To what extent are we victims, and to what extent are we part of the system? This isn’t a simple thing to answer, and there’s not a single answer.
Corporations have too much power, but people fell into consumerism and fanboyism, defending their practices.
People talk about reducing electronic trash, but will buy the next shiny device at launch, before the last one stops working, will say that it’s a “needed improvement” when someone criticizes things like phones removing audio jacks, and look at people using older stuff as if they’re crazy. People talk about damaging production chains, but won’t prioritize local small ones. There are so many examples, but this is enough to get the idea.
Somehow, people love brands and corporations.
I understand and partially agree with you. The big players have more power and can pull the strings in so many markets, but their power isn’t absolute.
I think it’s all part of modern structure of power, to make us think we are powerless and that changes are impossible. It becomes a self proclaimed prophecy, because we stop taking actions because it won’t change anything anyway, so everyone does the same, and nothing happens.
We lack organization. Entire revolutions happened in the past. Kings went down and exploited places became independent.
It’s not impossible for us to fight back against corporate power, but we need the coordination we lack now. Social network algorithms contribute a lot to keep us fighting over everything, with everyone, preventing our organization.
Perhaps… the fediverse is a first step into some changes. Perhaps, we don’t have enough time anymore, perhaps I’m just a naive and foolish dreamer. The future can’t be accurately predicted, but onethings is sure: if we don’t try to improve things for us, it’s much more likely that everyone will get much worse.