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Here's What's Wrong With Corporate America, And The U.S. Economy
Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith of OfTwoMinds blog,
Will we ever tire of navigating the multiple layers of intermediaries between the customer and the provider, while corporate profits soar to unprecedented heights?
If we had to summarize what's wrong with Corporate America and the entire U.S. economy, we can start with all the intermediaries between the provider and the customer. There are a number of examples we're all familiar with.
One is healthcare, where a veritable phalanx of intermediaries filters the interactions between doctors and patients so heavily that the traditional practice of medicine has been nullified.
By traditional I mean the arrangement that was conventional a few short decades ago: you went to the doctor of your choice (typically, the same doctor your family used), he/she treated you, and you paid the doctor's bill in cash. Only hospitalization was covered by the minimal (and minimally limiting) healthcare insurance plans of the time.
The second example is home appliances purchased at a Big Box retailer. Here's the list of interactions between Corporate America and the customer:
1. Customer enters Big Box Store and is sold a high-margin appliance, unless customer insists on the sale item. Either way, the appliance was assembled in China for a few hundred bucks and shipped to the U.S. for a few more bucks. The difference between the low cost and the price the customer pays is gross profit for Corporate America.
2. Customer and salesperson both know the reliability of the appliance, regardless of brand or price, is low, so an extended warranty is an easy sale. The manufacturer's warranty is typically one year, and the extended warranty tacks on a couple years to the minimal manufacturer's warranty.
(Recall that not too long ago in America, any major appliance was expected to last a few decades, not a few years.)
3. Customer shells out $1,000 for the appliance and another $300 for the extended warranty, and a few more bucks for delivery.
4. Corporate America to customer: we're done with you, bucko. The delivery is subcontracted to another company, the extended warranty is handled by another company, and should the appliance fail during the manufacturer's warranty, the customer has to contact the manufacturer directly.
The only interaction retail Corporate America has with the customer is the initial sale. Everything after that is handled by other companies. So Corporate America has no interest in customer satisfaction or happiness after the sales experience.
5. Calls made to Corporate America--the Big Box retailer or the manufacturer--will be directed to somebody else. The job of taking care of the customer has been shunted to intermediaries that the customer cannot contact directly.
Compare this with the traditional arrangement between the retailer and the customer: whatever the problem, the retailer took care of the customer. If the appliance broke down, the retailer's repair crew would go out and fix it. The retailer was accountable to the customer all the way down the line; if there was a warranty covering the repair, the retailer handled that bureaucratic layer as part of their service.
6. The appliance fails two days after the manufacturer's warranty expires, i.e. one year after purchase. (True story.)
7. Customer calls Corporate America retailer. Response: we're done with you, bucko. Call the manufacturer or the extended warranty company.
8. Customer calls Corporate America manufacturer (or the U.S. office of a global appliance manufacturer). Response: Since your appliance is off warranty, the service call will be (insert outrageous fee): $99.99 (that's our special price for good customers, pal.) Parts will also be marked up triple from what you could buy them for on the Internet, and our labor charges are so high that the repair, even if it is modest in scope, will cost a third to a half of the original price of the appliance.
If the repair is serious, the cost might exceed the original purchase price a year earlier.
Stripped of phony solicitude, the manufacturer's response: we're done with you, bucko. You bought our appliance, but we're under no obligation to make you happy beyond the 365-day warranty period--and well, to be honest, we don't really care if you're happy with our service under warranty, either. Our repair people will get to you when they get to you, and there are plenty of loopholes in the warranty.
Here's the view from Corporate America: we can get these appliances assembled in Robotic Factory #2 (yes, the appliance was stamped with this phrase) in China for an absurdly low cost for an order of thousands of units, and if 10% of those fail within a year due to defective parts, that's just the cost of doing business.
We can grind the customer down with lousy service to the point that many will give up and not even pursue repair or replacement under warranty.
Since Americans have been trained to buy the lowest price, a.k.a. The Tyranny of Price, or the currently fad (over-hyped, overpriced) model, we don't care if they're happy or not. They'll buy the lowest cost appliance or the over-hyped brand next time anyway.
