like I went to taco bell and they didn’t even have napkins out. they had the other stuff just no napkins, I assume because some fucking ghoul noticed people liked taking them for their cars so now we just don’t get napkins! so they can save $100 per quarter rather than provide the barest minimum quality of life features.
Oh it’s even more complex.
Who sells those napkins?
(Answer; Sysco. If a place is short on napkins, Sysco is turning the screws on the franchise owner).
It’s pretty simple. Because we are all so spoiled and entitled that we won’t even consider NOT buying their shit anymore. It’s the same reason the video game market has grown rampant with micro transactions. They keep pushing the boundaries, and we keep giving them our money regardless of what they do. I’m actually curious to see how far they can push this insanity. They already slap a new year on sports titles every year and somehow sell the same game to the same people annually.
PUT YOUR WALLET DOWN.
We also all (in the US especially) collectively choose Chinese made products over domestic options as if the only consequence is that we pay less money and are thus a savvy customer … helping destroy a huge portion of the middle class that worked in manufacturing.
Maybe the robots would’ve gotten things where they are now eventually, but nowhere near as fast.
The amount of people on Reddit who shill for companies like EA and Activision is shocking.
Once wrote a comment on the lines of ‘sadly, British gamers mostly have terrible taste in video games, 90% of us don’t give a shit about anything unless it’s GTA, FIFA or Call of Duty. We literally reward companies for shitty consumer practices.’
Most of the replies I got were calling me an asshole and were acting like I’m trying to police what people can like/dislike.
But still, Electronic Arts make record-breaking profits because… EA Sports: It’s In The Game (you bought last year)
Any platform you find corporate asshole lickers. They are the worst.
Agreed. This is why I download mp3s and buy CDs still. Radio and Spotify streaming is good, but honestly, a better idea or service would be free group book reading events and coffee, help those budding writers etc to share ideas and increase the entropy and size of our universe lol
Best one of the newest releases is Street Fighter 6. Not just a full price game with a yearly season pass, which is fair for a service game and additional content, but also more frequent battle passes and the cherry on top, not only you pay for additional costumes as before, but each character has only 2 colors available. How much for a simply different RGB value you might wonder, a whopping over $100 for all colors. Didn’t buy this well executed game, because I refuse to partake in this.
This set the precedent for Mortal Kombat 1 DLC which is also filled with high cost and still charges outrageous money for new Fatalities.
At this point thought can we really victim blame? Like were all just advanced moneys and it turns out almost every monkey in this environment will get addicted and capitilists are happy to use that maliciously.
It issue is systematic at the least, and I can almost gaurentee won’t be solved in the next century by a couple people voting with just their wallets
It’s both. We are both simultaneously capable of free will, yet are also products of the universe that created is. So my answer to your question, in my humble opinion, is yes. Yes, we can victim blame while simultaneously lamenting the corporate landscape.
Let’s make this simpler. This corporate greed is a problem, yes? What actions have you taken to remove this problem?
Its shitty only for the poor. Rich has the best life there. If you’re rich , move to US Of A
To be fair, lots of poor people move to the USA, I think it’s just a high competition space is the issue
Yea better than living in 3rd world countries.
Theres a few problems
- Companies trying to maximize profits
- Corrupt political systems lets companies exploit their workers and customers alike
- Supply chains have been getting disrupted more and more. “Just in time” and getting “just enough” supplies no longer works well. A lot of stuff gets delayed or out of stock
- We expect unlimited resources on a finite planet. Whether its plastic junk, useless tech, or food we expect it to be available 24/7/365
A big one that you missed is
It’s socially acceptable and even encouraged for companies to fuck their customers. People assume that not being fucked over by a company means that company isn’t doing well.
We’re in a modern gilded age. There are no consequences for modern day robber barons.
“WE” don’t. You all might. Playing my role as a “consumer” I expect a certain level of customer service. If it doesn’t meet my standard, I stop consuming.
If it isn’t meeting your standard, stop.
BRB gonna stop buying groceries now.
