# For those angry at vapid consumer culture, why not just opt out? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 19, 2015, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-angry-at-vapid-consumer-culture-why-not-just-opt-out/725593 "2015-07-19T10:42:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-angry-at-vapid-consumer-culture-why-not-just-opt-out/725593/41 "2015-07-20T15:30:52Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I don’t know if you were responding to me specifically… No, just to be clear. I meant the whole somewhat-aside discussion of things K-ish. > [@](#): > > There are exceptions, but my consumer habits are largely driven by needs and wants arising from my actual living situation. That’s more or less the opposite of ‘consumer culture.’ Being an anonymous online discussion, I’m forced to take your word for it. 🙂 While stressing that I\* don’t\* want to start an argument about it, I have yet to be in anyone’s house who could claim such a level of dissociation - or, more precisely, claimed it but could ignore the plentiful evidence to the contrary I could point to. Like sex, money, literary taste and drinking, it’s a position subject to a lot of willed blindness and self-deception. Just because someone doesn’t have this week’s heavily advertised brand names everywhere doesn’t mean they are free of the larger tides of influence. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-angry-at-vapid-consumer-culture-why-not-just-opt-out/725593/42 "2015-07-20T16:06:22Z")
I participate in almost every aspect of pop-cultre, and haven’t [DRINK PEPSI!] noticed any influence one way [WILL CAITLYN JENNER GET MORE SURGERY?] or the other. From ads, commercials, E! News, TMZ, [CHECK OUT PARIS HILTON’S NEW SHOES!], music, movies, tv, etc. [IS ONE DIRECTION TAKING A BREAK?!] I can say the need to be proactive against it all seems silly. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-angry-at-vapid-consumer-culture-why-not-just-opt-out/725593/43 "2015-07-20T16:31:51Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > No, just to be clear. I meant the whole somewhat-aside discussion of things K-ish. > Being an anonymous online discussion, I’m forced to take your word for it. 🙂 > > While stressing that I\* don’t\* want to start an argument about it, I have yet to be in anyone’s house who could claim such a level of dissociation - or, more precisely, claimed it but could ignore the plentiful evidence to the contrary I could point to. Like sex, money, literary taste and drinking, it’s a position subject to a lot of willed blindness and self-deception. Just because someone doesn’t have this week’s heavily advertised brand names everywhere doesn’t mean they are free of the larger tides of influence. Well, if you mean I don’t live like an 1850s farm boy, sure. 🙂 I mean, the fact that we’ve got a fridge, and an electric range, and a dishwasher, and washer and dryer, and a TV, means we’re not “free of the larger tides of influence” right there: Toto, we’re not in 1850 anymore, and if you want to call the technological changes between then and now “the larger tides of influence,” well, you can. But in order to have a more meaningful discussion, you’ve got to draw some sort of distinction between incorporating such progress into one’s life, and buying a bunch of shit because we’re in a culture that tells us to buy. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-angry-at-vapid-consumer-culture-why-not-just-opt-out/725593/44 "2015-07-20T16:37:11Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > On the other hand, some aspects of consumer culture are tougher to avoid. Tabloids, for instance, with their never-ending race to the bottom in taste, intelligence, and celebrity-worship. If you go to the supermarket, you can’t avoid them. Okay, so you can shop at Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods and avoid them that way. But we’re not talking about a trivial amount of effort any more. Well, when I’m in the supermarket I do the opposite of Playboy - I don’t read the titles, I just look at the pictures. Anyhow, they use first names, and I’m distant enough from this crap that it could be in Sanskrit for all the impression it makes. We don’t have to limit spam filters to our email clients - we can put them behind our eyes also. ---
