The Vanilla Vigilante is suing capitalism, one product at a time

Spencer Sheehan is 44 , unmarried, no kids, no pets’, the grandson of Polish Jews who emigrated after the Second World War .

He studied at Georgetown and Johns Hopkins universities, receiving a master’s degree in international relations.

After university, he went to law school, but there was no part of the law that jumped out at him as the right path.

In the 18th and 19th centuries , Rousseau and Engels began to form theories of “alienation’ The separation of the self from its true nature by the world, society and its structures.

Marx and Engels took up the idea of alienation: it was the central characteristic of the old religious society and of the new, capitalist society.

Capitalism took away those things that were fundamental to a person (intelligence and skill, their bonds with other people, their time) and sold them back in a way that was changed.

But by picking apart the myriad claims that powerful companies make, seemingly with impunity, he does feel he is addressing “larger issues than just, you know, the packaging on a bag of chips”. He feels, too, that in this work he has found a certain place in the world. “I like this, what I’m doing. I guess you could consider it a calling.” [See also: Naomi Klein’s mirror world].