We live in a time where we are given multiple choices for anything. But sometimes, those choices aren't truly choices, but rather a way to make it look like we have that power and sometimes directly we don't even have such choice.

There are several reasons that have been around for a while that could have produced this thread, but there's one in particular that happened just now which has pissed me off greatly and I can't keep this contained anymore.

We could talk about subscriptions. How they offer you the chance of becoming premium to have some benefits, only to have such benefits revocated unless you go super-premium. Amazon Prime Video is the best example, even though you're subscribed you still see annoying ads every now and then and have limited access to content, meaning you're paying for just a fraction of the benefits you should be getting. We could discuss about the company needing to make profit and what not, but let's not forget they changed their terms arbitrarily and overriding what they had previously promised as benefits for the user.

We could talk about the additional content you have to purchase without asking for it or even wanting it to access some content you DO want. Our TV provider, for example, forces us to acquire the football (soccer) pack in order to purchase the sports pack, meaning we have to pay three times more for our content with the addition of something we don't want. Many other examples exist out there, and their way of pressuring you is through exclusivity deals to keep you glued and keep extracting every cent out of your wallet.

We could talk about ads, but this one really deserves a thread on its own because of the horrible experience I've had with them. What I'll say here is that we're given the choice to report them, but only in specific cases and also we cannot report the product or marque itself, just the specific ad we're shown (meaning we can see the same product or marque in further ads of different length or format), and also for reasons that sometimes are ridiculously trivial.

We could talk about functions the apps or sites do and you don't want or need in the slightest. You're given the choice to see such function less often, like happened in Instagram with friend suggestions or threads: you clicked "Show less often", the app says they will show it less often, and the next day you already have it there again (even if you didn't enter Instagram again after the report the day before). Seeing how this was messed up, they directly removed the option to show it less often, meaning you now have to go with it WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT.

And last, but not least, we could talk about the look of some pages, which is the reason why I wanted to make this thread. I just went to Youtube and it showed the miniatures in an excessively high format, only three videos per row could fit and the font size for the text was as big as 18. It never displayed this way, so I went to see if I could change it in any way. As you may have guessed, the answer is nope. This means Youtube will show as it wants, whether it's okay with you or not, displaying five or three videos per row whenever it feels like it.


These are just very basic examples of the society we live in. We're constantly bombarded with content we DO NOT want yet we can't do a thing to change it, but the multimillionaire companies behind all these apps or sites can make changes WHENEVER they want and without saying a word, and all you can do is accept them or go away, losing all the exclusivity and repercussion that app or site has.

Yet we wonder why people resorts to piracy, aggresively denounces these abuses, tends to create apps or sites that bypass all this stupid s*** or leave all these things behind to live freely. Because they become so fed up with this lack of choice making and this neverending thirst for higher profits and neverending disrespect towards their users. But then, the people who does all of this is the devil, someone who wants to kill these apps or sites and someone who must be pursued and denounced, and if possible banned or even prosecuted.

I wonder if anybody reading this (my gratitude for making it this far, I'm sure it wasn't easy to read) feels the same way. The few people I can discuss this with have basically lowered their head in most cases, and while I don't judge them because it's true those big companies know they have what we want to keep on going and exploit this fact, I would like people to realize all this kind of abuse and be open to chances of bypassing it, if possible.

I think in a lot of these situations you do still have a choice, you just aren't given any good options. For Amazon Prime Video, you have three choices: watch without ads for a higher price, watch with ads for a lower price, or pay nothing and do not watch at all. If anything, they are actually giving you more options that normal by allowing you to pay a lower price if you're okay with ads. Many services are all-or-nothing. You may not like the structure, but you do still have three options to pick from, and when you make a choice, you are given what has been advertised.

I think the same could be said about the TV provider situation. You are still given a choice, even if that choice requires you to purchase a bundle.

I do think the social media ads are a better example of an illusion of choice, though. If it is actually true that the "show less often" button doesn't do anything, then yes, they are presenting it as if you have a choice when, in reality, you do not.

The "dislike" button on YouTube comments is kind of similar. It literally does nothing. It's just there to make you feel like your voice is being heard, and to make you feel like you are able to make a difference.

At the end of the day, though, we still have the choice to use or not use that app. Even if the app is lying to us about whether or not we have control over a specific aspect of it, we ultimately have the final say about whether we use it or not. We have the power to say "I don't like your ads, I don't like that you lie to me about whether or not I can make choices about what I do and do not see, so I am not going to use your service at all."

And, of course, piracy is always an option, like you said. It's my preferred choice most of the time.

There is no such thing as freedom of choice, or the freedom to pursue my happiness because every action has a consequence and you can't do whatever you want without fear of retaliation for your actions,for example if i wanted to kill people I could but I'd likely go to jail as a result of that action so I won't do it take away the consequence of jail and I'd do it

Ultimately the world is structured in way to force you into making and choosing choices , gone are the days of living outside the structured society, you can't opt out of taxes you can't live off the land because the land is owned hell even the water rights have been sold

you can however choose to live outside the structured society and choose to be a criminal for example instead of paying for streaming services and entertainment programs pirate everything utilizing bit torrent and the piratebay , the use methstreams for any live events , if you want to get around cell phone carriers hack the companies switch board and your phones OS or figure out a way to force calls out since every phone has the ability to call out to 911 reguardless if its in service

The world needs criminals now more than ever we are literally on the verge of a cyberpunk 2077 dystopia where mega corps run every aspect of our lives and the people are barely surviving

but yeah freedom of choice is a illusion there is no such thing as true freedom