Economy that feel mass-produced and empty?

[Jawhead999]

People don't care about the process, if they see the result is good enough like human made, they will choose the shortcut as long as they can save cost and time.

For now there are many foods are mass produced by machine, which they produce sausage, canned food, snacks etc. We can easily know what food is mass produced and what food doesn't. However, there have been few restaurant are using robot to cook for them, which mean if we eat in that restaurant, we're eat mass produced food, not cooked by human.

[Fortify]

There is a feeling that I keep seeing and I want to know if it is just me or if other people are feeling it too. Difficult to describe but I will try. Many things in daily life seem now to have been made by a system rather than a person. Food that looks the same everywhere. Content online that seems generated and hollow. Products are cheap but fast breaks. Efficient but cold services, Everything optimized to get faster, cheaper, but sometime along the way it did lose something that was human.

I believe this associates to how people are feeling about the economy right now. Prices increase but quality decreases. You pay more but you feel you get less for it. And it is not just about money. It is about the value in the deeper sense of the word. When you are working hard and spending your money on something, you want it to feel real. You want to feel like your money purchased something where there is some care behind it. But more and more, things seem to be empty. Like you are just a number passing through a system meant to squeeze out of you as efficiently as possible.

This is the height of capitalism and it has allowed more people to get access to products at a cheaper price than ever before. You can still track down quality items but we are so used to this mass produced stuff that it can be a shock when you have to pay up for quality. We have more choices than ever before, but if you only buy cheap stuff all the time you think that's the only option that exists any more - it's not. There are definitely some monopolies out there which really need breaking, but that's probably a different story.

[el kaka22]

We are all statistics, is a good reason to hate the system we live. This is why some people go to arts route, because they want to be immortals. Write a book so good that, even after you die, everyone keeps talking about it, so you do not become a statistic.

You still know who Daniel Defoe, dude wrote Robinson Crusoe literally 300 years ago, and we still know him, there were even movies made about it, hell the whole "lost" tv show was derivative of it and was a big one. So believe me, we are talking about a system that makes people want to go that route. Only downside is, there is no guarantee that you will be that good, you will probably be another number and no everyone will know who you are, so that risk, and the impending starvation due to being bad and not making money, is the reason why many people don't do it.

[Mhizlove]

The scale of modern life forces everything to be generic, coupled with technological interventions that uniformize it. I mean, all the information we call "today's trends" directs us toward one thing for a moment. Algorithms indirectly control us to make today's productivity as quickly as possible because it will be obsolete tomorrow morning.

You're not the only one experiencing this; I find that food, entertainment, and accessories vary daily, but somehow they feel identical and quickly become boring.

Honestly, what you said it's true. The modern life has indeed makes everything looks same. It's what's trending that will determine what we like for today and later changes tomorrow.

Even things we think are changing like food, clothes, movies still feels same and it will later become boring at the end, this lacks human touch.

You're not only the one feeling it, rather the world has turned so fast that things are changing in a twinkle of an eye, there is no where you will go you will not see something that's same, the repeating of a product is too much
We just yein for a little realness that will make life much better and sweet.

[yhiaali3]

Yes, I've experienced the same feeling and I still do. I don't know if there's a system actually controlling our lives and consumption, but it certainly exists, whether by design or mere coincidence.

On one hand, the government controls our lives, and on the other hand, there's what we might call consumer culture, which has also come to control our lives. I mean the sheer volume of these trivial things we've become addicted to because of modern culture, even though we don't really need them.

The result is that money keeps circulating in the same vicious cycle. They take back what they give you one way or another, as the saying goes, "They give with one hand and take with the other!"

[Odogwu-Blockchain]

The result is that money keeps circulating in the same vicious cycle. They take back what they give you one way or another, as the saying goes, "They give with one hand and take with the other!"

Yes, the government is good at this trick, that's why you could see a government owned shopping plaza as well as a large supermarket near the bank. You withdraw your funds from the bank and send back to the government by buying products off the supermarket while sending it back to the government.

They don't spare you at all, you actually a tool for milking more money from yourself back to them.

[doomloop]

Consistency is definitely cheaper. By logic let me explain this, why do you think McDonalds is cheaper than a luxury restaurant? You think the only reason is because of the cut of the meat? Or the quality of the ingredients? I can tell you, if you give a Michelin star chef the same exact ingredients in a McDonalds kitchen, they will make something a lot more Avangarde and expensive, with literally same things.

However, the reason why it's so cheap at one place and others are expensive is the consistency, you make 1000 same burgers a day, instead of 4 very high quality one, and that is why you end up with cheaper result. Mass production makes things cheaper, shirts, drinks, meals, everything in your life, if it wasn't mass produced and soulless, then it would be more expensive.

