Hey stp! meet this douchebag: the mastercard vagabond

[Tomislav]

Sorry, the argument is so lopsided I feel the need to share this:

Remember:
****It isn't selling out if you always did it*****

I wonder how many here really would turn down the offer if given the opportunity:
Free smokes for carrying a tobacco company's duffel.
Free airfare for flying an airline logo.
Free cash for getting a lending institution logo tattoo.
Free food for signing up for foodstamps.
Free house for signing up for a government program.

Here is my question - who would judge people that accept one of these offers? And why.

 

[Hobo Huck]

Tomislav, don't nitpick quotes and leave out the other half of my messages, and then pretend that you are dealing with "facts"

This is the screenshot of me telling you in the ban message one of the reasons I was banning your account. You then created another account, and continued to post after you were previously banned. I then had to ban your second account. We are hoping that this doesn't require a third ban.

Here is the part of the ban message that you conveniently left out for everyone not to see: (screenshot)

I've stated what I've stated to you, multiple times, and I just wanted information put forth so that other real travelers can see another side of your story and not just the TEDx talk.

I suggest ditching the Mastercard logo, and quit giving phony TEDx speeches just so that you can plug your books and monetized blogs.

That's all I have really left to say to you dude. You're just going to argue forever, and ever, and ever, and ever, and there comes a point to where you're just not worth the trouble.

Good luck with Mastercard and your "product/life/soul" that you'll forever market down peoples throat.

 

[Hobo Huck]

Sorry, the argument is so lopsided I feel the need to share this:

Remember:
****It isn't selling out if you always did it*****

I wonder how many here really would turn down the offer if given the opportunity:
Free smokes for carrying a tobacco company's duffel.
Free airfare for flying an airline logo.
Free cash for getting a lending institution logo tattoo.
Free food for signing up for foodstamps.
Free house for signing up for a government program.

Personally, I wouldn't. Alot of scumfucks would definitely do it for the booze and tobacco though. You should call American Spirit.

I personally don't use food stamps or welfare, but I dont think that's quite equal to selling out to a corporation for marketing a product. There's alot of people that really need those programs...

 

[Tomislav]

I've stated what I've stated to you, multiple times, and I just wanted information put forth so that other real travelers can see another side of your story and not just the TEDx talk.

You've stated a lot of lies, and yet you have no answer to them once you are faced with them.

To save you some time to research, here are points you accused me for, which are completely false, and for which you have no comment for:

1. I ran away from investors when they started demanding their money back.
2. I smuggled away 1,300 dollars, and used that money to monetize a traveling blog BEFORE I even started traveling.
3. I was housed and fed by the generosity of poverty-stricken families in third-world countries.
4. I had paid vacations and preplanned excursions.
   
5. I tell people that everyone can get corporate sponsor for their travels.

You ban me from a conversation that YOU invited me to, saying I accused people with mobile phones for wars in Africa, while I was making a comparison how everyone uses things that are not necessarily morally okay.

I didnt come here because of you, but because I believe in a fair trial. With people actually being present and stuff. Even though I came on a "enemy territory" where "real vagabonds" reside.

That's all I have really left to say to you dude. You're just going to argue forever, and ever, and ever, and ever, and there comes a point to where you're just not worth the trouble.

Good luck with your judging career and spitting on people who have a different path than you do.

Love and light for you, truest vagabond you. ::eyepatch::

T.

 

[Wawa]

This thread: A duel with an audience. I get the feeling the rest of us are just yapping in the background.

 

[briancray]

I see you read my blog.





Spread the word, people! Let the world know!

BTW, I really like this last sentence in the quote - ""



Why did you erase that post? Because nobody replied and wasnt interested?



Oh lord. So you are saying that everyone that doesnt travel with trains, on foot or by van - sucks? Seriously?



Can you please elaborate on what stealing and lying are you referring to? Thanks.





I agree with this "observe your mind". All of us should.

Btw, do you know where the money from Osprey or Marmot is going to? Or is it just that they are not a big international corporation and that makes them okay?

So because I bought an iPhone 4 used for 100 dollars to use for work at my job that means what lol? I work temporary jobs part of the year and then travel on the little money I make. I live off myself...can you say the same? Sadly I need a phone to talk to employers. I'm not "vagabonding" around opening indiegogos for sponsorship of 12,000 and getting sponsored by MasterCard and acting like I'm traveling the world on no money.

