The Opt Out is Not Choice.

A troubling trend I find among us and becoming more prevalent year by year is the cultural acceptance of “if you don’t like what is being offered, you do not have to participate” Now this on its own isn't a big deal, though when its presented in the context that you have a choice..and that choice is to take whats being offered or not participate is something I take great exception to.

Choice after all, is the presentation of two, different though equal entities upon which you consider the pros and cons of each and select one best suited to your interest or needs. A choice is not having a single entity to use or not to use. That is a zero sum gain. And therefore not a choice but a forfeit. As you don’t actually gain anything when the only other option is to get nothing. An illusion of choice at best, or simply tyranny. Point out this illusion and you'll most certainly be met with righteous indignation or outright anger for your awareness of the game and undermining the systems.

To offer a person on death row, the choice of lethal injection, or firing squad is not a choice. Its simply a preference to how they wish to be killed. If you offered them a real choice, I would wager in most cases it would always be “life”. Many if not most of the choices that we are presented each day I feel can use this analogy. Where if presented with a third option as with presidential elections, the choice would frequently be, “none of the above”

Though why do we subscribe to this belief system? The privacy argument is the most notorious for presenting the illusion of choice. If I don’t want my phone records data mined by the feds, then I should not use a cellular phone. If I do not want my shopping habits online or at target data mined, indexed stored and fed back to me in advertising, I should not shop. If I do not want private companies to restrict my access to healthcare, then I should not use health insurance. If you don’t like that the US Military bombs schools in the middle east full of children in the war on terror..then you should not be an American.

In a recent attempt to look at a facebook page I received the following pop up. AYI would like to access your, friend list, email address, birthday, hometown, interests, current city, photos, religious and political views, personal description and likes. Rather than share all of this personal information with a faceless company, I click no thanks and got re-directed to my homepage. The offense being I can not view YOUR public material on facebook without first giving you my religious and political views, email address of my friends etc etc. So much for having a choice.

Every month you receive bills from utility companies with lobbied rights to remove any choice you may have in the provision of your power, gas or cable providers. You pay what ever rates are forced upon you with no voice to challenge the validity of the numerous fees and taxes, delivery charges and other make believe profit padding line items on every bill. Of course you don’t have to pay these fees and charges, you have the right to opt out of electricity to your home... wait, whut?

The grandest of all illusions, is when all similar providers operate under the same terms and conditions. Legally this is called collusion, and its illegal. Though there is a fine line between collusion, and “providing goods and services to which the market will bear” Such as with credit cards or cellular service. There is no competition amongst providers, as they all base their fees or rates off of the same un regulated principal. “maximum allowable by law”.

As consumers of anything, we have an inalienable right (especially in the US) to voice our negative opinions when services are not rendered to our liking or expectations. For the retort to be that we have a choice to not use those services is not only frequently flawed, but undermines the fundamental principal that the customer not only has a voice, but is most often right.

In fact it is our duty to the religion of consumerism and capitalism to not only voice these concerns, but state them as loudly and as frequently as we are capable. For those who insist we have a choice and by doing so we go without, then I proclaim to offer them the choice to not look upon your middle finger up thrust in your own self righteousness.