What if we banned all advertising? Not regulate it—abolish it. This proposal would transform manipulation machines, and maybe save democracy itself. A thought experiment worth considering.

The idea feels like sci-fi because you’re so used to it, imagining ads gone feels like asking to outlaw gravity. But humanity had been free of current forms of advertising for 99.9% of its existence. Word-of-mouth and community networks worked just fine. First-party websites and online communities would now improve on that.

The traditional argument pro-advertising—that it provides consumers with necessary information—hasn’t been valid for decades.

  • opsecisbasedonwhatEnglish
    32·
    4 hours ago

    It’s necessary for monopoly capitalism to induce demand. It’s part of the planned economy.

    • Rhoeri@lemmy.worldEnglish
      21·
      4 hours ago

      You know there’s advertising in every single form of sociopolitical government, right?

      Communism has advertising. As does socialism.