Example 1:
I was in a KMart store back when they still had one in my parts and I wanted a small bottle of Propane Fuel. These are used for camp stoves and also as a tool for a propane torch. What I found was an awakening. Propane bottles were offered in both sections of the store, camping supplies and the tools area. But the same product was priced differently depending on which isle it was displayed on!
If a customer is handy with tools and uses these for both work and camping, the lower price could be found in the tool section. If the customer is not smart enough to know the product has dual usage, and only thinks of it as a camping need, that customer pays a higher price for the same exact product.
KMart corporation was perfectly willing to take advantage of the stupidity of any customer who didn't know the difference.
Example 2:
I have been in grocery and other stores where a product is displayed at one price, but when taken up to the register, it rings at a higher price. If a customer is not smart enough to verify that the product was falsely displayed, that customer pays more than needed.
Example 3:
I looked something up online and found a local store in which it was available for pickup at Target. I went to the store and found the item, but it was priced higher than the website price. If the item is taken to the register, it rings at the higher price. The store is perfectly willing to take advantage of any unsuspecting customer who did not check the online price.
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In all of the above examples, if the customer goes to the service counter and complains, the store will relent and then offer the lower price. But the customer has to be savvy and hold them to task in order to get the best price. Dumb customers who don't do this are routinely taken advantage of. The greedy corporation will gladly pocket the difference.
These are just examples that I have encountered as one person. I have no doubt they are indicative of a far wider problem. These merchants do not have your better interest in mind. They are trying to rip you off. And they will gladly do it with a smile and tell you to have a nice day. They have their marketing systems all set in place to do exactly that, and the only way it doesn't happen is if you hold them to task. It is systematic wealth extraction from the unsuspecting.
It is not enough for them to play fair in the free market and simply offer the best competitive price to all customers. That would be the neighborly thing to do. No. This is raw greed. Taking shameless advantage of the stupid. It is immoral.
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This is the dark side of capitalism. We certainly don't need this kind of mentality in our health care, our education, nor in our prisons. We, the people, need to get the best price.
We should all also routinely get the best price for our electricity, internet, phone service, and basic banking. Most people use all of these things and consider them a basic part of a comfortable modern life. These are not things we should be allowing big greedy corporations to systematically take advantage of the stupid. Allowing such systematic greed is part of what keeps the poor poor. These practices contribute to wealth inequality and hurt the USA. Greed does not make America great. It makes America chintzy.
We can use our government to our advantage and ALL GET THE BEST PRICE for common everyday needs. All we have to do is make up our minds that we are tired of getting ripped off for being so stupid. It's time to wise up, America. We can take care of ourselves. We have the power. All we have to do is get organized and see the potential. Better prices everyday does not have to come from an entity which is trying to profit from you, rip you off, and has their own better interest in mind.
Our government is not something we need to hate at all. It is a tool.
Tools are wonderful, but they don't do anything for you just sitting there. You know how to use them. You have to utilize them in their most useful way. We could have such a finer country. There are a few areas in which we should reject capitalism and embrace a single-source method of delivering services. I don't think the government should be in the retail product business, but I do believe some services should be done by we the people and we can save a lot of money by cutting out greedy middle men and capitalist profiteers.
I heard that South Korea has internet that is like ten times faster than what we have. And they only pay like $15 a month.
People who walked into a store and found a product they liked at a price they thought was fair were happy to buy that product. They were happy then. But that happiness vanishes the moment they learn they paid too much and got ripped off.
We are getting ripped off for lots of things. We just don't know it. We like our capitalism just the way it is and we think we are doing well if we get a good deal where possible. But then later, if we found out we were paying too much, we don't like that deal so much any more.
We are paying too much for health care, energy, education, prisons, and basic banking.
We don't even have to nationalize any of the companies offering these things. We can let them continue to offer what they have at whatever prices they have. All we have to do is create public options. We can do this for health care and all the other things. The Post Office can offer basic banking. (That's why Republicans are continually attacking the US Postal Service. They want it dead and not a threat to banking.)
But the public option idea introduces a problem.
If we have the non-profit government in competition with for-profit greedy corporations, they are not going to just sit idly by and compete fairly. They have already shown they have no interest in fair competition. They will use all their resources to undermine the government programs to try to make them fail so they can say: 'told ya so,' and get their peachy rip-off golden goose business back. They LIKE taking greedy advantage of the stupid. We are talking about big money here. We have to be united in this. I wish I could find a way to get people to understand the possibilities which are available to us. You have to get past your hatred and simply consider the possibilities and choices we have.
Those who hate the government are never going to go along with this. Hatred is a powerful motivator. Those types of minds will come up with every kind of obfuscation they can to kill these ideas at any step of the way. Take this thread, for instance. We know exactly what is going to happen. I will get called all kinds of horrible things, and anybody who agrees with me will be insulted as well.
But then, you have to ask yourself.
Are insults really an intelligent argument?
Or are they nothing but a distraction to try to get the emotions riled up and cloud reason and logic out of your thinking. If you don't have a good argument, the common retort is to inject emotion, change the subject, make it about insults and personal attacks. Mark my words. There were no posts in this thread when I wrote this. But you know it's coming. People who don't have a good response will lash out and try to kill an intelligent conversation that they are afraid of. Especially if it makes too much sense. Can't argue with sense? Then INSULT. Make it PERSONAL. Make a Distraction. Change the discussion away from what you don't want to hear.
Just like the president is doing. Big mess at the border that he created, so he insults women of color in Congress. It's a DISTRACTION, folks. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. They great Oz has spoken.