I'm not broke. I already stated that. But you aren't either and you aren't doing anything that anyone else hasn't already done with a ton of money sitting in a bank account. So you stuck out a thumb, who gives a fuck. Do you catch my drift now or are you focused on my used iPhone 4 from a few years ago? Save your bullshit for the rest of society because I'm pretty sure it won't fly here. You're not a vagabond. You're not traveling broke. You're not doing anything special. You're just a trust fund baby backpacker who lost his family and friends a lot of money and ran away. Then you got lucky through social media. If I'm wrong please tell me.

 

[Odin]

Here is my question - who would judge people that accept one of these offers? And why.

I'm trying to be objective following this feud... but I have to say...

Are you seriously asking that question?

Your sponsoring yourself with MasterCard!!!

Seems to me...

You can't be a bankster and a vagabond.

Now sponsorship could be a thing... but you really gotta look at what it is. If I was sponsored by a NGO or humanitarian deal to travel fine. Or just about any enterprise with real ethics.

But the BANKS?

That is your problem dude. And nothing you say can change that.

Dude... just for the fact that you were a stock broker and then flip to a sponsored by a major credit card company... it would not even cross my mind to take your advice or read your book.


DIY or die.


One more addition... like I said if it was ethical.

There is a documentary called Home 2009.




Some where in that doc... there is a part where the narrator talks about an entrepreneur that opened a bank that EXCLUSIVELY gave loans to the poor in third world nations.

That is about the only bank I would proudly wear a t-shirt for.

 

[watson]

i gets free food from foodstamps.. im a sellout?

 

[Durp]

Ya that whole africa thing is because of banksters stealing the entire continents resources. .... and yes I wish there where no cars for hithikers and no trains for hoppers.... the world would be a much nicer place.

 

[Mongo]

The only problem I have is that it had to be a company like mastercard. It's just one step from promoting companies like monsanto, halliburton, or merryl lynch. I don't think you would blink twice before even thinking about the social impacts of promoting any of those companies for money.

The thing about getting sponsored by osprey is that they don't have any direct involvement with the kinds of evil activities that mastercard does like blocking payments to wikileaks ,branding iD cards , and making a profit off putting people in debt.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MasterCard

 

[Tomislav]

I work temporary jobs part of the year and then travel on the little money I make. I live off myself...can you say the same?

I'm not broke. I already stated that. But you aren't either and you aren't doing anything that anyone else hasn't already done with a ton of money sitting in a bank account.

1. Of course I live off myself. I work (write/take photos/make videos/give lectures) and get paid for that. How would you call that if not living off myself? Because you work temporary jobs part of the year makes you true or what? You know what the funny thing is? If I worked for MasterCard and had a steady 9-5 life, you guys wouldn't care. But nooooo, I dare to travel AND have cooperation with big corporations. Shame on me. How can I, when we know true travelers are broke and not allowed to work with specific firms.

2. I'm not broke, and never said I was. I'm not doing anything that anyone else hasn't done already, and never said I did. I'm just a guy that traveled for couple of year, and openly shares his story of his endeavours. Did I travel the world with almost no money? I did. But I shouldnt go out and talk about it because deal with MC helped me pay off my debt.

 

[Tomislav]

You can't be a bankster and a vagabond.

THAT is the beauty of all this - I'm NOT a vagabond and never claimed I was. You guys keep putting that word into my mouth.

I am who I am. I have my own story and my ways. Life took me on the road where I spent most of last 6 years. I traveled the way I traveled. I earned money to pay off my debt in a way I did. And I can live with that.

But the problem is that I was doing similar things you guys were doing, and you have a certain set of rules one should obey? I should have probably came here when MC offered me a contract and ask permission to take it or not. C'mon guys. Respect my way, like I respect yours. I won't go around saying shit about other travelers NOT MATTER how much I disagree with their ways. Why would I? Do I feel threatened by them? Because people will think less of me if they hear their story? I'm a grownup, have my own was and I do realise that I cannot please everyone. And I'm not trying to.

 

[Tomislav]

The only problem I have is that it had to be a company like mastercard.

I agree that this is one of two problems. The other one is that I am a traveler.

