How do you make money?

1. Create product.
2. Market product as a vice.
3. ???
4. Profit.

@sim I've been suspicious of "self care" as part of that whole scheme for a long time

@harblinger Now you mention it, I hadn't thought about that either. But some products in the self-care range can be seen in this way. Like convincing people that they smell bad and to not smell bad they need deodorant. Like natural smells are bad for us.

@sim yeah, I don't really mean the hygeine products, it's more of the self-care meme that's been spreading around:

"You deserve it! Have an ice cream and a spa day, it's self care~"

nothing specific, just hitting the vice-marketing scheme from the other end, instead of marketing a product as a vice, it's a vice that's marketed as ~good for you~

@harblinger Ha. Now you mention this, I have fallen into that mindset. To treat myself to something when I've done something. But like you say, it is marketing a vice as good for us. Instead, I feel like I've maybe been enabling some bad habits that I need to learn how to overcome. Even if I do limit it each day.

I think we do need to acknowledge when something is a vice for us and to not blur the lines there. Marketing really can be sneaky in this blurring.

@sim @harblinger is it a virtue to go out drinking with friends?

or is it a vice?

@skells @harblinger I would probably say that drinking alcohol is a vice, but I would like to say that bonding with friends is a virtue, or at least not a vice. Then again, friends can get you into trouble if you have bad friends so maybe it depends on whether you have good or bad friends. Maybe Aristotle will have something to say about this, I'm sure they did this back in the day.

@sim @harblinger shitposting on fedi is almost certainly a vice

@skells @sim @harblinger friends ive made here have directly led to massive self improvement for me, to prove your point even further

@vriska @skells @sim @harblinger i keep saying this but they all say "no you did it by yourself" smh