The intellectual is a middle-class product; if he is not born into the class he must soon insert himself into it, in order to exist. He is the fine nervous flower of the bourgeoisie.
Rather than empowering all, consumer and shareholder activism gives greatest voice to those with the most money in their pockets, those who can switch from seller to seller with relative ease. Consumer and shareholder activism is a form of protest that favours the middle classes, an outpouring of the dissatisfaction of the bourgeoisie.
When it comes to scaring the bourgeoisie into showing up at the polls, nothing works better than negative advertising.
The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.