If I had the choice to take sponsorship from Osprey or MC, which one do you think I would choose? I had my situation, I made my choices, and I would do it the same if I had to. I had to choose to be either a 9-5 slave for 5-10 years to pay off my debt, or to travel the world wearing MC T-shirt. I chose the second option.

And now everybody is upset, because I touch their religion - traveling/vagabonding/whatever you want to call it. I do not follow your rules from your Bible, and for that I should be crucified. There are other books to read, you know? Other paths to follow. Only because you are following your path, it doenst mean its the right one for everyone. Maybe it is for you, but maybe its not for me.

 

[briancray]

1. Of course I live off myself. I work (write/take photos/make videos/give lectures) and get paid for that. How would you call that if not living off myself? Because you work temporary jobs part of the year makes you true or what? You know what the funny thing is? If I worked for MasterCard and had a steady 9-5 life, you guys wouldn't care. But nooooo, I dare to travel AND have cooperation with big corporations. Shame on me. How can I, when we know true travelers are broke and not allowed to work with specific firms.

2. I'm not broke, and never said I was. I'm not doing anything that anyone else hasn't done already, and never said I did. I'm just a guy that traveled for couple of year, and openly shares his story of his endeavours. Did I travel the world with almost no money? I did. But I shouldnt go out and talk about it because deal with MC helped me pay off my debt.

Maybe I'm confused...this is from your article...

"And the idea I came up with was that most of the travellers go on their adventures with some financial backup, while I never had that. I decided that thats it – promoting alternative ways of traveling – hitchhiking, CouchSurfing, etc. The market is huge, because everyone wants to travel, and nobody has any money."

You say you aren't broke, yet here you claim to have no financial backup so I guess I'm just confused with everything.

The way you write the rest of that article makes it sound like you are using hitchhiking and couchsurfing for financial gain, which is just messed up imo. I never had a problem with your story. Everyone who travels has them. But you're trying to sell this like it's a product and it is not. Sell the story not all this other bullshit giving ppl the idea they can get sponsors for traveling with no money or little money. Maybe if you rephrased it like you can backpack and hitchhike the world on "blank" thousand dollars this all might be less misleading.

 

[Matt Derrick]

okey dokey... where to begin

well, first off, I take issue with being pushed to the front of this argument and having the StP community be forced to play judge and jury. so let's try to avoid that in the future. we're not really a place for flame wars, i personally don't enjoy them.

but back to the issue at hand. it seems like the only issue @Hobo Huck has that stands on any kind of solid ground is that @Tomislav took money from a (admittedly) evil corporation. the same way that bank of america is guilty of participating in mountain top removal in west virginia, i'm sure it wouldn't be hard to dig up a list of evil things about the master card corporation.

in my opinion, all other issues have been adequately explained by @Tomislav, and personally, I don't have a problem with most of it. i'm open minded enough to realize that even though my political ideals lean to the anarchist side of things, not everyone else does, or should. so if this guy want's to monetize his blog (not sure what's wrong with that? most travel bloggers do that. also, 'monetize' is extremely vague) or any of the other things he did, it's fine to me.

I had to choose to be either a 9-5 slave for 5-10 years to pay off my debt, or to travel the world wearing MC T-shirt. I chose the second option.

i think the main crux of this whole thing is that he did accept corporate sponsorship for his travels; where he spent the earnings from that sponsorship seems irrelevant. and that was his choice. but when you represent yourself as having no money and having no money and traveling as a lifestyle, when you take that sponsorship it devalues your message, no matter what you spent the money on. and when it comes right down to it, that's a luxury no one in the vagabond community has. for example, i myself am over 60k in debt, but you don't see me running around trying to whore myself or StP to any company willing to give a sponsorship. when you make an arrangement like that, it devalues the message you're trying to spread that "anyone can travel on little to no money".

don't get me wrong, i totally believe what @Tomislav is trying to say, we all do. this community is built on that idea. but when you take money from a corporation that's sole purpose is to turn a profit on debt, this makes your message worthless, and corrupted. why? because of how your master card shirt wearing photos were used. capitalist organizations don't sponsor people out of good will. they do it because they get a return on it. the return isn't always money; it could be the simple message of a guy in a foreign country, living his life to the fullest and doing everything you wish you could do... and subliminally, that message says "hey, you can be just as free as this guy, all your dreams can come true too... as long as you have a master card..."

denying this is the equivalent of denying the basic truths of advertising. the master card corporation knows this. their advertising department banks on it. and somewhere, someone else joins the ranks of being a wage slave for a dream they bought into but will never see the return on, because they saw your picture in a beautiful place they wish they could be, wearing a master card shirt. and if you don't think that's true, that it would never happen, then you're at a level of denial i simply can't get through to.

i think a lot of people will agree with me that where the money comes from is just as important as how you earned it.