The trick is they do this because “you” keep showing up. Spend literally 30-45 minutes to make a pile of taco fixings that will taste better, be healthier, and be cost competitive (if cooked in bulk).
Exactly, why would they even put napkins out if the customers still come.
Went to McDs for the “convenience” of an egg sandwich the other day. Was told to pull into spot #1 to wait. TWENTY MINUTES LATER they brought the food and couldn’t muster anything resembling an apology. So I guess I’ll be making my own fucking egg sandwiches from now on.
Sounds like you should be making your own breakfast sandos from now on!
Each day I want breakfast, I make myself a bacon and egg on toast sandwich. That takes me 11 minutes to make, and costs me under a dollar using local suppliers.
Not only does it not taste like hyperprocessed greaseball garbage like McDicks is, I also don’t have to drive to get it!
Welcome to the rest of your life. You’re gonna have the best brekkie sandos
Huggies went up in price, but their cost of manufacturing actually went down.
It’s got nothing to do with profit margins, it’s just pure greed. Also, the law requires that publicly traded companies be greedy.
How does the law require them to be greedy?
I just assumed that it was shareholders.
Not technically a “law”…
“The shareholder wealth maximization doctrine requires public corporations to pursue a single purpose to the exclusion of all others: increase the wealth of shareholders by increasing the value of their shares. However, a company should be committed to enhance shareholder value and comply with all regulations and laws that govern shareholder’s rights.”
The" however… " part is largely ignored, except for when it benefits shareholders.
The “however” part you quoted explicitly mentions following the rights of shareholders. From what you described, there’s literally nothing else in the doctrine to ignore.
Maybe not an exact law to be greedy but aren’t they legally responsible for acting in the interest of the shareholders not the consumer
Lack of competition against an embedded brand name. Change brands.
The brands shuffle their designs to stay ahead of IP laws. Gillette made the definitive shaving razor in 1901, the patent subsequently expired and anyone could make it, now they make new razors every few years to stay ahead of the curve.
With nappies, the correct answer is reusable nappies. It sounds gross, but when you’re a parent you quickly learn to deal with all kinds of shit.
You also get funky designs and stuff. The insides are interchangeable, the oustides are fashion.
when you’re a parent you quickly learn to deal with all kinds of shit.
Depends if you have a second washing machine because you’re now creating a new waste and different expense. Also depends on how much time you have and every dual income family answer the same. None. So no the generalisation that reusables are the solution is not accurate at all. I’d prefer biodegradable nappies any day. The washing machine goes over time as it is with the 14 outfit changes every day.
2nd washing machine?? How many people do you know with 2 washing machines???
“Biodegradable” is a marketing term.
I’m not knocking people who use disposable (biodegradable - HAH) nappies, but that doesn’t mean that washing reusable nappies is something impossible for most people. If anything, disposable nappies are a relatively new invention.
Maybe with current electricity prices the maths has changed, but washing reusable nappies worked out far cheaper for me when my kids were using them.
Actually at least two families who have small children AND reusable nappies.
I don’t care for the “marketing” I mean it from the actual definition. Plus where I live companies are held to account for label based claims. So sounds like a US problem tbh.
So you have small children and both parents are working? Notice the plurals. We found with one baby it’s easy enough however the moment we both went to work and even more so with two babies it was impossible extra workload. Out of the friends and families in my circles the ONLY (2 families) that use reusable are the ones with a dedicated stay at home parent. Which is becoming rare more than ever.
nothing to do with profit margins, it’s just pure greed
???
Maybe I should have said “it’s nothing to do with maintaining profit margins” against rising costs.
Gotcha, that makes sense.
Also, the law requires that publicly traded companies be greedy
The law doesn’t actually state you need screw over your customers and maximize profit. It says that executives have a fiduciary duty, which means they must act in the best interest of the shareholder, not themselves.
That does not mean they have to suck out every single dollar of profit. Executives have some leeway in this and can very easily explain that napkins lead to happier customers and longer term retention which means long term profits.
It’s purely a short-term, wall street driven, behavior also driven by executive pay being also based in stock so they’re incentivized to drive up the price over the next quarter so they can cash out.