9. Customer calls the extended warranty provider. The extended warranty provider is in a distant state and contracts with a local firm to handle the repair. The customer cannot contact the repair outfit or person directly; everything must be handled through the extended warranty provider.
10. Two weeks later, the repairperson shows up, takes apart the appliance and presents the customer with a bill for $900 which must be paid before he can order parts. But I'm under the extended warranty, the customer says, and the repairperson shrugs. "That's not what the paperwork says." (True story.)
11. Customer calls back extended warranty provider and gets the paperwork straightened out. Boxes of parts start arriving shortly thereafter.
12. A different repairperson comes back in two more weeks, takes a look at the disassembled appliance and the parts that had arrived, and declares the repair will cost more than a new replacement appliance, so the customer should contact the extended warranty provider for a voucher to buy a new appliance.
13. The repairperson leaves the disassembled appliance and the parts. The customer has to call the extended warranty provider again to demand the broken appliance and the new parts be hauled off. Three weeks later, somebody shows up to haul off the useless appliance and the new parts.
14. Customer reads that corporate profits for the Big Box retailer and manufacturer just hit record highs, and has a seizure. Corporate America doesn't make money making the customer happy, beyond the few moments needed to collect $1,300 from him/her. That's how you reap record profits: make the sale and you're done with the customer.
Nobody is tasked with making the customer happy--that's some other intermediary's job. The customer is denied contact with the actual person who ends up with the job of making the customer happy--all communications must go through multiple corporate intermediaries, guaranteeing frustration and wasted time and money.
Will we ever tire of navigating the multiple layers of intermediaries between the customer and the provider, while corporate profits soar to unprecedented heights? The two dynamics are intimately linked: once we book the sale, we're done with customers.
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In summation, everybody looks to skim a little off of every transaction and then tell the buyer to fuck off.
The moral: Dont be one of those fools who buys extended warranties
seriously. they wouldn't be selling it to you if they weren't making money off of it. All insurance is a racket. just ask blue cross blue shields or Geico or Allstate. F the insurers. They're one step below bankers.
Customer satisfaction has been disintermediated.
I have a 1951 international harvester refrigerator in my garage still runs fine, weights a ton
My uncle still has his refrigerator running from when they got married 56 years ago! Ours is less than 10 years old and had to be serviced 6 times!
we just replaced ours. It was 16 years old. It still kept stuff cold, but it was all plastic, and the plastic shit kept breaking. The handle broke several times. The shelves on the door broke a number of times. Enough. Why am I paying to replace expensive plastic shit that just keeps breaking. I know. I'll buy another plastic piece of shit refrigerator. Cost $850 for a new one. Go Chevy, I mean, Whirlpool. It's the new planned obsolescence.
... same experience here ...
The battlecry of the 21st century is "it's not my job and not my problem"
And FUCK ATNEA, any chance you get.
Or, start your own insurance company. I started my own lending company in 2014 (small, but 2 commas in loans outstanding), and I'm working on insurance for 2015. Think bigger, it's more fun.
In summary, after sale, customer is a cost and costs are bad...
I have been saying this for years. Too many useless paper-pushing middlemen.
Fuck em.
Many useless people seem to have migrated to teaching in universities. The great thing about teaching is that there is no customer service or money-back-guarantee. I got tired of waiting for education bubble to collapse. It will take at least a decade to happen...long enough for some of the useless middlemen to get tenure.
"Smart" business men learn to ignore what people say and pay attention to what people do. People say "big, bad CEO/Corporate America is taking our jobs away and making a killing while we suffer!" Yet people continue to buy. There are small businesses all over trying to compete... Where were those clothes/shoes/appliances/cars people are purchasing made? and who forced them to buy?
I won't totally side with big business but you have to ask how did big business get so big?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5vz6iwV38U
Learn to support what you value and don't pass the buck, exchange it for what you want.
Power begins with you.
you must buy nothing but overpriced crap. it has been my experience that the more expensive appliances break down the fastest. i never buy the extended warranty and so far most of my stuff lasts at least five years and is reasonably priced. the reason most people are fooled into buying the extended warranty is that they can't afford a $500 breakdown. i am way, way, ahead not buying extended warranties on anything, including vehicles. grow some ballz people.
