https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/public/ recent bookmarks from matthewmcvickar 2020-02-18T06:36:44+00:00 https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/02/03/the-pitfalls-and-the-potential-of-the-new-minimalism matthewmcvickarJia Tolentino on how the mantra of “less is more,” which obeys a logic of accumulation, hints at genuinely different ways of thinking. --- It is rarely acknowledged, by either the life-hack-minded authors or the proponents of minimalist design, that many people have minimalism forced upon them by circumstances that render impossible a serene, jewel-box life style. Nor do they mention that poverty and trauma can make frivolous possessions seem like a lifeline rather than a burden. Many of today’s gurus maintain that minimalism can be useful no matter one’s income, but the audience they target is implicitly affluent—the pitch is never about making do with less because you have no choice. […] Today’s most popular minimalists do not mention Marx. Sometimes they address the importance of freeing oneself from the dictates of the market. In “Goodbye, Things,” Sasaki writes about the importance of figuring out your minimum required monthly income, and encourages readers to consider the environmental consequences of their life styles. Millburn and Nicodemus write about the joy that comes from choosing to earn less money, even if they avoid discussing the more common situation of having your wages kept low against your will. But they also assure their audience that “capitalism is not broken”—we are. They insist that there’s “nothing wrong with earning a shedload of money—it’s just that the money doesn’t matter if you’re not happy with who you’ve become in the process.” Even these sincere prophets of anti-consumerism are hesitant to conclude that the excessive purchasing of stuff may be a symptom of larger structural problems, or that a life built around maximum accumulation may be not only insufficiently conducive to happiness but actually, morally bad. The worst versions of life-style minimalism frame simplicity not as a worthy end in itself but as an instrument—a tool of self-improvement, or of high-end consumption, or of self-improvement through high-end consumption. It is a vision shaped by the logic of the market: the self is perpetually being improved; its environment is ready for public display and admiration; it methodically sheds all inefficiencies and flaws. This vision also forgoes any recognition that the kind of salvation so many people are seeking can happen only at the level of the system rather than at that of the individual. […] This is, in the end, the most convincing argument for minimalism: with less noise in our heads, we might hear the emergency sirens more clearly. If we put down some baggage, we might move more swiftly. We might address the frantic, frightening, intensifying conditions that have prompted us to think of minimalism as an attractive escape.]]> capitalism minimalism culture consumerism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:c405d7c35133/ 2020-01-26T04:47:22+00:00 https://threshold.us/c/cancelprime/amazon-alternatives matthewmcvickarWelcome to the most lovingly curated selection of Amazon and Prime alternatives anywhere. We aim to make giving up Amazon easy and to encourage more people While Amazon's monopolistic stranglehold on our economy has made it increasingly difficult to completely avoid supporting them, we've discovered that—contrary to conventional wisdom—it’s often possible to find lower prices, sometimes substantially, by shopping elsewhere. You just have to know where to look...]]> amazon shopping internet consumerism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:08937d686ddc/ 2018-11-16T16:17:05+00:00 https://www.thrillist.com/eat/portland/stanichs-closed-will-it-reopen-burger-quest# matthewmcvickarIf there was one main negative takeaway from the raging fires of food tourist culture and the lists fanning the flames, it was that the people crowding the restaurant were one time customers. They were there to check off a thing on a list, and put it on Instagram. They weren’t invested in the restaurant’s success, but instead in having a public facing opinion of a well known place. In other words, they had nothing to lose except money and the restaurant had nothing to gain except money, and that made the entire situation feel both precarious and a little gross.]]> consumerism food journalism writing https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:2ff52502e2d8/ 2013-03-04T06:31:34+00:00 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/magazine/the-extraordinary-science-of-junk-food.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all& matthewmcvickar…a series of small case studies of a handful of characters whose work then, and perspective now, sheds light on how the foods are created and sold to people who, while not powerless, are extremely vulnerable to the intensity of these companies’ industrial formulations and selling campaigns.]]