Yeah sure, but then you could also say the same about a private business. The CEO works for the business owner, whether the owner is private or public stockholders.
But the reality is that publicly traded companies end up being far more greedy and profit driven than private businesses. In particular, the greedy private businesses tend to taget an IPO, while the more conscientious ones remain private.
Do you really have to ask? Capitalism, when it goes unchecked, turns everything shitty. Capitalism has been relatively unchecked in the US for the last 50 years, so everything is shitty. That’s starting to change as unions become more powerful again, but they’re still a fraction of what they were in the early 20th century. Late stage capitalism, baby!
Unions have nothing to do with companies enshittifying their products and services
mArXiSm
go actually read Marx, dude was smart af.
Anything in particular? He has boocoos of books.
Capital 1, if you can hack it.
It’s very long. Seems interesting, though. As someone that has lived in communism, I can say with first hand that it doesn’t work en mass. But, then again, capitalism doesn’t work either…
It’s more of a treatise on economics.
The Manifesto is literally 20 pages.
beaucoups
There are multiple acceptable spellings of this word.
beau·coup (bō′ko͞o′, bo͞o′-, bō-ko͞o′) also boo·coo or boo·koo (bo͞o′-)Informal
I chose boocoos, because it looks funny.
Gesundheit
Not only are unions enjoying a resurgence holding employers to account, the FTC under Lina Khan is doing antitrust for the first time in most of our lifetimes. It’s bad now, but it will get better if we fight for it like we did back then.
Free the beers and we might see some novel inventions like the Japanese toilet bidet )
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It won’t happen until there is another fourth meal option
The US has not set up a system that compensates properly. Most European countries have a security net in place when capitalism squeezes regular people. The US does not. You’re on your own.
We’re going to through the “enshittification” as a society. There was the Great Recession, the DotCom Bust, the Great Inflation, etc.
What is going to matter, is can we use this “enshittification” to benefit society by increasing wages, encouraging social mobility, protecting and enshrining rights for marginalized communities, etc. Building a more inclusive society.
Your hopeful I like you
this is the ultimate result of shareholder theory. after a company hits their efficiency stride based on its resources and theres no more innovation to fuel profit, what else can it do but make shit smaller/less effective/worse. we just need an economic theory that includes broader society in the scope of fiduciary duties that businesses will actually take seriously.
Google can always try to to space lol
We’re at the end stage of capitalism.
Nah you’re just dramatising because you’ve downsized
A late stage, but not the end. It can get much worse.
We’d all like to think the times we exist in are the most important, the most momentous times. But really everything will probably circle the drain, getting worse and worse for centuries(?) before any real “collapse” happens.
I’m with you, OP: for some reason, it’s the little things I notice.
I’m in grocery stores a lot. It used to be, there was a nice little seating area there to sit, drink my coffee and work. But now, because homeless people dared to duck inside a public-facing area to briefly escape the elements, they removed many of the tables and chairs and they’re now a big, empty space. Heaven forbid they add more seating, actually staff enough people to enforce a time-limit, etc; no, instead we all are worse off for it. But corporate profits have never been higher, so worth it, right!?
Take a trip to PA, all the grocery and convenience stores have added seating areas so that they can legally sell beer and wine lmao.
They piloted this in Nashville at Kroger and something changed for them to turn around and remove them.
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People need to be willing to suffer small conveniences to send a message to companies, but they aren’t. And then they complain that the government should step in, while they constantly elect people who protect business interests and are anti-consumer in the name of “small government.”
It’s requires at least one or the other… a free market with consumers who drive the demand, or big government. With neither, you end up with constant corporate abuses.
How do you prevent misinformation in a free market that misleads your customers? Every problem can be greenwashed away by corporations. Even independent investigative organisations won’t have the resources to really drill down and figure stuff out. Without tax funded government entities I can’t see how they are made responsible.
Every free market will concentrate capital, with that power and with that information and the customers’ ability to make good choices.
You sound like a crybaby. No napkins for your taco equals muh capitalism!!