..... buying quality has always been the best money spent regardless of the price differential, you get what you pay for and all that......vehicles really you stay away from anything north american built after 1968 and you're golden...... these days Hondas are for the most part butt fuckin ugly on the whole but by and large the price is reasonable and you can drive them for multiples of the NA crap counterparts before the wheels fall off....... and the safety is better than i would ever expect with NA craponwheels .....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei_mvrq8M9o
Fixing appliances is fairly easy, at least for the ones where designs haven't changed in decades. That is what we buy. The internet is full of websites that allow you to troubleshoot, order parts, and has step by step repair procedures.
If you must have an appliance where you can check the dryness of your clothes from your iphone, well, you get what you deserve.
KISS
pods
Right. And how do you repair the microprocessor in the sealed motor control unit that is mounted with rivets beneath the 90 pound subassembly?
First, I buy things with mechanical switches whenever I can. Second, drill out the rivets and replace with self tapping drilling screws. Third, lift subassembly using jack/hoist, etc.
Like I said, KISS. More work can be done by a handyman than ever before. Hell, I replaced an AC evaporator in a minivan a couple years ago. Had to tear apart the entire dash from the firewall, but it is doable. Even the Haynes manual said you couldn't swap out the evap, but it was done in a (long) day.
The internet is a fantastic source of actually figuring out what the problems are with anything, as well as work arounds and fixes.
pods
You are correct pods. Couldn't get the broken washing machine apart, looked it up online and there was a video telling me how to take it apart and what was most likely the problem. Had it fixed that afternoon. Always, Always get the one with mechanical switches. Digital will crap on you.
i need to start writing some articulates....naaaawwww
Quit bitching or move to France
In France?
http://youtu.be/eep1_tiPOVY
You first.
CRASH2: Neoliberalism, murderer of inflation, commits suicide by deflation.
http://investmentwatchblog.com/crash2-neoliberalism-murderer-of-inflation-commits-suicide-by-deflation/
outlaw all distrubutors, what, yeah the factory wants to deal peons complaining about a 11.00 refund
The Model has not changed for 70 years.
Not quite, rules regarding bankruptcy and CLEARING DEBT have very much been changing. Not in a good way either.
that is all that CHS finds it's wrong with Corporate America? it's good, but I have another one: size (vs regulations)
face it, the US has an environment that favours big companies. courtesy of Wall Street, which likes to peddle stocks and bonds on secondary markets, and if the economy would keep fully private instead of going public, they would be out of business
I'll reuse a quip series I just used today, here at an article from Master William Banzai 7
"an entrepreneur is usually slightly psychopathic. I am so, I should know. Psychopathy just means you have to learn empathy the hard way, reasoning about it instead of just "feeling it". age helps
a small company is a bit more psychopathic. the reason is this deferment of decisions to often that part of the small company that has the least emotional attachment to the issue
a big company is fully psychopathic. you only have rational functions, there, and any emotional intelligence has to be grafted on it through meandrious internal or external regulations
a megacompany with the full panoply of lobbyists is fully insane. to the point that the thrust is given by what lobbyists can achieve and lawyers can mend
a banking megacompany, i.e. a megabank is beyond insane. not only emotional realities don't stick, even physical realities start not to count anymore"
so do you dream of an economy that has to be only slightly regulated? then get rid of Big Biz
inversely, do you want to keep Big Biz and have a humane environment for your kids? then regulate Big Biz
do you want to flush your country or economic zone down the toilet? then let Big Biz do the regulations. then you'll see how the kill small and medium biz while entrenching their positions
size matters. it's amazing that when it comes to size and regulations, people don't pay attention, and start to treat all corporations as if they were the same. the larger a group of people is organized in any kind of entity, the more emotional intelligence has to be mandated. by internal or external regulations
And these big giant companies often make many items that at one time were "niche" things that used to be hand-made. They gotta make sure they drive all the little guys out.
I worked for a company like this. They just bought big name brands, gutted the jobs here and had the shit made in China for 1/10th of the cost. Constant complaints of defects and fail forced big box customers like Wal-Mart to make them spend "money" on QC (money that just ended up in the pockets of the Chinese manufacturers and the board members of the company). The shit still breaks and customer comments on the internet boards prove that.
