My friend is relatively progressive (pro LGBTQIA+, anti-racist, etc) but he fails to have more than a surface level analysis of things.
Example:
I don’t remember exactly what we were talking about in the first place but we ended up in some dumb debate about whether ethical companies exist (AriZona tea and Tony’s chocolonely specifically), because some are ‘progressive’ and apparently don’t do ‘bad stuff’ like others do… I immediately replied to him that these companies inherently uphold the capitalist system and operate within its exploitative structure. And that just because a company is pro LGBTQ, doesn’t use slave labour (lmao), pays their workers slightly more, etc, doesn’t mean theyre progressive. He, of course, completely ignored me, either because he didn’t understand what I was saying or was just wilfully ignorant (I’m in favour of the former).
It’s just so tiring talking to people who have no understanding of how these processes work. No matter how much I try to ‘deprogram’ these kinds of people, they just block it all out.
I think my approach is “idc if a couple companies are slightly less bad than all the others. Companies by nature are driven to exploit people and resources in order to increase profits. Individuals can vary, but by and large that is the incentive of the system. Most of the products everyone relies on from day to day are completely unethical, and the “more ethical” ones are more expensive and only people who benefit from this exploitative system can afford them and do to feel better.”