Oh well oh well oh well.
You know, I talk to Americans all day long; I also talk to people in India, because it’s cheaper for the company in question that I (outsourced) work for, to deal with Canada and India at Reduced Rates, than it is to pay American citizens for their time.

We all feel ripped off, but the reason isn’t each other, but the companies who are, acting in total good-faith self-interest, ripping us off.  Well, it’s just the way the world goes round.  You can’t blame the companies.  You can’t blame the guy in India who is very, very civil, but otherwise the Americans can’t understand a word he says, and are glad, at least, that I’m Canadian. 

I’m not mad at anybody. I’m just waiting for Marx to come true. (And I don’t mean Communist Marx!)

I don’t think it’s a good idea to say that companies are ripping us off.  Fool me once (rip me off) and it’s because you’re a jerk, but fool me twice and it’s because I’m an idiot.  Saying that a company is ripping us off is admitting that we’re too stupid to find another (better) company.  And if the company “ripping us off” is the best out there, then the fact is that we ought not be purchasing whatever they’re selling anyway - because it’s a ripoff.  I don’t see a way out of “they keep ripping me off” being an admission that I’m an idiot for continuing to buy their goods and services.

Obviously, government is a different story.

Maybe the reason we *feel* ripped off despite the fact that we have a choice (with regard to private companies) is because some institution has trained us to feel entitled to good service and prices from *any* enterprise with which we do business.  Gee, I wonder what institution did that…