I've studied Economics in school. I understand supply and demand. Being a business owner (independent artist), I also understand the struggles for new businesses in this country. Inflation has a strong grip on our country right now. It is felt by everyone. The right likes to blame Biden for inflation which is furthest from the truth. Inflation today is a direct effect of the money poured into the enconomy for 5 years to keep our country from collapsing during the pandemic. Both business and individuals were given large amounts of money to stay afloat, this increased demand exponentially which is the reason so many shelves were empty during this time. Another impact, dare I say this, is the attitude of businesses and individuals during the Trump era. Because there was so much emphasis on relaxing government regulations as well as back-peddling on issues such as anti-discrimination, focus on "religious persection", and the distortion of facts and truth, it carried into business. For the first time in a long time, people are so polarized, that we are at each others throats. Businesses are the same way.
Businesses are playing trench warfare. Artificial Intelligence has given businesses an excuse to not directly serve customers. Instead of putting focus on service, new customers, and brand loyalty, businesses do not seem to care about their customers and instead are cutting costs, going dark, and pumping up their upselling tactics to a point of harrasment. Going dark is “not providing a way for customers to simply talk to a person. Ask yourself this, have you noticed the shift in reduction of service in businesses today. Prices go up, service has hit rock bottom. I've witnessed this myself with clothes shopping. I walk into a store and either nobody is there to help or they will flat out ignore you, even after asking for assistance. In one case, I asked a store employee where I could find a nice overcoat. He looked at me as if I was interrupting his work and said, "if we have any, it will be over there" as he points. What??? I finally got to the checkout, and had to ask for one of the staff to help me pay. They were chatting it up among themselves and could care less that I was there to pay.
The big giants such as Microsoft, Google, major banks, or any corporation that has gotten so enormous that their position in society is unshakable by competition, are the worst offenders. Search results on the Internet are now garbage. There are so many sponsored results, how do you even know where the organic ones start? Results in general are horrible. Trying to find an answer to a technical question will result in outdated documentation, paid for spots, or deceptively indexed spam or ad-pushing sites. Again this is profit motive over user experience. We have had biometrics for 25 years now, but it is slightly expensive for the vendor. 2-factor authentication, which drives me bananas, is now the preferred option for vendor, but “not the customer!”.
With Wells Fargo and others, they have eliminated so many local branches that I have to drive 25 minutes to get to one. Even at that, I now have to make an appointment to do anything beyond making a withdrawal or deposit. I had to drive 25 miles just to set the pin on a new card. They have completely done away with drive-through windows. They claim they are putting focus on self-serve, but in reality they are cutting costs, eliminating convenience and customer service. You cannot even call to reach an in person teller. The only option to reach a person is to file a complaint, which is mandated by the Federal Reserve, otherwise I'm sure they would eliminate that. I recently made a deposit of $1000 dollars in cash. I had 10 $100 bills I inserted in the ATM. They shorted me $100. I spent hours calling in to report, even had one of my staff as a witness. Nope, Wells refused my request. They continue to shut down my card without warning. Being a artist, I travel all the time. Use my card in a new city.. shut down, or deny any payments. I do appreciate that they have concerns about fraud, but can I please at least have a say before your dysfunctional A.I. leaves me in a bind?
The medical industry is completely dysfunctional. I have a mother in Mississipi who lives alone. She will call me crying about how a doctor insulted her for her lack of hearing, or he simply acted as if she was an inconvenience. I take medication for post-tramatic stress. When I go to pick up a med, one of a few things happens. There is a ridiculously long line, the pharmacy has screwed up my order, including not reading the instructions I gave, or they are out.
Internet services are really jacked. It is fraught with fradulent business practices, online ads have become extremely agressive, or they simply use unfair business practices such as automatically adding things I did not purchase to my virtual shopping cart. How is this allowed? Online ads are just deceptive. How many times have you gone to a site to buy something and you see literally 20 buttons that say "purchase" or "click here to continue". How can I visit a site on the internet, have it bombard me with ads on Facebook, and even on my phone? I post my videos to Youtube, I use Youtube all the time, looking for inspiration, clips, ideas, or song samples. 2 to 3 ads I have to wait for, just to get a glimpse of whether or not I am interested in the video. And now Google will interrupt the video in the middle to show an ad. I have worked in the software industry. One contributing factor to Internet dysfunction is Agile. It has virtually eliminated the convenience of documentation for end users, and has allowed for rapid fire updates to software, which are beneficial only if tested properly. But in this new era, its not happening. Online software has gone to shit. Companies have shifted back to off-shoring like they did in the early 2000's. The result is lack of quality. I do not intend to knock on other cultures, but its explotation at best by companies in this country. One thing that really gets under my skin, is having to find a contact option. Phone numbers are hidden away from users. When you finally find a way to contact a person, you get a barage of messages trying to steer you to online options. You are lucky to even get to talk to a person. Chat bots are just not helpful or they do not provide solutions in any way. Get a person on chat, with a disguised American name, and they will simply paste a link and end the chat right away. Grrr!
Companies are simply digging in their heals and “be damned” the customer. There is no incentive for competition. Corporations, and even these new "Holding Companies", which I think should be illegal, will own all the competitors. What is their motivation to compete? Competition increases service and lowers prices. It is a fundamental law of economics. That simply does not exist today. This is an clear example of corporations untethered by an guard rails, a clear position of Republican policy. Starting a business has so many artificial barriers that you litterally have to have millions of dollars to even start. One example, self-employment health insurance. I went a full year with an insurance policy that cost me $2200 per month, just for myself. That is insane. I did not qualify for company insurance because I did not have a minimum of 5 employees. That is an “artificial barrier” designed to keep the market entry difficult enough to stifle competition. Tell me how that is fair.
Another example of how I was screwed as a small business. I've had at one time, a business solely run by interns. 2-3 paid, the others were unpaid. I started the business because I had worked with and make friendships with many immigrants from India. Families that had come here where the man had a work Visa and the rest of the family, including the wife, were not allowed to legally earn money, until they could get a work Visa. They were begging me to allow them to get involved in my business just to get enough experience to get their Visas. I opened up an opportunity for them to land jobs at American Express, Wells Fargo, Petsmart, Honeywell, etc. I ran ads with Zip Recruiter to find new interns and made very clear that the internship was unpaid. Zip Recruiter shut me down, even locked out my account. I contacted them and rattled off dozens of companies, in Phoenix alone, that had similar ads, all with “unpaid” internships. This was an exercise in futility. The laws on this are very fuzzy, but designed to benefit those companies that have big names and shutter those that are small.
Two events happened in Arizona that I looked into, legalization of Marijuana and sports betting. I did serious research on these just to see how I could get involved in these emerging market opportunities. $5-10 million minimum investment, dictated by the state nonetheless, to cash in. A clear example of a system designed to make rich richer!
On top of that, the general attitude of people is just bad. Nobody trusts anyone else. Racism has come to the forefront and been marked as okay. And lying has become a tool. I've had companies that I have called out for lying to me just to get me out of their site. This may be my own personal opinion, but I will say with confidence, this is all attributable to the MAGA era. Trump has made it "okay" to be an asshole and not respect others.
Please tell me your thoughts!