 

[Tomislav]

Maybe I'm confused...this is from your article...

"And the idea I came up with was that most of the travellers go on their adventures with some financial backup, while I never had that. I decided that thats it – promoting alternative ways of traveling – hitchhiking, CouchSurfing, etc. The market is huge, because everyone wants to travel, and nobody has any money."

You say you aren't broke, yet here you claim to have no financial backup so I guess I'm just confused with everything.

The way you write the rest of that article makes it sound like you are using hitchhiking and couchsurfing for financial gain, which is just messed up imo. I never had a problem with your story. Everyone who travels has them. But you're trying to sell this like it's a product and it is not. Sell the story not all this other bullshit giving ppl the idea they can get sponsors for traveling with no money or little money. Maybe if you rephrased it like you can backpack and hitchhike the world on "blank" thousand dollars this all might be less misleading.

After year and a half of traveling around Europe, and starting my FB page - I realised that I could earn money with my writings, if I had something to write about. And the answer was obvious - I will just write about the ways I'm using to travel. And in a way, yes, I am using hitchhiking and couchsurfing to gain money, the same as writers are "using" different topics to write about to earn money. I don't see a problem in that.

Back in the days I had no financial backup. And when I did, I said to myself that I will keep on traveling as I didnt. And I did.

 

[Tomislav]

okey dokey... where to begin

well, first off, I take issue with being pushed to the front of this argument and having the StP community be forced to play judge and jury. so let's try to avoid that in the future. we're not really a place for flame wars, i personally don't enjoy them.

but back to the issue at hand. it seems like the only issue @Hobo Huck has that stands on any kind of solid ground is that @Tomislav took money from a (admittedly) evil corporation. the same way that bank of america is guilty of participating in mountain top removal in west virginia, i'm sure it wouldn't be hard to dig up a list of evil things about the master card corporation.

in my opinion, all other issues have been adequately explained by @Tomislav, and personally, I don't have a problem with most of it. i'm open minded enough to realize that even though my political ideals lean to the anarchist side of things, not everyone else does, or should. so if this guy want's to monetize his blog (not sure what's wrong with that? most travel bloggers do that. also, 'monetize' is extremely vague) or any of the other things he did, it's fine to me.

i think the main crux of this whole thing is that he did accept corporate sponsorship for his travels; where he spent the earnings from that sponsorship seems irrelevant. and that was his choice. but when you represent yourself as having no money and having no money and traveling as a lifestyle, when you take that sponsorship it devalues your message, no matter what you spent the money on. and when it comes right down to it, that's a luxury no one in the vagabond community has. for example, i myself am over 60k in debt, but you don't see me running around trying to whore myself or StP to any company willing to give a sponsorship. when you make an arrangement like that, it devalues the message you're trying to spread that "anyone can travel on little to no money".

don't get me wrong, i totally believe what @Tomislav is trying to say, we all do. this community is built on that idea. but when you take money from a corporation that's sole purpose is to turn a profit on debt, this makes your message worthless, and corrupted. why? because of how your master card shirt wearing photos were used. capitalist organizations don't sponsor people out of good will. they do it because they get a return on it. the return isn't always money; it could be the simple message of a guy in a foreign country, living his life to the fullest and doing everything you wish you could do... and subliminally, that message says "hey, you can be just as free as this guy, all your dreams can come true too... as long as you have a master card..."

denying this is the equivalent of denying the basic truths of advertising. the master card corporation knows this. their advertising department banks on it. and somewhere, someone else joins the ranks of being a wage slave for a dream they bought into but will never see the return on, because they saw your picture in a beautiful place they wish they could be, wearing a master card shirt. and if you don't think that's true, that it would never happen, then you're at a level of denial i simply can't get through to.

i think a lot of people will agree with me that where the money comes from is just as important as how you earned it.

I agree with your points here, especially that at the end, after so many words, all comes down to MasterCard.

