Is "Be the part of the change you want to see in the world!" bullshit?

[Belacqua]

But the problem is that it is better to be "an asshole" than to do ineffective or counter-productive things in an attempt to address the global problems.

I don't think it's ever good to be an asshole. It's kind of tautological -- "asshole" = "thing it's bad to be." 
But I agree with you that doing counter-productive things will not get the goals you think you want.

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People who simply don't care about global problems are better for the world than people who are boycotting sweatshops (a very counter-productive thing).

How do you know that boycotting sweatshops is counter-productive? Do you have specific cases in mind?

Boycotts have sometimes been effective in pushing companies to change.

And who knows whether insisting on me being a vegetarian in my father's house (after my mother ended up in a prison) was morally objectionable. It definitely caused him to worry about my health (unjustifiably, but that's a predictable consequence of my actions) and to spend significantly more time cooking. Insisting on me not eating eggs would probably cause way less trouble and would certainly be way more effective in reducing my impact on superbacteria.

I don't know anything about your family's situation. I think that being a vegetarian can be a good thing, if you do it right. But I agree that if it's causing your father extra stress it may not be a good idea. 

Sticking to principle when it's causing discomfort for the people around you -- especially when it's more of a gesture than an effective strategy -- is probably not wise. 

Another slogan is "there is no ethical consumption under capitalism.

I must admit I don't understand what that means.

Well, we all have to consume to live. Even the most ascetic of us has to consume something. And given the system that we live in, there's no way for us to do this without some people getting exploited. Anybody who uses the Internet is living on the backs of the coltan and lithium miners who get paid slave wages. So thanks, guys. 

But isn't the same true under any economic system, and not just capitalism? In fact, it's even more true under socialism, since socialism relies on coercion to work, while capitalism doesn't.

It's certainly true that no economic system has ever been perfect. 

But I don't understand how you're using the word "socialism" here, since socialism doesn't rely on coercion. 

The basic definition of socialism is that the workers own the company. That is, instead of shareholders (who don't labor) owning the company and getting the profits, the people who actually do the work hold part ownership in the place they work. They have some level of input as to what the company will do, and how the profits will be used.