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Why are US consumers so angry? It's not just high prices

theguardian.com

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Re: Why are US consumers so angry? It's not just high prices

#91

Post by 317070 »

dyauspitr wrote: post #77
rkagerer wrote: post #45

This all comes down to humane treatment of your fellow human beings. I grew up in an era where that was a core expectation of our culture. But I see that tenet degrading in various ways - how we broadcast our views on social media (reduced empathy), how we interact in the real world (less patience and understanding), the polarization of our politics (less compromise and thus less effectiveness), and how organizations…

I don’t think a high trust society is compatible with modernity. In my opinion, a high trust society comes from a relative naivety in most of the population that just sort of did what their grandparents did without thinking too much about it. In an “information” inundated populace, it becomes very hard to have a common culture which is the absolute basis for a high trust society. Maintaining a common culture isn’t ea…

A datapoint that points to the contrary:

- Singapore pre-1965 was a low trust, racist society. The tensions were so bad that in 1964 there were racial riots.

- Today, after a lot of immigration, within 1-2 generations, Singapore became a high-trust society.

Similar stories in South Korea and Taiwan. In all 3 cases, the trust came recently, within 1-2 generations, and from different approaches of the state. They combine high institutional trust and the economic prosperity with medium-low interpersonal trust.

Re: Why are US consumers so angry? It's not just high prices

#92

Post by SubiculumCode »

All these things add up, and when they sit on top of core issues, e.g. home ownership that is out of reach and expensive (and wasn't for their parents/grandparents), taxes that are too high as soon as you manage to make a half-decent salary, for too little benefit as far as they can feel...is it any wonder?

Re: Why are US consumers so angry? It's not just high prices

#93

Post by aucisson_masque »

m1llie_ wrote: post #40

I feel a very similar sentiment in Australia. Everything is poorly made and full of anti-features. It breaks prematurely, and software updates make it worse by disabling features, adding things I don't want, or holding functionality I already paid for to ransom as a subscription. Warranties aren't worth the paper they're printed on. Every warranty claim I've made in the past 5 years (a fair few) has been a Kafka-esqu…

I don't mind paying a little more in exchange for good customer support. My internet provider has gone from having support in Arabic countries, that speak French good enough but don't really care about you, to support in France and it makes all the difference in the world.

I was astonished when I asked a question and the guy did actual research, called back and told me things that a simple Google search on my end wouldn't have find.

Usually it's very different, they either don't know/don't care or say things that are obviously false.

I believe it's also why Amazon took so much in popularity. If I got an issue with Amazon product, I know it well be dealt with swiftly, as long as it's sent by Amazon and not by a third party.

Re: Why are US consumers so angry? It's not just high prices

#94

Post by seb1204 »

qwerty_clicks wrote: post #8
SoftTalker wrote: post #6

> Nearly 80% of Americans had a service or product problem in 2025, and about two-thirds of those felt “rage” about it "Rage" is has been encouraged and reinforced as an appropriate reaction to what is most likely a simple mistake or process breakdown. Another way that social media and algorithmic feeds have pandered to our base emotions. We are becoming a world of tantrum-throwing toddlers.

Processes are hollow and some AI isn’t making my life any better. Goods are junk and there are few examples of common physical craftsmanship in the marketplace. MAGA just want a well made jacket but they are on a life line of Walmart wages and goods. I get it. Rage is appropriate yet misguided.

Self reflection would be more appropriate than rage. Buy less shit people don't need. Be more kind and compassionate.

Re: Why are US consumers so angry? It's not just high prices

#95

Post by aucisson_masque »

vatsachak wrote: post #29

The Amazon app is unusable. I don't know what they are doing to it but today it wouldn't let me add more than 4 items. Also the design choices suck; I have always accidentally ordered to the wrong address because Amazon uses a "default address". A good rule of design; assume that the user doesn't think about things that they don't explicitly select. They also just advertise cheap crap and the app is so maximalist it…

I don't know what you are speaking about You have millions of competitors.

From small business to big shopping centers, online resellers,...