> food america culture eating industry science consumerism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:441c23fcce8e/ 2013-01-28T07:23:31+00:00 http://www.marco.org/2013/01/21/anti-apple-anger matthewmcvickarThe Windows and Android communities need to better understand why so many of us choose Apple, and the Apple community needs to better understand the large market of people who can’t or won’t.]]> apple blog business anger consumerism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:5ca58d1c645d/ 2012-10-06T05:25:26+00:00 http://pitchfork.com/features/articles/8937-this-little-conspiracy-the-great-white-wonder-and-the-dawn-of-the-album-leak/ matthewmcvickarOn one basic level, what happened in 1969 with Wonder—and what happens every day with mp3 leaks—illuminates a very basic economic fact: Official markets will always lead to unsanctioned ones that feed off of the legit products—and often operate much more efficiently. Consumer desire has never automatically limited itself to strictly legal operations, particularly when fans can convince themselves (often rightly) that they’re doing no harm to the artists.]]> music history consumerism economy business marketing https://instapaper.com/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:c9613f427fe0/ 2012-06-21T20:13:35+00:00 http://www.subtraction.com/2012/06/20/follow-up-to-built-to-not-last matthewmcvickarIt’s true, there’s not necessarily a business case to do this, but that is not the only thing Apple will be judged on in the decades to come. And that’s what I’m talking about here: how will future generations look back at Apple, and by extension its customers? Did we all live our lives by more than just the bottom line? Or were the late twentieth and early twenty-first century the decades in which we irrevocably decided that everything should be disposable (or even recyclable) after just two or three years?]]> apple consumerism product design computers technology https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:7316e3b5a904/ 2012-03-04T04:52:02+00:00 http://www.schmutzie.com/weblog/2012/2/25/we-can-become-known.html matthewmcvickar society pinterest tumblr reblog internet consumerism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:20304e2ab880/ 2012-01-09T00:20:57+00:00 http://www.marco.org/2012/01/04/fanboy-theory matthewmcvickar phone market consumerism https://instapaper.com/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:4a5277fb6968/ 2011-11-25T22:17:54+00:00 http://squashed.tumblr.com/post/13299732573/honestly-if-youre-out-today-maybe-get-maced matthewmcvickar consumerism america https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:01600e72274e/ 2011-10-06T21:25:56+00:00 http://pitchfork.com/features/articles/8685-steve-jobs/ matthewmcvickar apple music history capitalism consumerism musicindustry https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:07a848bfecb4/ 2011-03-20T12:07:16+00:00 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/business/smallbusiness/10sbiz.html matthewmcvickar consumerism business startups internet shopping https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:af0e83b68499/ 2011-01-22T22:18:22+00:00 http://www.businessweek.com/print/magazine/content/11_05/b4213090559511.htm matthewmcvickar consumerism capitalism labor america forever21 shopping plagiarism copyright https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:9b2c4763447b/ 2011-01-11T09:10:49+00:00 http://thehairpin.com/2010/12/and-the-color-of-2011-is/ matthewmcvickar consumerism writing humor 2011 https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:7b7a3cf4ee17/ 2010-11-03T08:40:54+00:00 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/dining/07mini.html?_r=3 matthewmcvickar food cooking grocery shopping kitchen household consumerism https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:902708e8f809/ 2010-10-30T00:59:00+00:00 http://www.teleread.com/paul-biba/an-open-letter-to-cursor-by-richard-eoin-nash/ matthewmcvickar literature books culture consumerism contentculture music https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:740973e40d87/ 2010-10-28T05:39:29+00:00 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/27/us/27drink.html?src=me matthewmcvickar alcohol society america drinking culture marketing consumerism https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:b6b1ad34c954/ 2007-10-04T19:02:37+00:00 http://consumerist.com/consumer/how-to/13-step-guide-to-buying-a-car-while-controlling-the-sale-and-the-price-296553.php matthewmcvickar cars business consumerism finance lifehack shopping money negotiation https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:ccc5981daccf/ 2007-08-07T20:09:09+00:00 http://paulgraham.com/stuff.html matthewmcvickar consumerism materialism clutter https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:664d3358ea4b/ 2007-05-02T12:39:05+00:00 http://www.chrisjordan.com/ matthewmcvickar statistics america art consumerism https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:f8d1354b1d3c/