I know some five years back when I was more lib, there was talk and articles on how palm oil harvesting was using slave labor and people were killing orangutans and stuff. It's basically resulted in me avoiding stuff with palm oil, which tends to include some of the fancier snacks at times and convenience foods as well.

But it wasn't until recently I found myself wondering, is palm oil really on par with the shit that goes on with chocolate? Or is this on some level the usual anti-Asian sentiment I see in so much Western media, possibly taking some bad instances and extrapolating it to countries and peoples' as a whole?

P.S. sorry for the run-on sentences. I actually shaved it down a bit. Anyway, may disappear for a few hours, but this has been weighing on me a bit.

And if someone beat me to it and I missed it, just lmk.

I should likely preface this to say this isn't an explicit defense of that chain of stores and that I am as Polish-American as a pierogi. So..., super !cracker .

On a recent trip there for some reasonably priced clothes ₁ the overall vibe kinda set in. You pick up a coffee₂, grab a cart, and just wander through the aisles looking at the basic colors and neat little things. What this is effectively creating is a "sanitized" version of a Farmer's Market or Flea Market.

The years of wastes composed of manicured lawns and bloodthirsty stroads, paired with decades of neoliberalism and nuclear family focus has left people wanting. People are spread out, alienated, and rarely if ever get the feeling of a third space or place to wander without spending money. While money is certainly being spent on Target, in a weird way I can see how it tickles a small part of the brain when you're out replacing a jacked-up appliance or grabbing some school supplies for your kid.

Maybe you could argue this goes as far back as the enclosure movement or that the only time it felt pronounced was within the past 50 years or so, but it's a weird flocking spot for those clearly experiencing an emptiness or lack₃. This is a case to maybe feel less anger and more pity₄.

1. Finally affording better than the Ace Hardware jeans, baby!
2. Though I won't cause I'm not a Zionist and I'm picky enough that I own a 1 pound roasting drum.
3. I think I'm using this right.
4. Though I also know people who have worked Target and some of those suburbanites can only get off if they made some teenage worker cry.

Some Hall'oweeny music from an artist who's really been gaining traction lately.

I'm a bit fond of collecting stuff. Coins, cards from defunct TCG's, books, and I'm doing my best not to get into stamps. Oh, and of course anything spider themed.