The Idolatry of the Consumer: A Response to “Resistance Infrastructure”

Scott Galloway’s proposal for “Resistance Infrastructure” is more of the same in the very “mediated reality” that keeps us tethered to the state. By framing the “wallet as a weapon,” he reinforces a theology of consumerism that suggests our only path to agency is through the market. This is not resistance; it is the “spectacle of competency” performed for an audience of CEOs.

A truly radical response requires a theology of place and a commitment to prefigurative abolition. We do not need better “incentive structures” for billionaires; we need the dismantling of the hierarchies that allow them to mediate our lives in the first place.

1. The Fallacy of the Frictionless Strike

Galloway argues that “smashing the unsubscribe button” builds resilience. In reality, it reinforces the “Sarnia Mindset“—the belief that we can solve systemic problems through individual, low-stakes choices that don’t disrupt our comfort.

• True Resilience: Resilience is not found in a “one-month campaign” but in the “rootedness” of staying in a struggling geography and building “third spaces” that the market cannot co-opt.
• Shared Risk: Real change requires “shared risk” among neighbors, moving beyond formal “membership” or “subscription” to a “kingdom outpost” mentality where we are responsible for one another’s survival.

2. From Consumer Power to Worker Sovereignty

The “Resistance and Unsubscribe” model assumes the consumer is the primary driver of history. A theologian-abolitionist perspective recognizes that the “just system” must be built from the ground up through worker-sovereignty.

• Abolishing Hierarchy: We should not be “influencing” Amazon; we should be building worker-cooperatives that abolish the employer-employee hierarchy entirely.
• Bypassing Finance: Instead of “surgical strikes” on the S&P 500, we must socialize capital through “neighbor-investor” models that bypass institutional finance and keep resources within the community.

3. Dismantling the “Copaganda” of Progress

Galloway’s focus on “American authoritarianism” often misses the localized, forensic reality of the carceral state.

• Narrative Accountability: Resistance infrastructure is not a media tour on CNN; it is the reclamation of the means of narrative production.
• Beyond Reform: We must forensically dismantle the “copaganda” that justifies ever-expanding police budgets and “police fortresses” under the guise of public safety.
• Community Care: The abolitionist path prioritizes “community healing” and “off-market housing” over the performative “respectability” of institutional politics.

The Radical Conclusion

The most radical weapon is not withholding money from a tech giant; it is disconnecting from the capitalist market altogether. We do not seek to be “effective” within the rules of a broken system; we seek to be “prefigurative”—living out the alternative through non-hierarchical, communal structures today.

The goal is not to win a “video game” against a final boss, but to remove the middleman—the pastor, the banker, the police chief—to restore direct human agency.