Their stock, btw? Down by JUST $1 this year (after hitting a high of $19 in April). They have missed revenue for 3 quarters.
As for me, I have had a white porcelain plate that was made in Ohio since 2005. Not one scratch, the imprinted logo on the back is still visibile despite years of washing, and is in such good condition I'd use them for when people came over.
Quality SHOULD matter but it doesn't. Thank JPM and the Fed.
It's not just America
UK is the same.
I tend to buy things in two's so I have spare's when the 1st goes wrong and they say that model is no longer available and NO spares available.
It's sad commentary that $1000 appliances are now 'throw-away items'. What we have done is inflate salaries such that it is too expensive to repair anything anymore, and because those salaries are too high there is no demand and that means that no one is even learning how to fix anything.
The local junk man here proves the point "no one learns to repair anything" he's got more cash than most lawyers lol not really but the guy is never without a grand in his pocket as some times he buys "junk" anyway I repair all kinds of stuff and even on the "cheap" people would rather chuck the stuff than fix it ...most often times I hear the excuse "it's just gonna break again, so fuck it I'm buying new. I think I'm gonna work with the junk guy atleast till scrap prices completely go into the toilet
I wonder how many lawnmovers were junked cause of a cracked priming bulb?
pods
funny you mention mowers lmao weed wackers and best of all lawn tractors I say best of all with the lawn tractors is because those shitty safety switches go bad and the fuckers wont start and as usuall the owners hate paying repair services (which most times they get gouged for) $5 for a pressure switch and zoom off ya go always looking for lawn tractors 99.9 % is a cheap fix under $50 and sell em for $200 easy money ...if ya beat the junk man to em that is
oh, this a bit interesting
EIA today ... oil sheiks will be a slumming ...
EIA estimates that members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), excluding Iran, will earn about $700 billion in revenue from net oil exports in 2014, a 14% decrease from 2013 earnings and the lowest earnings for the group since 2010.
...
For similar reasons, revenues for OPEC (excluding Iran) in 2015 are expected to fall further, to $446 billion, 46% below the 2013 level. Brent crude oil is projected to average $68 per barrel in 2015, down from $100 per barrel in 2014 and $109 per barrel in 2013.
http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=19231
The problem is that Wall Street owns the corporations. Money extraction from the hoi polloi is the new corporate strategy. I helped two small companies through IPOs. The first act of the new "owners" was to extract all of the cash from the business. Then they fired a bunch of high-paid, but critical people. The next step was to lower the quality of the product and raise the price. Finally, they sold off most of the assets. All of this while pushing the stock price higher. Within a year, the original investors were nowhere to be found and both companies were a shell of their former selves.
My experience is that you buy Korean appliances like LG since they're actually manufactured outside of China. Washer, dryer, dishwasher have all worked perfect with no repairs for almost 10 years. My only "US" appliance (made in China), a top of the line "gold" refer, requires a new ice maker each year and a new compressor relay every 2 years. The advantage is that I do my own repairs.
I'm with you on this. Korea is the new Japan as far as quality, especially electronics, appliances, and autos. I own some of each.
I had two LG dehumidifiers crap out in under two years. The second one was one month out of warranty. I used to believe in Korean quality until that happened. And their customer service was awful. Their electronics are good...but I'd steer clear of anything with a compressor.
I have a 20 year old top-loading Maytag washer and matched dryer. The last of the old school, made in USA to last. I will spend whatever it takes to keep them running. FUCK this energy-efficient, saves-water-but-does-not-clean, breaks-in-a-year China-green SHIT.
And next, I am going to rip out the low-flow turlets and put in retro 4 gallon jobs. And FUCK Al Gore that fat fuck.
hell yeah, well said. this fukn water saver commodes use 50% less water but you have to flush them twice. Meantime the mall has half their landscape water sprinklers spewing water all over the streets at night. totally fucked. dont get me started on side loading appliances, they suck so bad
Many of the front loader washing machines are full of mold. The clothes actually stunk. So you call up and describe the problem and they pretend they've never heard of it and it's your fault.
