Why is everything in consumer / American life so fucking shitty now - and companies literally just say 'oh bc profit margins' and we're now expected to swallow that and sympathize?

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.

keefshape,

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).

OrteilGenou,

Are you sure they didn’t just conscript the napkins for TP? It is Taco Bell after all…

S_204,

3 sea shells about to be placed in the taco bell washrooms as cost saving measures.

Etterra,

Because the corporations write the rules. Literally; laws are written by corps and presented to lawmakers along with “gifts” and “campaign donations” - and implicit quid pro quo. They then present them to be voted upon, sometimes without even bothering to read them.

Jenntron,
@Jenntron@lemmy.world avatar

Exactly that. We are run by corporations more so than our elected officials. A lot of people fail to fully understand this fact. Corporations and capitalism is the answer to why everything sucks.

Facebones,

And no matter how well documented it is, people just go “nuh uh” and call you a socialist if you bring it up.

CADmonkey,

Ask for napkins, if they won’t give you any, pour a soda out on the counter and steal some of the paper towels they use to clean it up. (Actually don’t, this method isn’t nice for the workers)

It’s going to be a fun next few years. Corpo dickheads keep trying to make another nickel next quarter, but more and more people have had enough. If food is too expensive, people will start stealing it, and the police can’t be everywhere. Better hope there isnt 't some global pandemic or something that would suddenly make it acceptable to wear a mask in public.

TangledHyphae,

deleted_by_author

    •
    CADmonkey,

    Thay only works when the food at the grocery store is cheap. And it really isn’t. I’ve been cooking at home, and even growing some of my own food, and someone who works two jobs or a lot of overtime isnt going to be able to do it, no matter the cost.

    ShaggySnacks,

    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.

    yum_burnt_toast,
    @yum_burnt_toast@reddthat.com avatar

    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.

    Cannacheques,

    Google can always try to to space lol

    Jenntron,
    @Jenntron@lemmy.world avatar

    We’re at the end stage of capitalism.

    samus12345,
    @samus12345@lemmy.world avatar

    A late stage, but not the end. It can get much worse.

    nomous,

    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.

    lolcatnip,

    That would probably be true if climate change wasn’t about to fuck everything up.

    Cannacheques,

    Nah you’re just dramatising because you’ve downsized

    Cannacheques,

    Your hopeful I like you

    space,

    Because your rights have been eroded by decades of deregulation and lobbying. And because publicly traded companies are legally required to maximize profits at all costs.

    Empricorn, (edited )

    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!?

    EncryptKeeper,

    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.

    KingThrillgore,
    @KingThrillgore@lemmy.ml avatar

    They piloted this in Nashville at Kroger and something changed for them to turn around and remove them.

    gayhitler420,

    It’s because the rate of profit has a tendency to fall.

    Referable2424,

    in dodge v ford the supreme court ruled that publicly traded companies must put profits first above their workers and the the build quality of their products.

    1984,
    @1984@lemmy.today avatar

    Interesting…

    DeathsEmbrace,

    Workers rights is against capitalism to just give you everything needed to decide if this system is good or bad.

    tmyakal,

    That’s a bad take. The case actually affirmed business judgement rule: the idea that the guy running the company knows how to run it better than the shareholders. It’s part of why post-war America is considered the golden age of American manufacturing: Publicly traded companies invested in their employees and wages exploded across the board. A 100 year old court decision isn’t the primary driver on a problem that’s really only developed in the last forty or fifty years.

    blandy,

    Jack Welch of GE really set the current tone of “all that matters is stock price”. The 80s saw greed transform into a virtue

    corbs132,

    There’s a great behind the bastards podcast episode about this guy!

    Cannacheques,

    I think it’s come about due to the state of universities and the stringent belief that a pursuit of knowledge above all else would somehow land you a good job. You’ve got to want to do the job or genuinely enjoy the work first.

    Just consider that the same people in the Middle East who are matchmakers and run big data collection corps also run the whole breakups shake up.

    kaiomai,

    What do you expect from a place like Taco Bell? You are enabling their behavior by giving them money.

    Grimm665,

    Napkins seem like a pretty normal thing to expect at any eating establishment.

    Ensign_Crab,

    Particularly one with the grease content of Taco Bell.

    tacosplease,

    They’re starting the transition to the three sea shells

    Yoz,

    Its shitty only for the poor. Rich has the best life there. If you’re rich , move to US Of A

    Cannacheques,

    To be fair, lots of poor people move to the USA, I think it’s just a high competition space is the issue

    Yoz,

    Yea better than living in 3rd world countries.

    Gbagginsthe3rd,

    Simple things are going backwards but in a few hundred years Starbucks is gonna start giving handjobs. So thats kinda nice

    kaiomai,

    I don’t think we have time for lattes.

    HoustonHenry,

    I’ll start worrying when we get a TV show about a guy that likes getting his balls kicked, I could totally go for a latte!

    pinkdrunkenelephants,

    Because you won’t do anything to hurt their bottom line, basically.

