Yo, Tech Answer Guy,
I wasn't able to attend any of the Occupy events owing to a…n infected hangnail that to this day has not completely healed. No, no need for sympathy – I'll survive…somehow. Still, my support of Occupy was legendary...among my seven Ello Itty fiends. When I got an "Occupy This T-shirt" for Saint Swithin's Day, I wore it to shreds, then posted pictures of the shreds on Peenterest.
Good times.
Then, one of my Farcebook fiends sent me a link to an article about the factory in Srinigar Vindaloo where the t-shirts were produced. I'll never look at fireplace tongs so innocently again! These people were paid pennies to make a t-shirt that I paid $65.95 for! I felt, ripped off! I mean, I'm sure the fiend who got me the t-shirt for Saint Bartolomeo's Day would feel ripped off...if she knew.
I'm conflicted...fortunately, there's a cream for that. More importantly, I don't know what to do: should I leave the pictures of the shredded clothing on my social network as my way of showing solidarity with the Occupy movement, or should I take them down to protest the conditions under which the shreds were produced (back when they were actual wearable clothing)?
Sincerely,Yo, Shirl the Girl,
Having a social conscience can be complicated, which is why The Tech Answer Guy avoids it whenever possible. Fortunately, he is sufficiently secure in his insecurity to admit when he is out of his depth, and The Tech Answer Guy is like a scuba diver at a six year-old girl's birthday party on this one. Depthwise. So, he showed your question to other people in the office. This is what they said.
"Of course you should wear the t-shirt," replied The Biz Whiz. "Wear it with pride! It's just one more example of how the capitalist system can turn any general disaster into some specific person's profit! Occupy movement? Please! Occupy bowel movement, more like! If you don't like the system, you can always move to...oh, yeah, as Saint Francis of Fukuyama proved, there is no alternative place to go! And, of course, when you go, you will be completely naked, because all clothing companies are morally compromised. Naked on a road to nowhere – yeah, that sounds like a winner's path!"
"Of course you shouldn't wear the t-shirt," responded Amritsar, of Ask Amritsar not quite fame – let's call it a lukewarm public acceptance. "Wearing our politics on our chests is what distinguishes us from the animals (with the possible exception of Austrian sea dingoes), and wearing sweatshop clothing sends the message that you're a heartless, materialistic bastard. You have alternatives. American Appall Oh! has a line of cruelty free t-shirts, sweatpants and 19th century corsets. Of course, you'd have to take out a mortgage to be able to afford a single ensemble, but nobody said not being a heartless, materialistic bastard came without a cost!"
"Is she a subscriber?" asked Alternate Reality News Service Editrix-in-Chief Brenda Brundtland-Govanni. "If she is, for Nordlinger's sake, don't say anything that would offend her! Momma needs a new budgie cage! If she isn't a subscriber, don't say anything that would offend her – without the bold-faced urgency...then ‘accidentally' connect her to the sales department. She'll thank you for it. Some day."
I wasn't sure how helpful any of this was, so I asked Phil, the mechanic from the shop down the street his opinion. Phil knows a lot of stuff. "From the moment we are born, the world asks us to make morally ambiguous choices" Phil, the mechanic from the shop down the street answered. For instance, do we risk supporting toxic industries by drinking our mother's neoprene-laden and slightly irradiated breast milk, or do we go hungry? And, the choices only get harder from there! Best I can tell you is: make choices you can live with and don't beat yourself up over the compromises. Unless you're into that sort of thing, in which case, knock yourself out."
So, there you have...something. Don't ask me what – I'm going to get into the Spiderman pyjamas I used to wear as The Tech Answer Kid (yes, I may have had to let them out a few times since then – you think Ditko's Spiderman was thin...!) and crawl into bed. When I wake up in the morning, hopefully this will all appear to have been a bad dream...
The Tech Answer Guy
If you are a dude with a question about the latest technology, ask The Tech Answer Guy by sending it to questions@lespagesauxfolles.ca. Just remember: The Tech Answer Guy is not a medical doctor. He would play one on TV...if only somebody in the industry would recognize his awesome acting chops!