The trick is to tell them you are getting sick. We did this and Whirlpool said they would send someone to check it in a certain time window and the guy called after the time window. He said he'd never heard of the problem either and would have to charge me 100 dollars to throw in a cleaning pellet but he was all out of them due to the problem he'd never heard of. I told him to get fucked, then Whirpoll sent two guys over and took it away and gave me my money back.
The dumb thing is supposed to save water but then you have to wash the fucking thing out all the time, which wastes more water. duh!
I found out a monthly maintenance wash cycle using good old white vinegar eliminates all smell and mold.
facepalm....how about dont close the door as soon as you remove the clothes
+1 zillion everything about this post
Like everything else in this banana republic, we're living the financialization of transactional consumption. This is where we subdivide every component process and function into an independently managed arrangement, and seek the profit maximizing method of extortion to integrate into the end-user's decision-making.
It's completely unsustainable. Yet every parasite needs a good host, so the creativity applied to these rackets becomes unimagineably complex.
Everyone wants to put their hand in your pocket -- and the only way to fight back is to refuse to do business on their terms. There is always another good alternative. You just have to be totally uncompromising in your expectations.
Yeah. You have it right.
...
" i am way, way, ahead not buying extended warranties on anything, including vehicles. grow some ballz people."
I agree. For a number of years now when I am buying an appliance and the sales person hits me for an extended warranty I tell him: "If this product is so unreliable for me to 'need' an extended warranty, then I'm not going to buy it" and I start to leave. It's fun to watch them panic.
Over time we have had excellent results buying Sears appliances - Kenmore - (Whirlpool) but the store closest to us has just closed.
I bought my Elantra with a 100k warranty on the drivetrain. In the dealership, they tried to sell me the BS extended insurance on everything else- with a deductible. When I refused, the salesman said I can't believe you aren't buying this- 93% of customers do. I looked at him and said calmly, I am saddened that 93% of people are fucking morons. He looked at me for a second (realizing that I did not possess the everyone else is doing it so it must be right mentality) and realized he did not want to continue this line of questioning as we closed the deal.
"(Recall that not too long ago in America, any major appliance was expected to last a few decades, not a few years.)"
I purchased a new GE washer and a new GE dryer in 1995. Both are still in good working order. Neither machine has required any repairs.
It happens. I try to do laundry more than twice a year. My closets are small.
"If we had to summarize what's wrong with Corporate America and the entire U.S. economy, we can start with all the intermediaries between the provider and the customer."
Scumbag non producers. Leachfucks.
We skimmed some folks.
Everything wrong with the US Economy can be traced directly to the criminals at the Federal Reserve Corporation and their global ziomafia.
What the ever-so-smart MBAs at Big Box Retailer forgot (the guys that truly have no job skills whatsoever) is that the average consumer is finding it increasingly better to find something used off their local Craigslist, repair it using YouTube and some internet parts and avoid the whole process altogether for the same price as the wholesale price minus the FOB.
At this stage you are merely paying for convenience not quality.
In time the Chinese will be the Big Box Retailer having taken control of their distribution system and they will cut out the MBA middleman.
As always retail is for suckers.
All items are now disposable. It is easier to just buy something new than to fuck with it ad nauseum. And fuck GE. Buy S Korean products. Anything made in China is shit.
debt money is the disease......
planned obsolescence is just a symptom
Why can't we just summarize the problem as
"it's a crony police state with separate laws for the rich and the poor, and with a political class bought and paid for by the financial sector, who repeatedly enact legislation that benefits the extremely wealthy at the expense of the poor and undereductated, who are placated and pacified with cheap trinkets, and when necessary stomped on by the boot of authority"?
It's shorter and more to the point, and avoids the distraction of meaningless discussions about minutiae.
I nominate Al for Prez
I like you Al.
