Sticking It To The Man

Posted by Verity on January 21, 2025 in Consumer issues, Living today, Politics, Rants, society | 2 comments

With a dismal parade of tech bros queuing up to lie down and have their tummies tickled by King Trump, it’s time to ask ‘Whatever happened to ‘sticking it to the man’?

Anyone wanting a definition of who the man is need look no further than School of Rock, in which the inimitable Jack Black expands the consciousness of his pupils thus:

‘The world is run by the Man. Oh, you don’t know the Man? He’s everywhere. In the White House, down the hall, Miss Mullins [headteacher], she’s the Man. And the Man ruined the ozone, and he’s burning down the Amazon… And there used to be a way to stick it to the Man, it was called rock ‘n roll. But guess what? Oh no. The Man ruined that, too, with a little thing called MTV!’

Resistance and disruption are therefore the weapons to be used against the Man. Mark Zuckerberg probably thought he was sticking it to the Man for long time, but it’s amazing how quickly yesterday’s disruptors become today’s establishment.  This was neatly summed up in a New Yorker cartoon decades ago, showing two tycoons in a swanky office surveying their domain of acres of industrial plant, with one saying ‘Remember when we were going to subvert the system from within?’

But the likes of Bezos, Musk and Zuckerberg are so rich, the question is, WHY are they getting into bed with the Donald? They have most of the world in their thrall as it is  – what are they going to do with more money and power?

Perhaps it’s a fear of losing even a scintilla of what they already have that drives them. The New Statesman has noted the correlation, in a ‘hyperfinancialised celebrity culture, between market value and media attention’, quoting Trump Media, which has been losing money to the tune of $5m a month, yet is valued at $7.85bn. This goes some way to explaining the power of brands, which are the vehicle for securing undying devotion to the Man behind the logo, even if not actual profits.

So how can those if us who have not received our invitation to Mar al Lago stick it to – or at least resist – the Man? For the lure of the Man is subtle and pervasive.

I always admired the stand taken by a friend of mine, long before the war on plastic carrier bags. He was a great fan of M&S food, and would stock up at the weekends. He always took his own shopping bag, maintaining quite logically that they ought to be paying him to go around flaunting their name in public.

It’s heartening to see queues outside Muji, temple of non-branded goods, but for every one of those individuals there must be at least five desperate to buy into the Man in his Princess manifestation (Disney) or his sporting persona (Adidas), whether on clothing, breakfast cereals or bedding – and many more who don’t mind doing so and wouldn’t go out of their way to avoid it.

It’s far easier to resist the Man in the analogue world than on line. Wrenching myself from the familiar embrace of Google to navigate the unfamiliar waters of other search engines is too scary to contemplate (not least because of the inexplicable and unpredictable hostility of certain sites to a change of browser). And if I really wanted to stick it to Zuckerberg, wouldn’t I leave Facebook forthwith? Readers will be glad to know that damesnet has at least quit X[1] – but not without a twinge of regret at saying goodbye to the more than 1,000 followers we had so painstakingly built up over ten years (what’s the opposite of going viral?!).

For now I will have to content myself with fantasising about what Zuckerberg will do after going on Josh Rogan’s podcast to preach for masculine energy in the workplace. Surely the next step in his self-abasement to the powers of darkness must be offering to clean Andrew Tate’s toilets.

[1] Find us on Bluesky: damesnet.bsky.social