Groceries, to me are a bipartisan issue, we want to be able to feed our families and not go into debt just to do so.

The video below highlights an important issue that really has come from mass consolidation if anything and the power you get from it. You essentially have the largest companies getting in bed with each other to fix floor prices which means prices cant go down due to competition.

In most environments competition has been beneficial to the consumer, but with uncontrolled consolidation, competition is less and less and with size, you can easily rid yourself of any new entrants.

In the video below it gives the example of Pepsi. Pepsi monitored all the sale of their product in other stores that were not Walmart. Then Pepsi ensured that Walmart had the lowest prices and always had a large gap between prices Walmart's competitors could put the product on the shelf for. What happens if competition cant happen it sets a price floor, pepsi just jacks up their product price to other competitors. This isn't oh Walmart is our biggest customer so we will always give them the best bulk discount. This is well beyond that.

Now imagine all the other large food conglomerates who are probably doing the exact same thing. Pretty wild and I think we can thank our dogshit North American enforcement and allowing consolidation left and right.






I believe in a free market with guardrails and our North American gaurdrails have been removed or are totally useless.

This post was edited by SBD on Feb 10 2026 02:18pm

Capitalism is great. You vote with your dollar you get what you deserve even if the result is horrifying.
Pepsi and all the soda drinks need to be outlawed. They are sugar/drugs disguised as a beverage. Food is too cheap imo, most people dont appreciate how much goes into growing it.


Yes Walmart and Pepsi and other big brands have special arrangements that drive more business their way this is nothing new. They are large enough to keep prices low in order to starve the competition. Once the smaller mom and pop shops close they jack up their prices.

End stage capitalism has turned into a game of extortion to extract value. A world where it’s only possible for people to have extreme luxuries off the backs of people who are subdued into unnecessary sufferings

I just watched something where some truck stops and cinemas are implementing bar codes on every cup now where you get a certain amount of ounces on your cups. No more free refills.

Top comment: So 1000+% upcharge isnt enough.

Ill try to dig it up.

Essentially. Guardrails, consumer protection agencies, etc. all need to not just be in place so gov't can say we have it, but actually functioning. There's a lot of money and influence that works to ensure all those things are not functioning or don't function in a meaningful way.

Pepsico and cocacola probably the biggest bribers and lobbyists behind tobbaco and alcohol companies. American consumer projection agencies dont give a flying shit when you toss a few million their way or just bribe senators to introduce another few sentences in the next bill.

Oh shit ya know what I almost forgot about nestle. Cant forget how awful chocolate companies have gotten either.

Ya except that for the past 80 years the standard of living of basically every human being on the planet has been growing at a rate that would seem miraculous and impossible at any point before now.

People use faulty statistics to attack the system that ensures this progress. "The gap between the rich and the poor has never been greater" lol for all of human history the gap between the rich and the poor was that the rich ate what they wanted and the poor starved. Now we're upset that the rich have jets and spaceships, while failing to notice that we no longer starve.

The poorest people in my country have easy access to luxuries that the richest man in the world couldn't have dreamed at 50 years ago.

Life is pretty fuckin grand right now, entirely thanks to capitalism.

I am willing to bet many of your major food conglomerates are doing highly unsavory things in the background, and I am willing to bet benefiting the consumer isn't on their list of things to accomplish when closely rubbing shoulders with politicians and other people seated in power.

This has been an issue under both administrations, in recent times just look at whos donating to the Trump foundation and then who got tariff relief. And these donations at trivial to the companies that donated. Tech, food, etc.

Its mostly due to inflation which triggers a survival response to hedge against it. The other component is greed and lust for power that will never go away. The best system is one where it



You cannot put guard rails on comfort and convenience which breeds greed and complacency. It is like fighting gravity it will always win.
They are symptoms of a spiritual maturity and our values. People don't value long term prosperity of the country they are only concerned about short term survival and their immediate family. Games, movies, celebrities, ai, entertainment in general and virtue signaling is more important than quality food and shelter. And thats reflected by whats in their fridge.

Change values change food prices

You believe in gravity?