Funny, I've just went thru purchasing a new dishwasher from HD and Charles observations are spot on. Nobody at HD cared about me after I placed the order. Delivery company was just plain rude. They brought a damaged appliance and when I pointed that out they said that the replacement may come in three weeks! Manager at local HD store either was not willing to help or could not help. Returned damaged diwshwasher to HD and went elsewhere. A couple days later the delivery company came to pick the damaged appliance. Subcontracting in action. Funny thing, the day before the delivery company called to schedule the pick up and my wife explained that we've already returned it to HD. I said: "Watch, the truck will come tomorrow anyway because this company is completely disfunctional". I was right.
This Johnny-in-the-middle-with-his-hand-out crap is worse in housing. The amount of realitor and lawyer fees that are being financed over 25 years is astounding!
I totally agree about real estate agents -- they are not only worthless, but often the reason why I need a lawyer to manage my transactions. As soon as we rid the earth of the banking class and their demon-spawn offspring (the politicians), we'll need to toss the realtors into the dung heap of history as well.
You left out Insurance Agents!
It's been quite a while since I bought anything at a Big Box, other than Target (and that only for cat food and litter). I just can't find what I want at those places, and my wants are pretty reasonable. 8 different colors of the same item I don't want is not variety, despite what Merchandizers seem to think.
I do far better going to the locally-owned hardware store, grocery, clothing stores, shoe stores, appliance stores, computer store, etc. I use local, owner-operated service shops for cars, small engines, computer repair, home maintenance, etc. I do have to pay a bit of a premium on some items; often 5%-10%. The difference is that over time, they know who I am. Their kids go to school with my kids. They recognize me when I darken their door. They'll answer my questions and tell me the truth because they know I'll be back for good or ill, and they'll see me at the school Open House night. When they screw up a service call, I tell them I'll call them back next time so they'll have the opportunity to make it up to me, and they do.
It's far from impossible to get away from the Big Box, Wall-Street owned economy for most things. Use your neighbors, Craig's List, and the recommendations of local merchants, and tell everyone who referred you to them.
There's a whole lot more with corporate finance capitalism than just CHS' illustration, but it's not a bad place to start. This is what the consumer sees.
Oh, and those self-serve checkouts at the grocery and other places? I never use 'em, and when waved over to them by employees, I say, loudly, "I don't use those. They take jobs away from Americans." That usually creates a nice silence.
The first mistake by the consumer was trying to "buy" something these days. That is not where they want you. They want you on a payment, forever. A payment for each thing you use every day, all to different companies, soon to be the same company.
You're right.
Whenever I try to purchase software, magazines, vitamins or practically anything over the internet you get roped into an automatic renewal scam. They all want an "income stream" which puts their hand in your pocket or bank account. They all claim that you can easily opt-out after you have purchased.
This is pure bullshit and really pisses me off, and I refuse to go along.
When I e-mail them about my complaint, I never get a response- so I don't buy their shit.
This article is complete BS.
I buy many appliances because of my business and my experience does not match the whiner's.
Typically I order appliances on line, decline any and all "have to pay warranties" and the appliances are reliable and last, at least, 7 years. Lowes won't charge for deilvery and installation plus I get a 5% discount for having a Business Credit Card.
I've found out that clothes dryers are "disposable". When they fail just have them replaced. Fixing them ends up costing more than new ones.
The real corporate problem is when corporations utilize the power of the Government to enrich themselves.
The poster child for this "corporate misbehaviour" is the banking "industry". Basically, a monopoly that creates fradulent fiat money at will usning us taxpayers as collateral.
The runner up poster child is General Electric and their "green windmills" scam. Basically kinetic statues celebrating Liberal madness. Sort of like the Moais in Easter Island.
I am so sick of this Bu.l Sh.t!
A disposable society is good for profits and bad for the citizens.
This is why we have been turned into a throw away society.
This even extends to homes. Homes used to be built to last generations and appreciate in value over the time ie "a brick house".
Most of the so called "homes" today are more like trailers. Ie a depreciating asset like a sofa. By the time you pay for it, it will be spent.
As having been in the housing trades for 20+ years I agree these stick built peices of shit are just that ...the funniest ones are the the ones that are covered with man made stone or sliced bricks cemented to the fucking plywood shell talk about lipstick on a fucking pig ...craftsmanship and pride are dead in murika has been for 50 years
They don't use plywood anymore- too strong and too expensive- they use Orinted Strand Board (OSB)- soft wood chips pressed together with glue (resin). Press on one of these panels one the side of your house and it will push-in an inch. No strength, makes it easy for thieves and govt goons to break in!