Re: Why are US consumers so angry? It's not just high prices

#96

Post by bigfatkitten »

femto wrote: post #60
sbfriends wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Australia's consumer guarantees cannot be replaced or excluded by warranties and offer huge protections for consumers who know how to exercise their rights. Companies try to apply friction to the process and I suspect that frustrates a lot of people to the point of giving up.

I'd encourage Australians not to muck around in this regard. Fair Trading gives explicit instructions: 1) Contact the organisation 2) Suggest a resolution 3) give them a reasonable time to respond (ie. not forever) 4) Be polite 5) Lodge a complaint with Fair Trading The more people that do this, the less sellers will try to do people over. https://www.nsw.gov.au/legal-and-justice/consumer-rights-and...

(5) is often a waste of time, but filing an application in NCAT (or your state/territory’s equivalent) will get their attention.

Re: Why are US consumers so angry? It's not just high prices

#97

Post by georgefrowny »

AnthonyMouse wrote: post #48
dirkt wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me supply an /s tag, just in case.

The sarcasm is the problem. In many markets the market is too consolidated and the consumer doesn't actually have an option that isn't a scam, but in those cases the solution shouldn't be to regulate the oligopolies while leaving them in place to buy off the regulators or weasel their way out of the rules with expensive lawyers, it should be to break them into smaller pieces so they actually have to compete with each…

> it should be to break them into smaller pieces so they actually have to compete with each other.

I wonder what the world would look like if you just prohibited any single organisation or controlling group over a certain size. Say you couldn't have a company over 100 million in value.

You could still have massive projects like semiconductor fabs and steelworks but they would have to be collectives of dozens of (competing) smaller companies. Efficiency may take a hit especially in the verticals but would it be be outweighed by greater market dynamism as no one company can dominate a sector and crush out competition and innovation?

Maybe provide a tapered relief for worker salaries and/or capital outlay to encourage employing people and building things rather that hoarding cash in financial structures.

Obviously this is impossible to do as the global system stands, but I find it an interesting thought experiment.

Re: Why are US consumers so angry? It's not just high prices

#99

Post by cco »

dyauspitr wrote: post #77
rkagerer wrote: post #45

This all comes down to humane treatment of your fellow human beings. I grew up in an era where that was a core expectation of our culture. But I see that tenet degrading in various ways - how we broadcast our views on social media (reduced empathy), how we interact in the real world (less patience and understanding), the polarization of our politics (less compromise and thus less effectiveness), and how organizations…

I don’t think a high trust society is compatible with modernity. In my opinion, a high trust society comes from a relative naivety in most of the population that just sort of did what their grandparents did without thinking too much about it. In an “information” inundated populace, it becomes very hard to have a common culture which is the absolute basis for a high trust society. Maintaining a common culture isn’t ea…

> it becomes very hard to have a common culture

Counter point: culture has been compressed, not widened, in the last 60 years.

Accents have gone away, we listen to the same music, food has homogenized. By almost any measure, culture across the US has become a monoculture compared to any time in its history.

I don't think your point is necessarily wrong, but how do you square the above?

Re: Why are US consumers so angry? It's not just high prices

#100

Post by Mountain_Skies »

317070 wrote: post #91
dyauspitr wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think a high trust society is compatible with modernity. In my opinion, a high trust society comes from a relative naivety in most of the population that just sort of did what their grandparents did without thinking too much about it. In an “information” inundated populace, it becomes very hard to have a common culture which is the absolute basis for a high trust society. Maintaining a common culture isn’t ea…

A datapoint that points to the contrary: - Singapore pre-1965 was a low trust, racist society. The tensions were so bad that in 1964 there were racial riots. - Today, after a lot of immigration, within 1-2 generations, Singapore became a high-trust society. Similar stories in South Korea and Taiwan. In all 3 cases, the trust came recently, within 1-2 generations, and from different approaches of the state. They combi…

Singapore isn't high trust. It's brutal authoritarianism that squashes anything that looks remotely disharmonious between groups. High trust doesn't need a government boot stomping in the face of anyone who steps out of line.
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