this battery makes sense only in colder climates

Almost as if there’s a reason it’s happening in Finland…

If you can’t boycott personal consumption, what can you boycott?

It’s a tiny form of resistance but it’s resistance all the same, and if many people do it it can add up.

a system neither of us can avoid participation in

This is true, but we can try and reduce participation. That’s why DIY is so strongly associated with the punk movement.

Grow some of your own food, even if it’s just some herbs in a windowsill. Repair your clothes instead of buying new all the time. Make your own cleaning chemicals from vinegars and citric acids. Make your own toiletries.

None of this is going to bring down the system, but reducing reliance on it, adopted by many people in many different ways, goes a long way to reducing its power over us at least. If thousands, millions, of people adopt the mindset of “how can I do this myself or within my community” the billionaire oligarchs and their corporations lose a power over us that they once had.

There is no perfect solution to the problem of “the system” (i.e. capitalism) but while we’re forced to live within it we can attempt to resist it all the same. Capitulation doesn’t help at all, micro resistance at least does something.

Yes! Being active politically is always important.

Be civil and polite at first, you want these people on your side after all. But don’t be afraid to hold back if they respond with bullshit either. They are your representative, make them represent you and hold them to account if required.

Encouraging friends and family to write is usually a good idea too.

Not being politically engaged, I feel, is one of the main reasons for the downfall of democracy throughout the globe. Too many people think ticking a box every 4-5 years is all they need to do.