup form I had no intention on filling out. Such are the downsides of being naturally polite. I guess I could just keep saying no and refuse to elaborate.
I've never experienced that, personally, so didn't think of it. I just say "no" and that's the end of it every time.
A genuine question: why does this matter for customers? Is there any foreseeable bad outcome for customers?
> Is there any foreseeable bad outcome for customers? Mostly: better advertising means you're most likely to be duped into wasting money on things you don't want, or making suboptimal purchasing decisions, making your life worse over time. But also: insurance companies and banks could use your grocery purchase habits to adjust your premiums or loan rates based on e.g. whether or not your purchases indicate a healthy…
While the point of advertising is to take your money, better advertising can also help you discover products you really need. For example, if they can guess when you car scheduled maintenance is, they can send you an ad related to it, and remind you that you need to do it, which is better than forgetting about it. I also have been notified of events I ended up attending and enjoyed, or received ads about food I really like. Did I spend more than I would have if it wasn't for these ads? Probably, but I don't consider going to an event I enjoy and eating well a loss of money.
As for insurance companies, adjusting your premiums can also mean lowering them. Maybe not directly, but identifying risky customers allow them to propose a lower base rate because of the lower risk. Overall, that's unfair to those who are in the high risk group and can't do anything about it (normally that's when the government is supposed to intervene), but for you as a customer, it can be a good thing.
I don't mean it can't be bad, in fact, I think ads are an overall net negative, but it is not all bad.
The reason I think it is a net negative is that a lot of resources are spend on advertising, too much I think. These resources are things that you ultimately pay for and don't go into making a better product. The reason I think it is too much is that it is adversarial. A bit of advertising is a good thing, maybe someone makes the thing you really need, but if you are not aware of its existence, that's useless, and the entire point of good advertising is to make you aware of it. The problem is that when there is competition, each competitor wants you to buy their product instead of the other one, and their advertising efforts cancel out, that's how you get overwhelmed with ads.
Honestly… if we could figure out how to separate agriculture and groceries from the rest of the economy, we’d be a happier species. It’s so fucked up that the ability to feed yourself is tied to a dick measuring contest between a handful of ultra wealthy.
Barter with your local farmer. Oh wait none of us have local farmers anymore thanks to government policies over the last century. Even fewer in the future in europe thanks to "nitrogen regulations".
That's not true in most of the US outside of large cities. And even in large cities, there's probably a CSA organization.
You'll pay more, of course, but the goods you get are much better.
We are in a new era of hacks. We have reached the point where I can get a product removed from walmart just by buying out all of the supplies for a few months, then stop buying any.
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What about a Faraday bag?
anyone have any suggestions for a Faraday bag?
https://usa.kaspersky.com/blog/terminator-dark-fate-chips/18...
Sometimes it feels ridiculous how much OPSEC I need to employ to buy anything at the grocery store. I walk or bike to the store to not reveal a license plate. All radios and sensors on my handset are turned off. I wear a mask to thwart facial recognition cameras. I pay cash.
Can we, today, be sure that ATMs do not record serial numbers of the bank notes they dispense?