And with that being said - I accept the responsibility for my actions and earning money from a company that is not a pillar of morality. But that was my choice at the time being, and I do not regret. I also do not deny that my adventures were used by the company for their gain. That was an exchange - I got something out of it, they got something out of it. I had my reasons for that. I accept people dont agree with them, and thats okay. Its their right to do so. The only thing(s) I didnt like here was that I was called a liar and a cheater. I was always opened on how I traveled, that I had a sponsor, and I shared my story publicly. I have nothing to hide but I do want to keep my reputation, which can easily be discredited using internet and partly correct information. If someone wants to discredit me because of my deal with MC, I accept that, and I think that is okay. Everything else - I will defend.

"I think a lot of people will agree with me that where the money comes from is just as important as how you earned it. - it is also important where the money goes. If you take money from a bad person and give it to the poor, is that good or bad?

You say you are 60k in debt. What would you do if that is life savings of your family? Would you do everything in your power to give it back to them? Not everything everything, but would you be willing to sacrifice some of your beliefs for your family? I did, and thats the bottom line.

I wouldnt go to war to get that money for example, but wearing a T-shirt of a company, I can live with that.

 

[Matt Derrick]

it is also important where the money goes. If you take money from a bad person and give it to the poor, is that good or bad?

it's hard to say, but i'm going to side with bad. why? because money from these kinds of people generally comes from hurting other people. it would be much better if the money and the hurt didn't exist in the first place, otherwise it only outweighs the benefit you or society would get out of giving it to the right people.

i hate to use a video game as an example, but i'm playing farcry 4 right now, and through the story line you have a moral dilemma; do you support the faction that wants to return to the old ways by farming? or do you want to support the side that wants to grow heroin? the argument is that the heroin profits could be used to build schools, public services, and bring the country up to the level of the rest of the world (it's a 3rd world country).

of course that sounds all well and good until you start to think about the people that have to suffer because of the school you bought. drugs ruin lives the same way capitalism does, and all the good you do in the world with that money will never out weigh the suffering it came from.

I wouldnt go to war to get that money for example, but wearing a T-shirt of a company, I can live with that.

now, with that said, and your decision made, you can't argue that there are always consequences for your actions, whether they are big or small. it might be that losing the faith of the 'vagabond' community you claim to represent is simply the price you have to pay for paying off the debt to your family and friends. it sounds like you're comfortable with that, and that's fine. but i don't think it's fair to represent yourself as a 'broke traveler' when you have such sponsorships, no matter where the money goes to. in my opinion i think that's just something you're going to have to give up on.

 

[Tomislav]

it might be that losing the faith of the 'vagabond' community you claim to represent is simply the price you have to pay for paying off the debt to your family and friends. it sounds like you're comfortable with that, and that's fine. but i don't think it's fair to represent yourself as a 'broke traveler' when you have such sponsorships, no matter where the money goes to. in my opinion i think that's just something you're going to have to give up on.

I agree.

But the thing is - I never presented myself as a broke traveler/vagabond (except in the beginning when I had no money whatsoever) - I am just telling my story of traveling the world with almost no money by using alternative ways (hitchhiking, CS, volunteering, etc) and earning money on the way (busking, getting a job, writing about it). I mean - I write articles explaining how I got my sponsors - I do hold my readers smart enough to notice the logic here.

The bottom line is - I spent last 5-6 years traveling around the world. My daily budget was under $10. I had sponsors. But I think some people here think that even though I did travel on a low budget, I am not allowed to talk about that because I had money on the side in my bank account or wherever that money went.

Is there a fear that someone will hear my story and say - wow, this guy did it, it looks so easy, I will do that tomorrow? Sure. Thats why I tell people that its not easy as it looks/sounds. I tell them to try CS, but they have to realise that I have been hosting people for two years and that made it much easier. If they think they can make their profile today and start sending out requests tomorrow, they will learn the lesson the hard way. Same thing with hitchhiking - if they listen to my stories and think they will get to their destination every time on time, and they wont need to sleep beside the road - they will learn that on their own skin. Same thing goes with earning money while traveling, getting sponsored, etc.

I am not writing fairy tales. I am writing about my own experiences. And I think I'm entitled to do that, because I am not lying or being deceiving to anyone. My cards are all on the table, and they always were.

 

[Hobo Huck]

Tomislav, you have such beautiful marketing skills to cover up all of the holes in your story, along with elaborate explanations of everything else.