    Stop eating at Taco Bell and make your own damn tacos at home. Better yet, go buy some from a family-owned taco truck instead.

    Mango,

    Taco trucks are so good right now. They’re not wasting money on unused dining room space so lots of meat!

    ExLisper,

    I have taco tortillas. What do I put inside? Any good recipes?

    SwampYankee,

    youtu.be/SLaltfyTEno?si=cZO2NIjd0eqCKJez

    prole,

    Yeah, I don’t eat at Taco Bell when I’m in the mood for tacos from a street truck. It’s like two entirely different types of food.

    There is Mexican food, there’s Tex Mex, then there is Taco Bell. They’re not really all comparable 1:1:1. I love me an al pastor taco from a truck, but some days I’m not in the mood for a real taco but rather the ersatz tacos they have at Taco Bell.

    Sethayy,

    See my stoned Canadian ass doesnt have any taco trucks nearby, but the bell is always there

    (but I gotta agree its far from authentic, its like a good smoked burger vs bigmac)

    prole,

    That’s a shame. I live in an area where I have access to authentic food of so many different ethnicities, and it is wonderful.

    I can’t imagine how boring life would be without multiculturalism.

    Ersatz86,

    Extra points for ersatz

    yogthos,
    @yogthos@lemmy.ml avatar

    This individualist approach simply does not work in practice as has been demonstrated time and again. The problem is a systemic one created by the mechanics and incentives of the capitalist economy. The solution is to work towards an economic system that doesn’t create perverse incentives inherent in capitalism.

    Manmikey,
    @Manmikey@lemmy.world avatar

    My satellite TV (Sky TV … UK) subscription ended recently and they would not give me any sort of deal to sign a new contract, Come black Friday they a spamming me by email and every type of advert for great deals for NEW Customers only!

    I called SKY to cancel and they offered me a better deal but we’re going to charge me an admin fee to sign a new contract, they wanted me to pay them to sign a contract with them!

    I told them that it was not acceptable and cancel my service, having been put through to “my manager” they eventually waived the admin fee…

    How has it come to this, I’m an easy customer, I am happy with the product, I’ll sign a contract if it’s a good deal, but they went out of their way to lose me

    Aceticon,

    Because for every person like you that jumps through hops to get a new deal there are lots of people who just passivelly let the renewal happen under inferior conditions that they could have got if they tried.

    That’s also why they put stupid hindrances in your way: such things cause many people to give up and just go along with a suboptimal renewal, ergo they make more money from acting thus than they lose from clients who say “enough is enough” and drop them (notice how you did not drop them - they lost nothing from giving you the run around and could’ve gained if you had given up and renewed with the shit conditions: it’s pretty much a can’t-loose situation for them)

    I lived in then UK for over a decade and one thing that stood out when I moved from the The Netherlands to the UK (already more than 15 years ago) and from the UK to Portugal is how much more the larger consumer-facing companies in the UK did the most that they could to take advantage of people’s mistakes or laziness than in those other countries - I remember a particularly sleazy gym membership contract from Virgin were per-contract (I always read those things) the only way to cancel it before the yearly auto-renewal was to contact them during a specific week before renewal (2 weeks before end of contract if I remember it correctly), not before nor after.

    Over the whole time I was there, a handful of the most outrageous abuses when it came to consumer contracts were plugged (the one I remember the best was the creation of a rental deposit insurance to stop tenants from losing their deposits at the end of the rental agreement, as before that landlords would often just keep it all for no reason and then the only option the tenant had was take it to Court) but the whole posture of taking advantage of costumer laziness and normal mistakes (auch as, forgetting a date for canceling and auto-renewal) was widespread in the UK compared to other countries I lived in.

    As it so happens, people themselves were also to blame: I remember how amazed the rental agency guy was that I actually read the Rental Agreement and even demanded corrections before I signed anything - “Nobody reads these”, he said - when even at the massive daily rate I was paid back then for my work it was still worth it to spend the 1 or 2 hours reading a contract were I was assuming a commiment of at least £15k (at the time a “reasonable” London rent for a year).

    Me in your position would’ve just said “fuck this”, cancelled SKY and gone without (and I have done it for some things were I felt the other side had abused my trust, such as closing my account with my first bank in the UK the one and only time I was charged an overdraft fee), mainly because my early adult years happenned mostly in The Netherlands so I have their style of demanding consumer rather than the more passive and willing to overlook these things style common it the UK.

    Cannacheques,

    Absolutely terrible news bro I feel for you.

    ghost_of_faso2,
    @ghost_of_faso2@lemmygrad.ml avatar

    Unionize, as an induvidual you are ultimatily powerless, as a collective not so much.

    Modern society does everything it can to prevent you from collectivising, long work hours, low pay, private healthcare, high rent; all meant to make you work so hard you never have a chance to group up and demand better; resist it and organize.

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