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PaperclipPerfector  5d ago (text post)   20495 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of January 19, 2026

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Because people are more than willing to accept the cost of advertising to get free-to-them, or even just reduced price, content

I think the stronger argument against ads is more that the median ad that makes someone purchase something is causing them to make a purchase that they probably shouldn't in a more ideal world, and people both do that and accept their time being wasted with extremely repetitive advertising because they're bad at making tradeoffs. So that people 'accept the cost' isn't a strong counterargument. And idk if the internet or sports would be doomed or particularly harmed without this much advertising, the economy is an equilibrium, people really like sports and the internet and would find other ways to pay for it. I'm not sure your last paragraph is an argument for advertising specifically more than it is an argument for a class of intellectuals with independent funding and has strong influence over the information diet of the average American. But as I said in my other comment I don't think the problem here is really the ads, it's the things being advertised.

I think the stronger argument against ads is more that the median ad that makes someone purchase something is causing them to make a purchase that they probably shouldn't in a more ideal world, and people both do that and accept their time being wasted with extremely repetitive advertising because they're bad at making tradeoffs.

Once you start with this logic, you end up somewhere between the khmer rouge and the Uncle Ted. Which, fine, make a much bigger argument for that if you want to, but it's way outside the bounds of OP or the essay he's citing back to. I don't think a mass consumer production economy is possible without branding and advertising. But then when you say:

And idk if the internet or sports would be doomed or particularly harmed without this much advertising, the economy is an equilibrium, people really like sports and the internet and would find other ways to pay for it.

There's a big difference between "Advertising should be more strictly regulated and limited" and "Advertising should be illegal." I don't even think you can really get from one to the other in terms of consequences.

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