Frustrate the customer at every turn, until he or she gives up.
Great business model!
that "model" is set in stone the customer does'nt even bother 90% of the time anymore thus as said all over here "the throw away society" runs rampid
Yeah, from my personal experience, the so-called "extended warranties" are never any good.
They make the process so cumbersome, time consuming, and frustrating, even if you CAN collect, it isn't worth the hassle. I RARELY ever get one.
There is no such thing as a "durable good" anymore. Everything now is essentially disposable. Everything from TVs to appliances we have bought over the past decade; we're lucky to get 5 years of use out of one before it fucks up. When I was a kid, a refrigerator, kitchen stove, or TV would usually last for YEARS, or until you literally got tired of using it, and wanted a newer one.
Oligarchy
Crony Capitalism
Crony Capitalism = FACISM
This is the result of the sell-out of the worker, middle-class and the union.
Corp America owns the politicians and told them to give a totalitarian regime China without no environmental protection, workers rights, or pension preferred trade status (1990). CorpUSA exported all the manufacturing to this exploitative regime. USAmiddleclass gutted, unions busted, pensions gone and no more MadeUSA and no more pride and professionalism.
Gitted middleclass in poverty mode as good jobs exported forced to buy madeinCrap products. Outsource everything:
service
pride
professionalism
quality
loyalty.
USA doesn't have a democracy. It is a party-ruled corp owned facade.
All politicians should have to run as independants.
Bought a panasonic plasma screen tv from sears years ago. No extended warranty but the in store warranty was two years. Went on the fritz after a year. After 10 visits from repair men and problem not being solved I was authrized a voucher to purchase a new television. Got a samsung that functioned well but this year went on the fritz. Diagnosed the problem and repaired a few components on the power supply that cost less than $10 . Repair person wanted $300.00 . The shift in quality of what are supposed to be durable goods is terrible. Everything is made in china and the quality sucks. Its always cheaper to buy a new item rather than repair the old one. This country has really screwed itself.
What's really funny is how "Made in China" seems to automatically translate into "crap".
You see, the Chinese will make products accordingly to their customer's specificiations, and if the customer's top-priority is price-point, so-be-it: if the customer wants crap, we'll give them crap.
Problem is not with the Chinks-- it's with their customers (the middlemen, not USA consumers).
The real problem with corporations today is that they are somewhat freed from government taxation, because the people themselves have allowed themselves and their rights to become subject to that taxation in place of businesses and commerce. The founders of this country and of every state tied business and commerce to the funding of government together so tightly that the failing of business and commercial activity meant the doom of government finanaces. If government over regulated, businesses would suffer and so would the government coffers. The people in contrast have inalienable rights, including the inalienable right to property. When we allow government to tax our inalienable rights, then we have nothing. No property, no family and no rights. As it is today government has the seeminly unlimited ability to tax the people, and when businesses suffer, it has no real consequences upon government as it was originally intended.
Silly me, I thought it was pole smokers, womynz, femynz, feemen and all those other assorted Section-8 diversity required hires that sank all of America, not just the corporate part.
Nonsense, any knowledgeable consumer knows, as Consumer Reports and talk radio hosts recommend, you never get the extended warranty because the quality of most appliance are so good. They either fail immediately or last a good long time. If they fail immediately then they are under manufacturers warranty.
This is why I got into restoring good old stuff. Quality does matter.
From an energy/water usage point of view, there is no good old stuff when talking about large appliances in the US.
F*nk the appliance example? How about the gigantic swindle of "retirement products" pushed by intermidiaries between Wall st and Main Street?
The smiling chit chatty let's talk about your kid's piano recital Ed Jones "financial advisor" is more than willing to sell you some shitty A shares because his, the mutual fund companies, and their army of wholesalers...their goal in business is to suck the life out of your account like a fucking mosquito..!
It's tough being a consumer.
