There's a native family, with a grandpa, in a tv commercial, except the dad, the patriarch, is still a white guy. Halfway there I guess?

#AntiConsumerism

Meet Meutch

“It is the preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else that prevents us from living freely and nobly.” ― Bertrand Russell

#anticonsumerism

The Universal

I’m standing in the middle of the supermarket aisle.

I’ve been staring at the same shelf for three minutes now. I just want some laundry detergent.

But, I’m faced with a wall of neon plastics and aggressive fonts promising the smells of “Mountain Spring”, “Midnight Jasmine”, or “Unscented Purity”.

My brain has actually glitched. I’m overwhelmed by the sheer, exhausting noise of too many options and I don’t know where to start…

Sound familiar?

It’s enough to make you miss the days when humanity’s “supply chain” was less…complicated. If it was a berry you ate it. If you could kill it, you ate it then wore it!

Life was binary: Useful or Useless. You didn’t “browse” – you survived.

In an early post, I talked about William Wallace. His version of… let’s call it… “autonomy” was the fundamental right to be the master of his own fate. Not a piece of a tyrant’s inventory.

He fought for the sovereignty of a nation; he couldn’t possibly have imagined “freedom” (I couldn’t avoid saying it forever!) to eventually mean the choice of 42 different fragrances of fabric conditioner!

Back then, needs were universal and choices were finite. You either had what you needed to endure, or you didn’t.

Today, we’ve been sold a hollow substitute: the “freedom” to choose between 50 types of artisanal, small-batch, sustainably sourced Greek yoghurts!

As a Gen Xer, the ultimate display of autonomy, back in the day, was choosing between Coke or Pepsi. Now, it turns out, they both basically own the same three conglomerates anyway!

It’s the great sleight of hand of the 21st century: we feel more “free” because we have more buttons to press, yet almost every choice leads back to the same few, monolithic brands…

I. The Evidence: The Syndicate 🔍

It’s a riot of colour and variety whether you’re walking down an aisle in a Tesco in Glasgow or a Target in Ohio. But, the paper trail reveals a “Syndicate” of about 10 global giants1 like Nestlé, PepsiCo, and Unilever who control almost everything we buy.

• The Global Buy-Outs: Our local legends are being swallowed whole. In Scotland, iconic brands like Lees (snowballs) are now corporate property. In the US, it’s the same story – Hostess (the makers of the immortal Twinkie) was recently snapped up by Smucker’s for $5.6 billion. It’s the same recipe, just a different boardroom.
• The Megamerger: Recently, Mars completed its acquisition of Kellanova (previously Kellogg’s). This isn’t just business; it’s a monopoly on your pantry! One company now controls 50% of all snack bar sales and owns everything from Snickers to Pringles.
• The Illusion of Variety: In the UK and US, only a handful of retailers control the lion’s share of the grocery market. When competition is this narrow, “variety” is just a marketing trick.

II. Slave to Fashion: The Endless Update Glitch 👕

The most fascinating part of the Syndicate’s design is the Fast Fashion cycle. It’s not just about clothes. It’s about the absurdity of our consumption:

• The 52-Season Cycle: We no longer have four seasons; we have 52 “micro-seasons.” New collections drop weekly to ensure we never feel “finished” with our wardrobes.
• The Waste Mountain: Every single second, the equivalent of one full garbage truck of textiles is burned or landfilled globally.
• Plastic Armor: Roughly 60% of our clothes are made from plastic-based fibres. Washing your favourite pair of trousers releases microfibres into the ocean equivalent to 50 billion plastic bottles every year.

III. The Problem That’s Not Really A Problem Solution ⛓️‍💥

The Syndicate is now trying to convince us that our basic human senses are no longer “optimal.” They are breaking things that weren’t broken, just to sell us a complicated, expensive fix that provides zero actual benefit.

• The Electric Flavour-Blaster: Why trust your tongue when a “smart” spoon can use electrical currents to mimic salt? They’re putting a motherboard between you and your soup to “enhance” a biological process that’s worked fine for millions of years.
• The £1,500 Crisis of Meaning: Luxury brands like Balenciaga are testing our grip on reality by selling “Trash Pouches” or leather bags that look like crinkled Lay’s packets. If they can make you pay a month’s rent for literal rubbish, they’ve successfully fried your internal “Value Logic” circuit.
• The Sentient Toaster: We’ve gone from “fire makes bread crunchy” to Wi-Fi-enabled appliances that require a firmware update before you can have a bagel. It’s not “convenience” if it requires having to remember a password before you’ve even had your first coffee!
• The Indoor Spy-Drone: They’ve framed “a literal flying spy in your kitchen” as “peace of mind.” It’s a solution to a problem they created by…making us feel constantly watched and unsafe.

It’s a strange time to be a human. As the song in my title says, “Yes, it really, really, really could happen” – and apparently, “it” is a toaster that has your phone number and a rubbish bag that costs more than a used car!

We’ve traded our ancestors’ survival instincts for the hunt for…the perfect shade of ‘Eggshell’ emulsion.

Our basic needs are still the same (food, shelter, clothing, a bit of autonomy) yet we’ve allowed the Syndicate to overwhelm us with the illusion that more “stuff” equals “happier self.”

Well I, for one, have had enough of it!

I was going to try to bring this all to a conclusion but…maybe, I need to write another section instead…

IV. The Citizen Jane Field Guide (The Resistance) ✊

We might not be able to beat the Syndicate, but we don’t have to join it either. Here’s a few suggestions for how to resist:

• Support the Local Legends: Buy from the holdouts. Tunnock’s has been family-owned in Scotland for 130+ years. If it hasn’t been swallowed by a conglomerate, it’s a revolutionary act to eat it! (It might even cancel out the calories!)
• The “Good Enough” Protocol: Don’t let 40 types of toothpaste drain your mental battery. Pick the first one that doesn’t taste like chalk and move on! Reclaim that decision-making energy for something that actually matters.
• Analogue Ancestry: Fix one thing this week instead of replacing it. Sew a button on, fix a wonky chair leg, or even just clean out your toaster crumb-tray! The Syndicate hates it when you realise you don’t need a “New Version” to be whole!
• The 24-Hour Cooling Period: If an algorithm serves you an ad for something you didn’t know existed five seconds ago, wait 24 hours. Most “needs” evaporate when the dopamine spike clears.
• The Scavenger Hunt: Buy three things this week from independent shops and pay with cash. It helps maintain financial discipline, avoid overspending and supports small businesses that pay transaction fees on card purchases.

Ultimately, we have to recognise the con: The “freedom” of 50 choices is an illusion designed to keep us distracted.

What we actually need to take back is control. We do that every time we refuse to let a smart-spoon or a fast-fashion algorithm tell us how to live.

I’m going to try to stick to the “Good Enough” Protocol this week to see how much headspace I get back.

I’d love for you to join the resistance – pick one thing from the field guide above and try it out.

Or better yet, give me your suggestions and keep the list going!

Let’s compare notes and share “Resistance” suggestions in the comments below. 👇

Citizen Jane x ✌

https://youtu.be/BrbxWOMpwfs?si=QxVf4OqNeu_lC8SR

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It's funny seeing so many Earth Day sales. Needless consumption is the opposite of supporting the environment.

You don't need to buy anything to celebrate Earth Day. The first "R" in the three Rs is Reduce.

Reduce the things you buy. Reuse, repair and refurbish the things you already have. Not just on Earth Day, but every day.

#earthDay #anticonsumerism #environment