I was sitting here thinking, “My god, all these people are boycotting these things? I’m not boycotting anything.” And then I saw your comment and realized that I boycott things without really thinking about it as an active boycott. Vegetarian since 2013 myself, vegan for just about a month.

It took me years to finally get a bidet. Now I’m a bidet enthusiast! The only bad thing about having a bidet is using a toilet without one.

I really feel like this makes the most sense. It beats out all the other arguments.

Middle managers need more control? Big bosses never care that much about what middle managers say, why now? And across tons of companies? Seems silly. Middle managers are notoriously ineffective.

They want to retain control/keep you tired? Maybe, but it would take a large conspiracy coordinated between the execs, which seems like a stretch. There would need to be a massive Illuminati-esque organization like that Stonecutters episode from The Simpsons.

But as always, it comes back to “follow the money.” The people making the decision will lose money somehow, so they are trying not to lose, or to minimize losses. All board of directors people have multiple investments and interests, so of course they are trying to make the best of their situation. They own part of the IT company renting the space, but also have investment in office retail space and some local businesses. If the office life drives an area to stay alive, its dying will shift the money away from all their investments. As usual, they are making those decisions without giving a shit about anything but money and their own interests.

Mindfulness meditation, not the catchy popular kind your work teaches but the actual Buddhist mindfulness. It’s whole purpose is to be able to see the arising and passing away of thoughts/feelings without getting involved.

Chiropractic medicine

Recent WHO recommendations say that artificial sweeteners are not useful for weight loss, but used in moderation they are not terribly unsafe as far as current studies indicate. All the stuff saying artificial sweeteners are super scary and bad is just that, scare tactics. Or it takes a gigantic amount to be bad for you, but if you replace that amount of artificial sweetener with sugar then the sugar is just as bad or worse. Better just to avoid both.

I try to avoid single studies or articles about anything, but rather look to larger recommendations from WHO or other agencies that are less likely to be influenced by $$$. Looking at a single article or study is basically meaningless. Unless you’re Joe Rogan and you’re paid to sell everyone a meat eater diet or Dr. Oz with whatever his garbage of the month is.

My advice is to learn how to grow food and save seeds. I’m doing it now to develop my skills in anticipation of some day needing those skills.