Well, it’s not so straightforward I don’t think. Since Amazon blew up, we’ve been in the “growth at all costs” stage. Retailers were giving customers perks, leeway, and basically treating us like we deserve to be treated well—not a very capitalist mindset, but a necessary step for the, to corner the market. Trick us into thinking we’ve got it good. Now, we’re moving into the “squeeze” phase. After they’ve cornered the market, they’re now looking at their massive profits and saying, “okay, how can we keep this pace of growth?” That’s when they start cutting those perks that they could afford to swallow the cost of to drive competitors out of the market. First, the victim was other businesses. Now, their targeted enemy is the customer. It goes without saying that the planet is the consistent victim. But that’s capitalism for you.

The “squeeze” phase continues until the ultra squeeze phase. And then the outright hostility phase. Think Uber, streaming services, etc. They factor in years of losses to wrest control away from business, and we get used to the benefits of being treated as if our opinions have value. And when they’ve got the market cornered, their true face comes out and we see that, now that we have no other options, we see just how unimportant it is that we are satisfied. Product quality continues to decline in his phase, customer service disappears, costs go up, layoffs spike, pay goes down (in relation to cost)…capitalism is a cancer.