Posted on 08/14/2014 1:49:19 PM PDT by Kaslin
Oh, how exciting… Now you can be a good little liberal, even when shopping for fresh produce and certain off-brand whiskies. According to a politically obsessed hack over at the Washington Post, some other politically obsessed hack has developed an app so you can wander through your daily life without ever losing sight of partisan political squabbles. The new smartphone app allows users to scan the barcode of consumable products in the grocery store, and it divulges the corporation’s political leanings. (I just found out that Fiji Water has switched from heavily Republican, to entirely Democrat… Ugh.)
It’s so nice to see that we’re now able to make dinner ingredients a conversation starter about Ted Cruz and Nancy Pelosi… I suppose, soon, we’ll be calling certain bakery products “racist” because of their political inclinations, right? Good. I was beginning to worry that there might be a couple of moments throughout the day that were not focused on divisive political partisanship. (A sarcasm font! My kingdom for a sarcasm font!)
According to the Washington Post:
The app, based on data from Center for Responsive Politics, the Sunlight Foundation, and the Institute for State Money in Politics, is the first rollout from Colbert’s new company, “Spend consciously.” It’s [sic] tagline: “Wouldn’t it be great if you could spend how you believed?” The goal of the company, he said, is make “every day Election Day” through “spending choices.” It’s called Buypartisan.
Whoa… Punny.
And, really, who wouldn’t enjoy the partisan experience of Election Day every day? (Does this mean that dead Democrats in Chicago will suddenly be shopping at the local Hy-Vee?) I just can’t wait until some well-intentioned Occupy types start petitioning my local Whole Foods (a libertarian organization, by the way) because they don’t carry a “progressive” brand of eggplants.
The entire notion of “Buypartisan” is a little over the top for me anyway. Oh, sure: There’s a place for spending discretion in our daily lives. Going to football games, for example, is no longer on my list of possible Sunday afternoon activities – but that’s not really because of the NFL’s anti-gun stance or general liberal tendencies. It has a lot more to do with the fact that the metal detectors and pat-downs prohibit me from entering the premises in the first place. (By now you should know: Asking why I don’t just keep my guns at home is an illogical and ridiculous question.)
Boycotts, however, are generally distasteful, useless, and absurdly counter-intuitive to the free market experience that conservatives tend to cherish. I mean, do you like the product? Then buy it. After all, even liberals should be rewarded for creating, selling, and marketing a good product. That’s kinda the advantage of capitalism: It rewards results, not intentions.
Look… I buy most of my wine from Argentina. Most of my vodka comes from Poland. And, just to prove that my household is not one giant nightmare for recovering alcoholics, I buy my cigars from Cuba the Dominican Republic. Heck, some of my guns even came from the former Soviet Union. I don’t really like the politics of any of these places. (Strangely, current and former communist states are very proficient at creating effective and high-quality alcohol, tobacco, and firearm products. Go figure.) But that’s not really the issue…
Are they good products? Are they the best value for the best price? Is there a capitalist, free-market-advocating, or Republican alternative? (In my case, the answers are: "Yes." "Yes." And "no.")
And such is the way with most fiscal conservatives. This, by the way, this is not an insult to conservatives. Truthfully, we on the right just wish to be left alone. It’s the left that feels the need to pressure everyone into their pre-conceived notion of “social justice” or political correctness.
There is a whole list of reasons that people buy the products that they do. Generally speaking, politics isn’t at the top of that list. Thank heaven we now have a hip new app that helps people further segregate themselves into politically defined bubbles, while doing something as mundane as shopping for groceries.
Then again… I guess I did just discovered a new way to irritate my liberal neighbors at our local Whole Foods. This should be fun.
For Marxist/Progressives EVERYTHING is political. EVERYTHING!!!
It sure is
Wow, think of the monetizing potential for this app. It's better than extortion or blackmail.
Can’t speak for the app itself, but one would think that it could be turned against the corporations it is trying to “protect.”
Politics is their religion, and the Government is their Church.
Don’t tell me “political leanings,” tell me who they gave their money to.
Which “brand” of watermelon is ok to buy then?
Perhaps this may be a useful app. After all, it’s hard to keep in memory such sleazy politically correct entities as Starbucks, Target, etc.
Heck, even though I am an Apple lover, they’d better get back to making excellent products vs trying to brag about hiring gays or protecting our environment.
Earth to corporations - you are there to give us stuff we are willing to purchase - while simultaneously making your shareholders a profit.
(Warning, the previous sentence is completely unintelligible to progressives and will result in their - very small - heads exploding.)
No one here. That's for sure.
We have a new Whole Foods under construction in my township (and within walking distance of my home).
Their political affiliation is immaterial to me because...
-The township management backdated zoning laws to accomodate this new “source of tax revenue”, otherwise this never wou;ld have passed.
-Ignored all property owners at various township meetings (the public meetings, anyway)
-The posting and distribution of flyers, specifically calling out property owners in our area opposed to the addition of Whole Foods, as well as the retail & extra housing planned for this new community endeavor.
They targeted these people by name and address. I guess next time, you should keep your mouth shut & let the town “fathers” work their will.
It’s for your own good.... or whatever
You can’t have a turf war without first dividing the turf.
I imagine that similar divisions were forming before the 1800s Civil War, with political lines drawn and people forced to choose sides.
I remember a liberal joke, can we just skip the list of companies and places we are boycotting and list the ones we can shop with - it’d be shorter.
Which “brand” of watermelon is ok to buy then?”
All watermelon is racist, as are sweet potatos, collard greens, chicken and anything with a picture of a black person on the package, such as Aunt Jemimah or Uncle Ben’s. I think there are some products with pictures of Indians or Asians. Those are racist, too.
I for one plan to download the app and make sure to purchase only from low rated (conservative) corporations, and to boycott all liberal ones. Thank you libs!
I think liberals have been much better about voting with their dollars than conservatives. It’s great that liberals made this app that will make it easier to bridge the gap for conservatives!
Bump?
Yup.
Liberal companies will eventually all go bankrupt, so the liberal shoppers who adhere to this stupidity will eventually starve to death....................
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