Comfort, Cost, and Complicity: Seeing the Systems Beneath Ease

2025-09-16

Much of modern ease is built on what we don’t look at: extraction masked as convenience, “neutral” platforms that tune our behavior, and the quiet drift toward harm we’d never choose explicitly. Seeing that gap hurts—and that sting is useful. It clarifies the tradeoffs and returns agency.

We don’t need grand heroics. We need honest audits. What comforts do we keep, eyes open, and where do we withdraw consent? Redirect a purchase. Decline one exploitative default. Channel demand to what reduces harm in net. These moves look small; they compound.

Clarity is contagious. The more precisely we name costs, the less power the fog has.