Not because there is ethical consumption under capitalism, but because ethical purity is the wrong goal.
Leftists keep getting distracted by moralising. The aim is to lift the working class.
‘There is no ethical consumption under capitalism’ is a catchcry used to argue against consumer action because it is morally impure. I don’t care whether my actions are morally pure; I care about the results they produce.
Leftists are shit at focusing on the results of their action. The end-game of leftists is to feel morally superior: never mind that no good results have been achieved.
Using syllogistic logic:
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Surface premise: ‘There is no ethical consumption under capitalism’
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Hidden premise: And we should only take actions that are ethically pure
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Conclusion: therefore we shouldn’t reform consumption
Can someone explain to me the results of consumer actions that are going to help us get to communism?
I don’t think anyone was ever trying to say we should only take ethically pure actions (because there is no such thing, this is just silly tbh). That seems like a purposeful misunderstanding of the phrase similar to the argument every liberal makes about purity tests during elections.
The whole point is that it doesn’t matter what you buy under capitalism because exploitation exists at every level. Focusing on what we buy is a distraction from the things that can actually make real change like building a vanguard. I guess you could make an argument that boycotts and such can be used as an avenue to radicalize people, but that’s true of just about everything because capitalism relies on exploitation at all levels.
And you’re talking about reforming consumption, which is a waste of time. Reforms do not work, we’ve had a century of reforms and look where we are today.