how strange to watch their "capitalist" fantasy begin to crumble. the free market is supposed to shift the best products to the top, right? the reward for good capitalist behavior is maximized profits.
of course it's the groceries but it isn't just the groceries, it's everything. now it is $25 for you to eat at chipotle. you remember when they were famous for their portion sizes (and their food safety issues). you were a hungry college student and could actually-afford to eat there. these days the food is worse and the price is higher - why not just go anywhere else?
you have just a quick question for your pharmacy so you look at their website and even do battle with their chatbot but inevitably the answer isn't there. you try calling customer service. you listen to first a long automated message telling you to go online and try the website first. you listen to an AI voice named Jan or Kelly as she asks you to state the nature of your request and hems and haws and says i'm sorry, i don't think i'm understanding. you try pressing "0" and saying "speak to an operator" and "talk to a representative" and "live agent". she never connects you. if literally one person spoke to you, you'd have been able to resolve this in approximately 15 minutes. it has now been an hour and Jan/Kelly's server farm is out there somewhere ruining the environment while she fails to do her job.
you watch as more and more corporations choose shady business practices - are caught on camera doing so - and discover that no legal action has been taken. that the company is calling the obvious and deliberate action "a sad accident." you watch people point out that "black friday sales" are literally more expensive than the original price. you watch as someone shows an email that is literally violating consumer safety laws. you watch as someone blatantly commits fraud.
but who are you supposed to call about that? there are no regulations anymore. they're free of that nasty "red tape" republicans hate so much. food is spoiling on the shelves and there is cesium in your shrimp. everywhere you look, the same dedication to the shareholders. everywhere you look, the prices get higher while the product gets worse.
they can keep doing it forever, right! they can just keep doing whatever they want, forever. infinite money glitch.
and the thing is: you were okay to pay a certain amount to watch a movie for the experience (and of course that one moment with nicole kidman). you understand that verizon has always been evil; you weren't expecting a rapturously friendly experience. you came from a family where money was always tight: you have always been trying to "do the right thing". the coupons and the price-matching and going to twenty stores just to find 6 different things.
as an adult: actually, you are okay to spend a little extra if the product is nice, if you are given something wonderful. if it is worth it.
but now the bag is half-empty. now the clothes are ever-thinner. now they release the game half-finished with the attitude of: whatever, you'll buy it. the technology that used to last you 5+ years now falls apart in the second month due to a known manufacturing error that you have to pay to resolve. the gas monopoly quietly installs a new "smart meter" that artificially raises your costs by 300 a month. the trip to disney is not magical; it is expensive and hostile. you are priced out of your own life in order to worship the shareholders.
you do the capitalist thing: you take your business elsewhere.
on tv a reporter blinks in the early light. his face is drawn, grave. "in what some people are calling a recession indicator... another business set to declare bankruptcy today." you watch their logo flash - you actually like what they're selling, and used to be a customer, before they started price gouging. the man turns to the woman on his left. "well, in this new press statement, they say the consumer is to blame."
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