**Author:** ![CinnamonBabka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bbce88/32.png) [@CinnamonBabka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CinnamonBabka)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-angry-at-vapid-consumer-culture-why-not-just-opt-out/725593/45 "2015-07-20T16:42:15Z")
I’ve found hobbies to be a great way of insulating myself from the consumer culture. While it doesn’t completely isolate me from pop culture (thanks, Facebook), it’s pretty easy to drown out nonsense when you’re waist-deep in Kernel. Having said that, I still love my Apple® iPhone© 5S™. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-angry-at-vapid-consumer-culture-why-not-just-opt-out/725593/46 "2015-07-20T16:42:43Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > I think there’s more to the OP than whether or not you know any Kardashian’s first name or don’t/watch TV news. ITR Champion touched on it but got side-tracked into (IMHO) a trivial aspect. > > Who here thinks they live a life “insulated from consumer culture” - somewhat, a lot, substantially or totally? I’m one of the more strenuous opponents of all that phrase represents, and have been for quite some time - formally, for close to a decade - and I’d be pushing it a bit to say I am more than “somewhat insulated.” Until recently, I was very proud that I couldn’t pick a Kardashian out of a lineup. Then I picked up a magazine in the allergist’s waiting room, and that ended that ignorance. It’s difficult to be more than “somewhat insultated” when morning “news” becomes “newsfotainment”, peddling popular “health” and “diet” nonsense, and asking “stars” like Kim Kardashian what they think about topics on which they have no knowledge. And that’s where I get irritated. It’s nice that Madonna likes yoga, or the Kardashians are wearing lots of nice clothes and makeup, or that Bulldog is, um, whatever he does. None of this is NEWS, and it has zero impact on anyone’s life. And I object to the endless opinions from people without any actual knowledge on the subject and the bad science/trends being touted as “health” reporting (also done by people who flunked 8th grade science). I enjoy fluff, but the difference for me is that, for example, the Who What Wear fashion/beauty feed in my Facebook feed isn’t claiming to be _news_. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-angry-at-vapid-consumer-culture-why-not-just-opt-out/725593/47 "2015-07-20T16:50:07Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I don’t have to worry about this, since I can’t go on Jeopardy again. 😛 Didn’t win enough to be in the champions’ tournament, huh? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-angry-at-vapid-consumer-culture-why-not-just-opt-out/725593/48 "2015-07-20T17:45:33Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > A lot of people do opt out. But then they are ridiculed for being out of touch, grouchy, and “old”. It’s not the opting out so much as the telling everyone about it. Opt out, opt in. Just remember: _nobody gives a shit_. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-angry-at-vapid-consumer-culture-why-not-just-opt-out/725593/49 "2015-07-20T18:03:00Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > But in order to have a more meaningful discussion, you’ve got to draw some sort of distinction between incorporating such progress into one’s life, and buying a bunch of shit because we’re in a culture that tells us to buy. No question. But you’ve circumscribed the problem, here - these discussions tend to swing between extremes and it’s difficult to find a common center. Every term used has to undergo laborious (as in GM labor agreement in a bad year) confirmation of mutual understanding before the exchange can go anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-angry-at-vapid-consumer-culture-why-not-just-opt-out/725593/50 "2015-07-20T18:08:30Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > It’s not the opting out so much as the telling everyone about it. > > Opt out, opt in. Just remember: _nobody gives a shit_. Really? I guess _n_{obody} = 1, at least. But the topic comes up and gets discussed a lot, and the fuggoff-it’s-nunny-yabizness contingent tends to be in the minority. I really do find it fascinating \*how \*touchy people are on this topic, and _how_ fast they get _so_ angry. Even people that will discuss personal issues, politics, criticism and so forth with casual equanimity tend to blow when anyone includes them in a discussion about their consumption habits. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-angry-at-vapid-consumer-culture-why-not-just-opt-out/725593/51 "2015-07-20T18:37:59Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Every term used has to undergo laborious (as in GM labor agreement in a bad year) confirmation of mutual understanding before the exchange can go anywhere. Pardon me, but this is just ridiculous. We’ve got to go through the equivalent of a massive labor negotiation before the _real_ discussion can begin? _Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight._ I’m sure there’s some level of discussion that’s manageable within this thread, without its taking years and costing millions of lives. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-angry-at-vapid-consumer-culture-why-not-just-opt-out/725593/52 "2015-07-20T18:54:58Z")
