I've Reached Peak Lobotomized Consumer
Submitted by QTR's Fringe Finance
There’s a very specific kind of financial confession I’ve had to make to myself recently.
I see charges pop up on my phone’s home screen on various credit cards all the time. A lot of times they just say “Apple” or “Amazon.” No details. No explanation. Just a clean, confident withdrawal from my account like I’m renting air to breathe from both of these companies. And like a good American lobotomized consumer, I do absolutely nothing about it.
I don’t investigate. I don’t even tap for more information. I just stare at it for half a second, nod internally, and think, yeah that feels right. Then I keep scrolling like I didn’t just get billed by a corporation with the transparency of Area 51.
At this point, I have to admit something. I have fully surrendered to Amazon and Apple. Not in a dramatic way. Not in a conscious, principled decision. More in the slow, quiet erosion of resistance. Somewhere along the line, I stopped being a person who tracks purchases and became a person who assumes all unexplained charges are probably valid. I’m the opposite of the assholes who subscribe to my blog, download the content they want, then contest the charge with their credit card companies.
And hey, if a random company hit my card like this, I’d immediately spiral. I’d be calling my bank, questioning my entire digital security setup. But when it’s Apple or Amazon, I assume the problem is me. I must have done something. Bought something. Subscribed to something. Needed something. Movie rental. NFL Thursday night football. Cascade brand dishwasher detergent. AppleCare. Prime subscription. Recurring donation to feed starving children I signed up for at Whole Foods.
Who the fu*k knows? The point is, I don’t check. I accept. Getting older. Brain functioning less. Surrendering more to Skynet. Arguing with my Apple HomePod about why it can’t accurately tell me what day it is, assuming the faceless, brainless, soulless machine is going to reason with me and respond accordingly. I am drifting toward Idiocracy...(READ THIS FULL COLUMN 100% FREE HERE).
