Yes, consumers feel entitled to free shipping... and always low prices, high wages, and great benefits. Then we scratch our heads and wonder why so many jobs have left our shores.

Mr. Van Schalk --

Well ... while the shortcomings of the American worker are legion, once "free" trade (driven by virtually free labor) became, by law, the rule of the New World Order, those jobs were leaving American shores unless Americans agreed to work for Chinese, Mexican, or Indian-level wages.

You can debate all day and night (without arriving at any conclusive, provable opinion) whether the American worker brought this on himself; whether the labor union-inspired American drive for better living, working, and safety conditions and a larger slice of the profit pie were misguided or not; and whether Capital will always screw Labor in the absence of governmental protection.

But arguing that consumers, in what is becoming a buyer's market, should not press their advantage via any avenue open to them (in this case: free shipping), is to argue against the entire law of supply and demand: You may be right, but you will not prevail.

Particularly at a moment when corporations of all stripes, as well as Wall Street, are pushing the modern corruption of Adam Smith's brainchild to its inevitable, insane pursuit-of-self-interest-to-the-exclusion-of-all-else extreme, grousing that the consumer ought not to do the same is to load the dice in favor of one side at the expense of the other.

History teaches that any "ism" (be it political, economic, religious, or otherwise) not watched like a hawk will over time become simply a fairy tale told to lull the li'l chilluns to sleep while the Big 'Uns raid the community Cookie Jar.

Our own particular set of "isms" is off the rails, compadre. In a world where devil-take-the-hindmost is the ruling philosophy; where the so-called "survival of the fittest" is not something humans must strive to rise above, but an handy excuse for robbery; where the playing field is increasingly slanted towards "them as already has", he who does not drill the system for every single scrap of advantage available is, but the rules of that same system, a fool.

And the consumer is in the weakest position of all to be the first to give up any such advantage for the sake of putting things back to rights.

This country, Mr. Van Schalk, the whole country and each of its components, badly needs a bath (if you will allow the metaphor). And, alas, it is being currently driven by its very nature to seek that bath in the form of of a severe system melt-down.

Fire is cleansing, if unpleasant; and so is a Depression.

Well, clikdawg, I'm all for the American consumer, being one myself, and I admit I left out a bit from my previous post. I should have added ... while corporations demand the highest possible profits... after the part about great benefits. I wasn't trying to make a judgement. I just think it is a reality that we lost a lot of jobs because the consumers do deserve high wages and great benefits and businesses do deserve high profits so we can keep justifying higher stock prices in our 401k's. And we do deserve clean air and clean water... And we all do deserve medical care... And we all do deserve paid vacations. And we all do deserve... the list could go on and on. But sooner or later the system snaps. The changes have been a long time coming and, yes, they are unpleasant for many but I think they were inevitable in a world consisting of some countries enjoying a high standard of living and many other countries wanting the same standard of living for their citizens. I'm not a fan of globalization but it's the reality we have to deal with and I think it's naive to think we can go back. Unfortunately wages in a globalized world are a lot like water: They will tend to be the same level. I don't like it any more than you, I simply think it is the reality of the modern world.

Pete --

"Deserve's got nothin' to do with it."

-- Billy Munny (Clint Eastwood) in "Unforgiven"

It has everything to do with our situation... unless, perhaps, you actually dwell in a movie.