[QUOTE=grude] You don’t HAVE TO buy anything, listen to anything, watch anything, do anything. [/quote] Yes, you can avoid TV, other electronic devices and newspapers, walk around in public with your eyes shut, fingers in your ears humming na na na na na, and there is markedly diminished risk of being exposed to annoying/nauseating popular culture. But you _will_ bonk into things. > [@](#): > > I Just find this like getting angry because other people enjoy something you don’t. > > :mad:How dare anyone like this stupid thing! You sound like an angry person who needs a _hug_. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-angry-at-vapid-consumer-culture-why-not-just-opt-out/725593/53 "2015-07-20T19:41:02Z")
> [@Mr.Nylock](#): > > In realty, I think those that complain the most are people who want everyone to conform to their values and are mad that society is interested in other things. You got it backward. I can’t speak for anybody else that has such opinions, but in my case I DON’T want to conform to everybody else’s values and I am mad that everything I see any more is an advertisement. I don’t watch recent television shows, or movies- either do my kids. Though I did relent and take them to see Jurassic World… and holy shit, product placement after product placement. Even the… …tongue-in-cheek meta-reference to the silly ubiquity of product placement/corporate sponsorship did nothing to make me feel less like I should have been being paid to watch the movie, rather than paying $40 to sit through a two-hour commercial. Everything is now in the hands of marketing, and every year I become a bit more jaded. So, I opted to cut myself off to the extent that it is possible- by cutting the cable. I do my viewing on Netflix or Amazon Prime. I mostly stick with watching only old movies and TV shows that I liked, or may have missed the first time around. I probably only watch TV/Movies for maybe 3-4 hours a week. I don’t listen to pop music, either- only audiobooks or podcasts. I fill the rest of my time with spending time with the kids, playing games, or reading. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-angry-at-vapid-consumer-culture-why-not-just-opt-out/725593/54 "2015-07-20T20:22:41Z")
> [@Kron](#): > > Everything is now in the hands of marketing, and every year I become a bit more jaded. So, I opted to cut myself off to the extent that it is possible- by cutting the cable. I do my viewing on Netflix or Amazon Prime. I mostly stick with watching only old movies and TV shows that I liked, or may have missed the first time around. I probably only watch TV/Movies for maybe 3-4 hours a week. I don’t listen to pop music, either- only audiobooks or podcasts. I fill the rest of my time with spending time with the kids, playing games, or reading. I’m very much like you. I’m very selective in what I watch, read and listen to. Not because of snobbishness but because the world now allows me to be selective. My flipboard account, BBC news and Guardian web site are the sort of places where i gather my news. I listen pretty much exclusively to BBC radio 5 and 4 (which are talk, sport, politics, drama and comedy) and watch BBC TV channels and on-demand such as iPlayer, Pandora and Spotify. As such I don’t see many (if any) ads. I’ve got more e-books than I know what to do with. So there we go, that’s how the consumer culture and pop culture passes me by, I don’t go looking for it, it can’t really hunt me out and if any hoves into view unwarranted then I have an efficient mental “off” switch that I can engage and in the world of the smartphone I always have an alternative game, puzzle, book, podcast or album of my own choosing right to hand. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-angry-at-vapid-consumer-culture-why-not-just-opt-out/725593/55 "2015-07-20T21:02:26Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > My flipboard account, BBC news and Guardian web site are the sort of places where i gather my news. I listen pretty much exclusively to BBC radio 5 and 4 (which are talk, sport, politics, drama and comedy) and watch BBC TV channels and on-demand such as iPlayer, Pandora and Spotify. As such I don’t see many (if any) ads. I’ve got more e-books than I know what to do with. To me the stuff you are describing is pop culture; BBC, NPR etc. It’s sort of the mainstream for intellectual types. