I think if everyone were just a bit fussier in what they choose to buy, what we consume would have much more value. Rogers sends me a lot of mail. Bell and Virgin Mobile want to throttle my internet.

Air Miles had recently got under my skin. I was going through the online catalogue of redeemable rewards and found some things I liked. So I punched in my card number to see if I had enough points. Turns out that the website became laden with traffic, as I has waited over 10 minutes (with ultra-high speed internet) for a single page to load. I tried again three times in the next weeks to the same result. I was then determined to make the 40-minute commitment it took to get to the “contact” page, write a complaint, asking for a paper catalogue so that I may order via mail, and send it in. I just wanted to clear all my points off and never use my card again in my life…just to spite them. It’s been a month and still no response other than an automatically generated email reply. I think if even 1000 of their customers were as determined as I was, they would remove the throttling. Alas, they won’t, as long as it remains profitable (because now it seems likely that they don’t need to provide me with $65 of movie tickets I accumulated over the years).

Now, given an option, I will actually avoid shopping somewhere that is an Air Miles sponsor.

Just say no

Today I went shopping for a new TV with my mother. She had her heart set on leaving the store with one under her arm so that she could watch a show in her room this evening. After browsing through several stores and checking online product reviews, we came home empty-handed. The reasonably-priced ones were of visibly poor workmanship, and the decent ones were far too expensive. Why settle for sub-par value? It’s easy for me, but I’m learning that simply refusing to buy something you want, because of poor value, is very difficult for many of us.

The ultimate example, in my opinion, is the fabled iPod. Listen, I know how awesome they are, I used to own one and loved it. However, I don’t think it is not even close to being worth the price. They want $99 for a 4G iPod Shuffle. How does anyone find this even remotely acceptable? It costs them $2 to design, build and ship an iPod Shuffle (corrected for the sheer amount of iPods a few engineers designed, that are shipped in even one truck), and $87 for the marketing, to make you think it’s sexy. Therefore, I simply refuse to buy one, or one of the knockoffs at an equally stupid $45.

Why repair when you can buy new?

I own two types of items: Things I bought in the past three years, and stuff my grandparents gave me. Back then, everything was built to last. Books are a great example. I still use my grandfather’s old cast-iron skillet. But if my printer runs out of ink, it’s cheaper to buy a new one than to replace the ink at retail price (that’s why I just get the cartridges refilled for 10$). I hope to see a re-surging of watchmakers and shoe-repair services.

I think if we all were a bit more assertive when it comes to our favorite activity, consumption, we would see vast returns in the quality of products in the future. I’m not trying to be a hipster, I’m trying to be a smart consumer, a capitalist pig in my own right. Whoever asks permission before sending me spam, listens to my wants and needs for services I requite, will get my money. Because let’s face it, that’s the only reason why they’re serving me in the first place.

Every time a company talks to you, whether via phone, email, billboard, radio, internet or pamphlet, it’s because they want your money. And they will make you feel whatever way you need to in order for such a transaction to occur in their favour. We need more than feeling like modern consumers by ditching plastic bags in favor of reusable ones at the grocery store. We need to demand better value. We need to refuse a bad deal. We need to be smarter consumers.

Unfortunately, once again, The Onion doesn’t land that far off the truth…

Sony Releases New Stupid Piece Of Shit That Doesn’t Fucking Work