Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info
In the spirit of all those May Day expropriations that came before, we entered Mamie Clafoutis’ St. Denis location and filled our bags this morning in total rejection of the encroaching gaze of surveillance and and the false gods of capitalism.
Partnering with retail tech startup Leav, Mamie Clafoutis boasts that it is “pioneering a new era of automated smart stores.” This is the beginning of the same Amazon Go model that has already infected other cities, praised by media as innovation. Registering with a facial scan on their app can get you the ‘privilege’ of buying bread 24/7 in these automated, cashless bakeries.
Unmanned and always on, the Scan & Go system at Mamie Clafoutis enlists you in your own surveillance. We will not accept this shrine of control and enclosure chiseling away at us under the guise of a few moments of convenience. Here it must be cut off at the root, before this yuppie tech-slop lifestyle spreads not only to every bakery, every marketplace, but every moment of exchange of time, attention, and consent in our lives. We easily rushed this bougie store which turns daily necessities into luxury items that you need a face scan and a credit card to access.
These acts are not feats of legend, rather, they are simple, within reach, and ours to perform forevermore. Subsistence is not a product to be scanned. We aim to inspire those under the boot of capital to take whatever their hands, bags and minds can carry.
No cameras, no masters, no mamie clafoutis!
We can take everything – Happy May Day!