[Ucy]

Well, that's part of the characteristics of the matrix (world'system).  It's made by people who care more about self than others, or people who may not realize that their products are really bad because they're blind

They want to be rich, pay their bills, take care of their needs and survive, So they become more interested in money than people. If you care more about people you'll likely not make much money because good things are not as attractive and would probably cost more to make.
They have to look for ways, which are usually bad, to make enough money. These ways are what typically take away the care, concern or love for humans . That's what you see around you — the lack of care, empathy, love etc. Ofcourse, it makes the more aware consumers/buyers feel worthless or merely another numbers passing by.
The humans of the system also develop things that mimic care or love,  you may know it's just a fake care because it seems to keep uttering thesame thing or behaving thesame ways due to the money you spent and to encourage more patronage or more spending,

A good alternative will be a system that cares more about people and less about selfish money.  It's developed to help keep people protected from bad products, evil, etc, and opened up for everyone to be part of, with strong transparency for verifications and reviewers of products for issues before they are allowed for public use. This method has real care and love built into it. And will make members feel loved and cared for, plus have strong sense of belonging which is typically lacking in a selfish system.

[slapper]

~

I love the clarity of your description of the problem. And yes, we are often just data points as opposed to people. That part is difficult to argue with.

You make this something that happened to us. Globalization did this. Algorithms did that. Systems turned men into traffic. And while that is true to some extent, I believe we chose this too. Not consciously not all at once but through the small decisions of a thousand. We chose the cheaper product. We chose the faster delivery. And we decided to take what is free and contained ads rather than to pay for something made with care. We chose convenience over connection, again and again, till convenience is the only thing on offer.

I am not blaming individuals. That with which you select the easy and make the alternatives hard. But, I think if we only blame the system, we are losing something important. We lose sight of the fact that we can choose differently now. That our small choices still matter That opting out, even in tiny ways, is not in vain.

You want to feel like your money purchased something where there is some care behind it. But more and more, things seem to be empty. Like you are just a number passing through a system meant to squeeze out of you as efficiently as possible.

~
 

I wonder if it is a cycle. When people are squeezed by the economy, they look out for themselves first. The underpaid teacher gives up on putting in his or her best effort. The worker who feels replaceable loses interest in quality. The struggling business owner cuts corners in order to survive. Everyone is trying just to get through. And the upshot is that we all get less from each other, even though we pay more. So maybe it is not just that people are selfish. Maybe the system creates some conditions where selfishness is the rational choice. When you do not feel valued, it is difficult to give it value. When you do not believe that others will do their part, why should you do yours.

I don't say this in an effort to excuse anyone. Accountability matters. But I think the loss of care that you are describing is linked to the loss of security. People who are feeling stable are more generous. People that are desperate tend to take. And right now, a lot of people are desperate even if they don't appear to be from the outside.

You're right slapper. I've also felt the same thing and I guess that everyone who's a breadwinner understands this reality now about how things became low in quality but more expensive.

If it's cheaper and less expensive, better. But that's not what we get and this is because that the manufacturers are just also responding to the economy where they are at.

Being in a country where labor is cheap, they'd take that as a factor to create more expensive products. While being in a country where labor is not so cheap, they'll make less quality products.

I think that because of oligarchy as well and a few companies that have full control to each industry is also the main reason. Because they know whatever they produce and service, people are still going to consume and use it regardless of what pricing they put into it.

The same company acts differently depending upon where it is operating. Cheap labour here, cheap product there. They are optimized for extraction in all directions. Few companies, no real competition, consumers have no choice. That is true. But I wonder if the lack of choice is also something that we have been trained into. We say we have no option but we stopped looking for options as well. We became accustomed to convenience even with convenience that began to cost us more than it saved.

The oligarchy is real. But maybe a part of their power is because we forget that we can still choose discomfort. Choose the smaller shop. Choose to make instead of buy. Choose to wait, rather than click. These are not solutions to the system. But they are ways to stop feeding it so automatically.

[Oluwa-btc]

I believe this associates to how people are feeling about the economy right now. Prices increase but quality decreases. You pay more but you feel you get less for it. And it is not just about money. It is about the value in the deeper sense of the word.

I agree with you like everything is been copyrighted and we don't get the value of what we are buying that's it. Everything is on the run in prices but yet we don't get  the good quality that's worth it, all of this keeps happening and it's as a result of inflation that's resulted in the hike in prices thereby making quality decrease and increase the quantity and supply.

[MFahad]

Consistency is definitely cheaper. By logic let me explain this, why do you think McDonalds is cheaper than a luxury restaurant? You think the only reason is because of the cut of the meat? Or the quality of the ingredients? I can tell you, if you give a Michelin star chef the same exact ingredients in a McDonalds kitchen, they will make something a lot more Avangarde and expensive, with literally same things.