Well done. Well, fucking, done. I applaud you.

However, while you claim to be giving honest speeches and writing unbiased blog stories to "inform" travelers of how to travel the world, you are actually just teaching people how to become media whores, sell-outs, and greedy profiteers.

That's not just my opinion, thats EXACTLY what you teach people, step-by-step, on your "Mastercard Blog". May I remind you of this article?

Proof:


First of all, real travelers don't treat their adventures as a "sellable product". That's the way greedy yuppies think, NOT vagabonds or backpackers. Our travels and experiences aren't products that we intended on selling to the right "market". It's our life, and we don't expect to get paid from it.

Second of all, when we do interviews with the media, we don't "whore" ourselves out. The media actually FINDS us, and we do our interviews for free in the hopes of representing our subculture in an accurate and positive light. We don't do this as a "marketing" opportunity so that we can "cash in" or "advertise" our "sponsored products".

Thirdly, if any of us ever accepted a sponsor, it would be a sponsor that doesn't make us a walking contradiction to everything we believe in, much less a sponsor that is a DIRECT contributor to the financial corruption and debt-enslaved society that is making thousands of other people, including families, INVOLUNTARILY homeless.

I'd accept a sponsor for an Animal Rights group anyday, but fucking Mastercard? Don't pretend you didn't know who Mastercard is either...you're a former stock-broker, you know exactly who you signed up for, and exactly what bullshit game they play. You know what's up.

I'm sorry for being so aggressive, but your speeches, along with your blog, does nothing but promote the exact type of greed and corruption that real travelers are trying to GET AWAY from.

Yet here you, Mr. "How To Travel The World With Little to No Money", PROMOTING the idea of "selling out and cashing in", to naive audiences that you've intentionally suckered into buying this crap.

Do you think we want these type of "corporate sponsored" fucks ruining our subculture's integrity, meanwhile having the luxury of stealing our hard-earned image and using it for profit? The fuck?

All the while, we blister our hands on farms, bust our ass dishwashing and digging ditches, panhandling during dire times, only for a bunch of spoiled-ass Mastercard-sponsored travelers to reap all of the attention, money, and recognition of our lifestyle? Think again, Mr. Mastercard.

Look dude, if you're going to sell your soul and turn your travels into a "marketable product", that's fine with me as long as you keep it to yourself. Happy trails, Mr. Entrepreneur!

BUT, when you start teaching this shit to future travelers during your speeches and blog-writings, encouraging other travelers to sell out and ruin the integrity of our subculture, you should expect some outrage from people that look at traveling as more than a "marketing" opportunity for mere profit. You make a money-making mockery of our lifestyle, and that offends me and many others.

You think I want to walk through town in 10 years from now, carrying my heavy ass backpack, and suddenly start having people assume:

"oh, that dudes probably not a real vagabond, he is probably sponsored by Mastercard...i saw it on a dudes blog, all these backpackers are all fake these days"....

OR

"oh don't pick up that hitchhiker honey, most of them are sponsored by Monstanto or BP and I don't agree with that..besides they probably have money for a taxi anyway"...

That's the type of future bullshit you are promoting, and it's disgusting. It ruins it for all of us.

And all of this for the sake of what? So that you can sell your book and pay off your investors? Fuck that, dude..that's your problem, but now you are making it ours.

Of course, you'll have an awesome excuse for this "sell out-cash in" article you wrote, as would any marketer seeking to protect their precious brand image.

However, the proof is in the pudding, and your blog article speaks for itself: You are a media-whore, you are a sell-out, and you work for one of the most corrupt industries in modern society. End of story. Your backpack and your adventures are merely an "accessory" or "brand image" to promote this desperate money-making endeavor of yours.

You didn't leave the life of financial corruption behind to start traveling; you simply brought financial corruption into the world of traveling, for the primary goal of profiting from it.

You don't teach people how to travel as a low-budget traveler. You teach people how to travel as a capitalistic leech that has found a unique forumla to making money from our lifestyle, thus ruining the integrity of all other travelers.

You're not a traveler. You're a profiteer. Furthermore, you are a BRAND, and your blog, speeches, pictures, and stories are just a "product" of this "brand" you have skillfully created for the sole purpose of monetizing OUR lifestyle.

That's your "story", and it's a story sponsored by Mastercard corporation.