That’s the end result of a capitalist system once corporations have superseded governments in power. It will only get worse.

You load 16 tons, what do you get?

Another day older and deeper in debt

St. Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go

I owe my soul to the company store

Because stocks kept trading at higher and higher P/E ratios essentially saying "the market thinks this company can make much more money in the future than they are making now."

The problem is, most companies couldn't, and as we have hit a recessionary phase those companies are now scrambling to try to show continued growth justifying their price.

The way they do that is by cutting off their limbs and selling them for short term cash at long term consequence.

So you see them cutting costs in all kinds of ways that screw over their customers but can show quarterly profits. Even though it means customers may not stay customers if better options appear.

So we are in this sort of pendulum swing period where large corporations suck because there's effectively no competition that doesn't and sucking is the last way for them to squeeze water from a stone. The natural solution is that we'd see competition rise up that doesn't suck to take their customers away and force pro-customer changes.

This likely will eventually happen, but it's going to take time. There are emerging tech trends that will accelerate it, but are still a few years away from practically changing the equation.

In about a decade things should suck less, and a number of the crappy companies around right now may no longer be around, but in the meantime it's still going to suck for a while yet as things adjust to the dying of the old guard and birth of the new.

Unregulated capitalism.

We've let our companies grow too large, giving them the ability to put the screws on us. Also competition isn't really happening in many fields, as ask the companies are owned by pretty much the same people.

because somehow our economic system says that a company is only successful if it's growing, not if it's regularly turning a profit every quarter. at least, that's my understanding of it. so, they have to do something to generate something that looks like growth somehow

It's pretty simple. Because we are all so spoiled and entitled that we won't even consider NOT buying their shit anymore. It's the same reason the video game market has grown rampant with micro transactions. They keep pushing the boundaries, and we keep giving them our money regardless of what they do. I'm actually curious to see how far they can push this insanity. They already slap a new year on sports titles every year and somehow sell the same game to the same people annually.

PUT YOUR WALLET DOWN.

I assume because some fucking ghoul noticed people liked taking them for their cars so now we just don't get napkins!

They were probably just out and too busy to restock or something. It happens. Never been to a fast food place where they don't provide napkins and I steal napkins from the taco bell I live near regularly. What a weird overreaction.

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.

So don't shop there! They'll do the bare minimum that still brings people in; the only remedy is to show them they'll lose customers.

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.

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

Do you really have to ask? Capitalism, when it goes unchecked, turns everything shitty. Capitalism has been relatively unchecked in the US for the last 50 years, so everything is shitty. That’s starting to change as unions become more powerful again, but they’re still a fraction of what they were in the early 20th century. Late stage capitalism, baby!

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.

Taco bell has switched their demographic from dining in, to take out and drive thru. Started with the pandemic, that's why most stuff that used to be readily available isn't put out anymore. All the taco bells in my area did this, same with several other fast food chains.

Why I don't eat out as much is because of the shrinkflation. Back in the mid 90's you used to be able to get a whopper for a dollar. Now they're pushing $6 and they just aren't the same anymore. More if you get a meal.

It’s the enshittification of the entire country.

We're in a modern gilded age. There are no consequences for modern day robber barons.

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.

Did you ask if they had some napkins? Yes we are living in a post capitalist nightmare but honestly, seems more likely the wage slave in charge of putting out the napkins either hadn’t had a chance to do so or forgot.

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!?

Capitalism is the answer. Greed, unchecked profits.

Republicans. They have blockaded any possible reform.

Yep.

Corporations have a fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders. They have to make money. And how much money do they have to earn? MORE.

To grow, they offer good food at a reasonable price. It seems cheaper to put the drink machine out for customers to make their own drinks choices… but then we need those extra pennies, so behind the counter it goes, so customers don’t get free refills… then how can we source cheaper stuff, beef beans etc. there will be c constant demand to squeeze every penny from the system… Bob is making too much; better fsck his schedule until he quits so we can hire Alice as she make only minimum wage.

I’m not sure where napkins fall in the chain but yes the quality likely will continue to spiral down.

There are very few companies who recognize that there is a quality floor they should not go below. Where they acknowledge that we can’t get any worse, but they have to raise prices. And depending on the managers this cycle will continue back and forth

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).

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.

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