The sentiment around buying European/Canadian alternatives to American products and services is a great one, and I can get behind the movement, but there is more to it.
Not all products and services have alternatives that are viable. You can’t get your workplaces to move to libreoffice or get your mom to start using signal messege. Moreover, even when using Europa products and services you still perpetuate the culture of uncontrolled capitalism and enriching tech billionaires. Open Source Alternatives, Piracy, and Ad Blocking are all equally viable.
Keeping this in mind, remember that piracy and ad blocking are great ways to keep using American services without contributing to their bottom line.
There are ad free versions of YouTube, reddit, Instagram and Facebook apps. They’re all patched with revanced and are available on github.
Additionally, pirate media as much as you can and be unapologetic about it. Facebook is doing it, so can you. Pirate music, movies, books they’re all available. Torrents community has never been safer and better organised.
Consume without paying and that does more damage to their bottomlines.
This is a long discussion now, and answering everything point by point will be a lengthy exercise.
I’ll say this: I believe in a world run by corporate interests, piracy is similar to civil disobedience. If we collectively decide to create friction to the functioning of the system, it can in combination with other ways of resistance influence the situation in our favour.
I agree with that wholeheartedly. I’m just saying piracy is not such a friction, quite the opposite. And if we try to influence the situation, something we both care about, recognizing that is not of little importance. Obviously, I may be mistaken but money talk loudly how ineffective piracy seem to be.