However, the reason why it's so cheap at one place and others are expensive is the consistency, you make 1000 same burgers a day, instead of 4 very high quality one, and that is why you end up with cheaper result. Mass production makes things cheaper, shirts, drinks, meals, everything in your life, if it wasn't mass produced and soulless, then it would be more expensive.

In any business quality of product is the reason for growth of business. Among all big restaurants we see like McDonald's is a well-known name. The reason for McDonald's success are their quality. If they make 1,000 burgers a day they keep quality excellent. Also because they make large quantities of items they can get those items cheap because their time and expenses will b manage and balance in equal form. While taste of other restaurant is different because their sales are low and small quantity of product is expensive for the owners. Its also takes same amount of time but cost is not shared. when everything in limited quantities with great care which of course makes it expensive. Even Mass production not only reduces cost but also provides convenience.

[Mhizlove]

People don't care about the process, if they see the result is good enough like human made, they will choose the shortcut as long as they can save cost and time.

For now there are many foods are mass produced by machine, which they produce sausage, canned food, snacks etc. We can easily know what food is mass produced and what food doesn't. However, there have been few restaurant are using robot to cook for them, which mean if we eat in that restaurant, we're eat mass produced food, not cooked by human.

You've spoken well, because these days once something is fine and cheap, people won't even bother on how it come about. Machine food are everywhere, some people will say "chemical food" like canned foods and more, imagine in some restaurants meals are been prepared by robots and it will have good taste but it misses the touch of a human.

This is how the world is now, we are after convenience and speed in production, this has replaced human care and we forget that humans have their own way and special touch too.

[bubilas]

There is a feeling that I keep seeing and I want to know if it is just me or if other people are feeling it too. Difficult to describe but I will try. Many things in daily life seem now to have been made by a system rather than a person. Food that looks the same everywhere. Content online that seems generated and hollow. Products are cheap but fast breaks. Efficient but cold services, Everything optimized to get faster, cheaper, but sometime along the way it did lose something that was human.

I believe this associates to how people are feeling about the economy right now. Prices increase but quality decreases. You pay more but you feel you get less for it. And it is not just about money. It is about the value in the deeper sense of the word. When you are working hard and spending your money on something, you want it to feel real. You want to feel like your money purchased something where there is some care behind it. But more and more, things seem to be empty. Like you are just a number passing through a system meant to squeeze out of you as efficiently as possible.

I never felt this way until AI images and AI music appeared. Then I realized how disgusting it is, and essentially how distorted it is, a distorted deception of a distorted reality. That's why, often, when I see low-quality videos online, I'm absolutely disgusted by them, and I immediately ban such groups so I never see them again in recommendations. And there are already a huge number of them, they're literally everywhere.

And I hope that many people share this opinion, and that everyone will now value much more what they create with their own hands, rather than through disgusting AI tools.

[Porfirii]

I think about this too often lately, like in everything you buy there is a little trap you may not know
(in others, its just too evident). It is the unavoidable result of modern business education: people in business schools are taught that they should use any tricks necessary to make the company earn money, with branding, packaging, merchandising... and if other competitors do it, they must go one step further, and so on, endlessly.

When EBITDA is more important than anything else in business, you find out that large queues in hospitals may just be artificially created to make the managers earn more money, for example.

[Satofan44]

There is a feeling that I keep seeing and I want to know if it is just me or if other people are feeling it too. Difficult to describe but I will try. Many things in daily life seem now to have been made by a system rather than a person. Food that looks the same everywhere. Content online that seems generated and hollow. Products are cheap but fast breaks. Efficient but cold services, Everything optimized to get faster, cheaper, but sometime along the way it did lose something that was human.

I believe this associates to how people are feeling about the economy right now. Prices increase but quality decreases. You pay more but you feel you get less for it.

That does not make sense. You claim that products are cheap, production is efficient and then you claim that you pay more. You are contradicting yourself in the basic setup of the thread. If you were trying to make well-argued perspectives on the long-term value where you are paying more in the long-term by constantly buying cheap products that break, then you would be right. However, that is not what you are doing here.

And it is not just about money. It is about the value in the deeper sense of the word. When you are working hard and spending your money on something, you want it to feel real. You want to feel like your money purchased something where there is some care behind it. But more and more, things seem to be empty. Like you are just a number passing through a system meant to squeeze out of you as efficiently as possible.

That sounds like a deep addiction to materialism and consumption. You are not supposed to derive emotional pleasure from buying anything, whether it is cheaply produced or hand-crafted. It is time to shut down the internet and go on a long detox. You are confusing the cause of your emotions. It comes from over-consumption of digital content and not from the efficiency of the economy.