What goes along with all of this too, don't forget is the data they collect on your behavior. Every frigging east bank is setting up "labs" for e-commerce in the Silicon Valley, they all want to make a case and a buck with your data. Need to license all data sellers so we know they are.
http://www.youcaring.com/other/help-preserve-our-privacy-/258776
I hope it's not too much longer before the doors blow off on all of this, why we don't do many manufacturing anymore in the US, hire a few geeks, and analyze and sell that data, who cares about the dignity of consumers, banks and companies could care less.
See what CVS is doing...huge and they already make between 1-2 billion a year selling data and they want more. Pay cash for prescriptions.
http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/11/cvs-to-open-new-e-commerce-technology.html
Again if consumers only knew all the tracking that goes on when you fill a prescription anymore. IMS, the big medical data seller assigns a number and they have 85% of the world's prescrptions on record, and they do their thing and analyze and sell all kinds of data from they collect. I hate this danm FICO medication aherence scoring they do too and Express Scripts and all the others do this stuff with taking web data on your and combining it with your FICO credit score to see if you will take your meds like a good patient.
Of course, don't expect good data as when it comes from data brokers, it's flawed as hell. This is what keeps inequality growing in the US as all these companies want to know all about your behavior when you buy a product and the ROI in short time I think will kill some of this too, as it won't be there.
http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/06/data-selling-and-direct-correlation-to.html
By the way, if anyone here is in advertising or marketing, kill yourself. Thank you. Just a little thought. I'm just trying to plant seeds. Maybe one day they'll take root, I don't know. You try, you do what you can. Kill yourself.
Seriously though, if you are, do. No, really. There's no rationalization for what you do, and you are Satan's little helpers, okay? Kill yourself, seriously. You're the ruiner of all things good, seriously. No, I'm--this is not a joke. He's going, 'There's gonna be a joke coming--'; there's no fucking joke coming. You are Satan's spawn, filling the world with violent garbage. You are fucked and fucking us, kill yourself. It's the only way to save your fucking soul. Kill yourself. Planting seeds.
I know all the marketing people are going, 'He's doing a joke--'; there's no joke here whatsoever. Suck a tailpipe, fucking hang yourself, borrow a gun from a Yank friend--I don't care how you do it. Rid the world of your evil fucking machinations.
Boy the story I could tell, but suffice to say, the same day as purchasing the new washer I had to raised holly hell at the store so vigorously that other customers were walking out.
The machine, front loader, was throwing itself off the pedestal.
To long a story, but after bringing machine after machine out they finally opened up one and found out the shock absorbers supporting the drum weren't in place
I assume all the rest were the same
Do you know they add a 2-1/2" thick concrete block in the bottom to try to hold these front loaders down?
Worlds gone to crap.
I have to wonder what brand CHS was buying.
Big appliances are still made either in Mexico for "US" firms or in South Korea.
If you are handy, search the internet for exploded views, problem descriptions, and OEM part sellers (plug: I had great experiences with appliancepartspros.com )
If you are not handy, and don't know people that can fix things for a reasonable charge, don't buy in a big box chain store but find a local store that has existed for a bit longer and also offers repairs: buy there for a reasonable surcharge.
What is wrong with Corporate America and the Economy?
RENTS!
Health Care: Japan is ½ the cost of U.S. and Germany is 1/3 when normalized to the dollar. The U.S. health care sector is taking rents of at least 50% considering that Japan has waste.
Corporate Rents: Especially Rents that show up as prices in money. Usury on money and improper channeling, especially credit type money that causes bubbles and asset push. Money system being unscientific is about 40-50% take on labor. Money is not a “veil” it is manipulated and takes rents which forms oligarchy.
Oligarchy: Rent seeking through monopoly actions, outsourcing for wage arbitrage, hiding profits off shore, sheltering income from various schemes. The working class is supporting the wealthy through rentier transfers in a reverse welfare scheme (usually costs are buried in prices). The working middle class is also supporting the poor through regressive taxes.
All together rentier losses are astounding, probably more than 50% of the economy. Nobody can run fast on one leg. Eliminate parasitisim and watch the American economy deliver goods and service efficiently, and watch prices drop, and watch labor have their output cycle back to them without a hidden hand stealing.