American capitalism fails again

A favorite trick is the reduction of size in a product while the price remains the same or, in some cases, even rises.  For example, a half gallon (64 ounces) carton of orange is now 59 ounces.  They don't hide the number.  The change is overt but deceitful.
A half gallon of milk (8 cups) no longer says 64 ounces.  Instead, the label reads: 
Serving Size: one cup.
Servings per container: about 8  (emphasis mine)
Covert and deceitful.
I wonder.  Have they thought this through?  How much lower can they take the size before it becomes an embarrassment?

Joe Bageant (1946-2011)

About three years ago I discovered Joe Bageant on the internet.  I don't remember the circumstances but I am grateful for the chance to have read his work.
Joe Bageant's writing was a joy to read.  He was  funny.  His friend, Fred Reed, tells of Joe describing a girl with pierced nose, lips, eyelids, and more, looking like she had fallen face-first into an open tackle box.
Joe could  put together a critical appraisal of rural America that  swept the stage of most other players
But I was most impressed by his fight for the underclass of America.  What underclass?  Why, all of it, but especially the poor whites of Scots-Irish descent who live in rural Appalachia.  Joe did not romanticize them.  He acknowledged their racism, their parochialism, their culture which was so much less stellar than that found in Boston, LA, or New York City.  But he recognized their pride, and their worth as humans.  And he railed against the system that ignored them, pretending they weren't there.
But let him say it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYaqEgyrh1M&feature=player_embedded  

__________________________________________________________________________________

From Another World, Long Long Ago, Far Far Away

A Bitter Philosophy

Lon Chaney's last words in this clip have a terrible truth that transcends cynicism or nihilism.  Yet, they do not represent an answer.  And, the lesson is always learned too late.
_______________________________________________________________________________________

Quotation from Wendell Berry

"And it is one of the miracles of science and hygiene that the germs that used to be in our food have been replaced by poisons."

                                         Wendell Berry,  "The Unsettling of America"
__________________________________________________________________________________________

American Capitalism isn't working

Lower wages and lower labor costs are desirable goals. 
Lower prices are not a desirable goal.  That's labeled 'deflation.'
Most people are required to borrow to buy what they need.
A policy of pay-as-you-go is not possible for most people, including the various governmental entities.
The so-called Law of Supply and Demand isn't working, viz., the oil market.
An economy that grows vigorously is preferred to an economy that grows slowly while remaining stable.
A 'higher' Standard of Living is preferred to a sensible Standard of Living.
It is wrong to 'make work' but it is good to take work away.
When labor costs are reduced, prices continue to rise.
__________________________________________________________________________________________

Quotation

They sneer at me for leaning all awry;
What!  did the Hand then of the Potter shake?


                                      -Omar Khayyam, Rubaiyat
_____________________________________________________________________________________