1. Where do you think all those metals come from? (pro tip. the ground).
2. E-waste being smuggled to africa is not a problem of "mindless consumerism". it is a problem of bad behavior by megacorps and governments.
Rather than accusing commoners/peasants of ruining the environment by daring to buy stuff, identify the real culprit which is govt and megacorps. which are where the fixes should be done at.
People want to not just be meat robot serfs who work all day. Shock and horror.
Stop repeating the oligarch verbiage of saying that the commoners are not allowed to want things and do anything for fun. Just work as a slave until you die.
The points are motivation and context.
I, for example, want Homeworld 3. It's a game, and it's because of a want, not a
need.
If they released a Homeworld 4 in three, four years, I'd buy that, too.
If they released a Homeworld 4 less than a year (say, as in months) after 3 and it was pretty much the same game except with, say, a few new units or levels? I'd ask "what'd be the point in buying this?". But there would be people who would buy it just "because Homeworld". That's
mindless consumerism; just buying it
because it's a Homeworld game.
But anyway, there is a vast difference between that and buying, say, a new 25 inch TV when you just bought a 24 inch TV
a few months or even a year ago, and it works perfectly fine/the same way; that you don't
need it but
want it. If the TV breaks and isn't fixable (either because the components are too expensive and you might as well just buy a new TV in the cost/effort ratio), then yeah, I'd understand and agree with buying a newer model.
Homeworld 3 is consumerism. The TV is
mindless consumerism. It's not "obliarch verbiage" to know what is simple consumerism and what is
mindless consumerism.
Also, your #1 has got to be the dumbest comment I've seen you type.
"It's a metal that was in the ground in the first place before it was mined, so what's wrong with dumping those (now refined and toxic) metals back into the ground as e-waste/heavy metal waste where it can contaminate the soil and water supplies? It's just metal, bro."
Just... fucking smh.