I think about this too often lately, like in everything you buy there is a little trap you may not know

There were always traps, people just didn't have the information in the old days. You won't fall into traps if you spend your time doing research and analysis before you buy anything. Don't confuse laziness with an existential issue. Most people grab items in a grocery store that are completely toxic to health, they never even look at the ingredient list. They just see a nice-looking box or container and they buy it. Then they blame the manufacturer for the consequences instead of themselves.  

How many people buy overpriced junk like iPhone yearly or other things due to brand loyalty? Where is the trap? The people are the ones who are making the stupid decisions themselves, often no traps are needed at all.

[Ultegra134]

Capitalism, inflation, economies of scale and mass production has caused this. Quality goes down, price goes up, and everything seems to have originated from a factory, even food, vegetables and fruit. In some countries it's much more distinguishable than others, but the issue still remains and others will follow. This has also worsened with fast-fashion apps, such as Shein, Temu, Aliexpress, where it's easy, fast and affordable to get generic, mass-produced items of low quality that will soon be thrown away, contributing to a much more complex issue of waste.

[Satofan44]

Capitalism, inflation, economies of scale and mass production has caused this. Quality goes down, price goes up, and everything seems to have originated from a factory, even food, vegetables and fruit.

Do you know what happens when you make things outside of factories that have high-scale and efficient processes? The price of everything goes up even more. This is one of the basic lessons of economics, so I have no idea what you are talking about. Without mass-scale farming and food factories, there would be a famine-level crises. People like you would complain yet again and probably even harder as now you would be starving. So how about you start using your brain first before writing generic junk here? You can't have both, you can pick one of these two:

1) Mass production in factories and low prices (current setup).
2) Small scale production, preferable without big factories, and high prices.

Many of the people who write in this section don't know anything at all about economics and markets. Somehow they believe that prices must stay constant or that they must decrease because of some random thing.  

This has also worsened with fast-fashion apps, such as Shein, Temu, Aliexpress, where it's easy, fast and affordable to get generic, mass-produced items of low quality that will soon be thrown away, contributing to a much more complex issue of waste.

Yeah and who is at fault here? The people making these products or the people buying them?   Of course it is the buyers, and you are one of them that is why you run away towards blaming someone else for your own faults. As long as there is a buyer, there will be a seller. It is the basics, come on go read Economics for Dummies. That's probably your limit anyway.

 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[viljy]

Hmm.. I also had similar thoughts as OP. Depersonalization and an increasing lack of attachments in the world. Here, for example, is a car. Yes, you can love your car and get used to it, but we will never be able to understand what it was like when there was a live horse instead of an iron carriage. If an accident had happened, the horse could have brought the unconscious rider home. There were cases when the horse ran home and brought people to help the owner, for example, who had broken his leg. The emotional connection between a rider and a horse is (for the most part) already unknown to us. This is alienation from the world. But man is a unique being who is able to communicate with many other animals. It turns out that technological progress breaks the connection between man and nature. So gradually a person is surrounded by emptiness and impersonality.

[Royal Cap]

This "height of capitalism" you mentioned does democratize access through scale, making goods affordable. The shock of paying for true quality reveals how conditioned we are to bend towards low cost over longevity and meaning.

This creates a revealing two types of systems one being the efficient, "mass produced" system for necessities, and a parallel, value-driven economy for everything else. The feeling of emptiness the OP describes may stem from applying the former's mindset of optimizing for price and convenience to areas of life where we crave connection and legitimate support.

Perhaps the real shift isn't rejecting the system fully, but becoming more conscious about our own consumption. It's the difference between accepting the default and actively seeking out new things, local producers, or even digital tools like Bitcoin that return agency and meaning to our transactions.

I personally don't think we need to dismantle the entire system but rather be a little more conscious about our decisions. We need to think about why we are buying something, who we are buying it from, how long it will last. Sometimes buying something local instead of a big brand or spending a little more to get something of good quality, gives life a different feel. Similarly with Bitcoin, while seen by many as just an investment, give people a sense of freedom and control over their financial decisions, Ultimately I think that no matter what system we live in, making decisions based on our own preferences and values ​​is the real liberation.

[BlackHatCoiner]

What you're feeling is what I'm feeling as well. Everything's fake. Food, the Internet, the "Science", the media, the money, the values. What we are living is the rise of some sort of nihilism. Comfort has made everyone obedient. Very few people see purpose in their lives, I believe. Very few people believe in God, or find purpose in religion. There's no masculinity. Everything is designed to keep you exhausted enough to feel somewhat comfortable but not exhausted enough to rebel.

This is the result of fiat money. Fiat has completely corrupted the time preference of individuals. All the things I've mentioned have a direct connection with your desire to discount the present for the future. If people don't prioritize their future, the entire structure of civilization becomes sick.