Meh... They are plebs, they don't know they're being manipulated and I do. That's not to say I'm above it, I still buy Ralph Lauren and Banana Republic and I don't claim moral high ground. What I like about Marxism is that it is capable of shedding light on ideology and how it functions within market societies, the problem is that capitalism is pure and simple inescapable and there's no moral obligation to create an absolutely utilitarian economic reality. The problem is that no one wants one, go to a mega-mall and look for how many people there want to change anything, they're absolutely happy lapping down every possible "sale" or "bargain" they find. They're eyes veer just left of centre when looking at a merchandising display so merchandising manuals are adamant to place their highest profit margin goods exactly in that location. There's bright colours everywhere and thematic music playing everywhere, the location is purely and simply designed in order to replace the money that was once on the debit cards of the customers with whatever crap was in the shopping centre. I know this, you know this, everyone on this thread knows this but those special little customers have no inclining towards this truth. Everyone is conditioned, and the fact that the lowest common denominator wins means that if you buy "ethical" groceries all it does is create a diversified market wherein your "ethical" goods are catered for by a growing market demand which sits comfortably alongside the rest of the grocery store. Point of fact, there is absolutely no such a thing as a rational consumer, there's irrationality which market trends analyse so as to anticipate the best investments. Rational people buy the same crap as everyone else. Capitalism works because rational humans behave irrationally most of the time. I think that we deserve what we get and I don't think that we should pretend to believe in justice anymore.