While I agree with the general sentiment, it’s actually worse than that. That’s a pretty shallow variety. In addition to many duplicates side by side, there’s a surprising amount of brand uniformity. I counted at least 20 varieties of Sweet Baby Ray’s which accounts for nearly half the display, and I see several other brands with multiple varieties. In fairness, there’s also some non-BBQ sauce (hot sauce, etc.) in the photo, which could give the impression that there’s more variety than there actually is. What we actually have here is the bland corporate illusion of variety, or product differentiation, brought to you by Capitalism, which favors consolidation.
I’m guessing that this photo was taken in an area that is not very BBQ focused. This same photo taken in a supermarket in KC or Memphis or Dallas would be very different, as the expectations of the populace would be different, and market forces would actually have a significant effect. Not that the effect is important in a larger context, of course.
Indeed, I’ve been frustrated more than once by “white collar” “professionals” who think that a union is for “working-class people,” not them.
At the same time, though, I think it’s also been a useful (if yes, divisive) marker in the U.S. for different levels of wealth and income, and for the “lifestyles” that those who have more money than others can afford. “The American Dream” used to be a middle-class one (car, 2.3 kids, white picket fence, a suburban home that you (but really a bank) own, etc.). I’m no expert, but I don’t think that say, economists and social scientists who know what you pointed out therefore think that the term “middle class” has no practical utility. Maybe a goal of some of them is, nonetheless, to abolish the term because, yeah, it’s a divisive, capital-serving fiction.
This is what kept me from shopping at Target long before the current boycott: it’s filled with entire aisles with literally hundreds of what you’re looking for, as long as you’re OK with that one brand, in that one size, with that one specific color/flavor/scent/use.
Very true… I have this sticker on the back of my car…
We were out with my Trumpy BIL, we’re getting ready to head home, and my hubby points to this sticker, and my BIL nods in agreement about it… Dude regularly calls every Democrat a “marxist” without knowing WTF it means… Like, STACEY ABRAMS is a Marxist, according to him. Like… no, she’s not.
Asking for a clear definition is generally a good way to tackle that. Be like “Hey you might be right… but i wonder what the current definition of a Marxist is. Lets look it up”