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-angry-at-vapid-consumer-culture-why-not-just-opt-out/725593/56 "2015-07-20T22:16:42Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Really? I guess _n_{obody} = 1, at least. But the topic comes up and gets discussed a lot, and the fuggoff-it’s-nunny-yabizness contingent tends to be in the minority. > > I really do find it fascinating \*how \*touchy people are on this topic, and _how_ fast they get _so_ angry. Even people that will discuss personal issues, politics, criticism and so forth with casual equanimity tend to blow when anyone includes them in a discussion about their consumption habits. **monstro’s** post implied that those who “opt out” of devoting attention to pop culture phenomenon X, Y, or Z would find themselves ridiculed for it. I maintain that no, it does not necessarily follow that ignoring these things leads directly to ridicule, because nobody knows about your list of little boycotts unless you bring it up— which some people do, frequently, under the misguided impression that other people care. You may have a deep personal interest in knowing whether or not I watch E! News, or want to buy an Apple Watch, or know who Ziggy Azalea is. I assure you that it isn’t mutual. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-angry-at-vapid-consumer-culture-why-not-just-opt-out/725593/57 "2015-07-20T22:18:00Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Pardon me, but this is just ridiculous. We’ve got to go through the equivalent of a massive labor negotiation before the _real_ discussion can begin? Okay. Define the acceptable level of consumer products in the average home, in objective terms. I’ll wait. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-angry-at-vapid-consumer-culture-why-not-just-opt-out/725593/58 "2015-07-20T23:25:46Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > **monstro’s** post implied that those who “opt out” of devoting attention to pop culture phenomenon X, Y, or Z would find themselves ridiculed for it. I maintain that no, it does not necessarily follow that ignoring these things leads directly to ridicule, because nobody knows about your list of little boycotts unless you bring it up— which some people do, frequently, under the misguided impression that other people care. > > You may have a deep personal interest in knowing whether or not I watch E! News, or want to buy an Apple Watch, or know who Ziggy Azalea is. I assure you that it isn’t mutual. I didn’t mean to imply that people who opt out get ridiculed. I have decided to opt out of the Kardashians, Housewives of \_\_, all the network talent shows, and everything on TLC and the Discovery channel. But no one has ever called me “out of touch, grouchy or old” because I don’t ever talk about my “opting out” of these things. My “opting out” never comes up in conversation. But when someone talks about these programs with me, I at least try feign an interest. Just like I feign an interest when they talk about sports, their kids, their dogs, or their hobbies. Saying “I hate that stuff” is not a good way to keep a conversation going. It’s a good way to alert everyone that you’re out of touch, grouchy and old, though. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-angry-at-vapid-consumer-culture-why-not-just-opt-out/725593/59 "2015-07-21T01:45:38Z")
I’ve 99% opted out of TV, music and junk news and haven’t suffered any social consequences from it. I don’t think I’ve been asked “Hey, did you see X tv show last night?” since I was a kid and there were only 3 channels and everyone watched the same thing. Occasionally, someone will make a reference to a show and I’ll say “Haha, I haven’t seen that but it sounds funny” but that’s about it. With TV, I think the less I watched, the less I wanted to watch. I know there are great shows out there these days but… meh. Game of Thrones is at 50 1-hour episodes now. I’m not investing 50 hours on any one piece of entertainment. I like movies and could watch over 25 completely different movies in the time it would take to watch that one tv show. > [@Kron](#): > > … I am mad that everything I see any more is an advertisement. I understand why advertisements are necessary and all, but when you step back and think about it, don’t you think it’s strange that the price people pay to be entertained is being interrupted every few minutes by hucksters trying to separate them from their money? ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-angry-at-vapid-consumer-culture-why-not-just-opt-out/725593/60 "2015-07-21T15:01:31Z")
> [@Mr.Nylock](#): > > To me the stuff you are describing is pop culture; BBC, NPR etc. It’s sort of the mainstream for intellectual types. I’m not sure where my exposure to “pop culture” would happen with those sources though. I guess it would depend on what you term “pop culture” in the first place but certainly over the last few months I’ve learned a lot about Magna Carta and the history of Rome but precious little about popular music or celebrities. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-angry-at-vapid-consumer-culture-why-not-just-opt-out/725593.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-angry-at-vapid-consumer-culture-why-not-just-opt-out/725593.md?page=4)