"They" being the 'gas station owners', yes. They're just trying to protect their greed. But why do so many of the rest of us agree with them when we are the ones paying the price? Nearly everything we need to live in our modern culture has to be purchased, and we are being gouged on the prices we're paying for it all because that's what happens when the buyers have to buy. So why do the rest of us allow it, and even support it, when it's making us work longer and harder for less and less?
Because so many people hold on to the "American Dream" (with an emphasis on the word "dream") in that if they keep working and persevering, they too will someday live on Easy Street. People are captivated by folkloric tales of movie stars being discovered working the soda fountain at Schwab's - or Famous Amos making cookies and turning it into a fortune. It's a common trope in Americana and the overall mythos of capitalism in general, the typical rags to riches story.
And the stories are true, for the most part. There are some who really do manage to strike it rich or somehow have the right mix of "mojo" to make their dreams into reality. That's what you hear in every "get rich quick" scheme or multi-level marketing seminar. They often run parallel to the typical sports hero stories or anecdotes about celebrities starting from humble beginnings and making it big in Hollywood.
The reality is, some people actually do make it big, while others don't fare quite so well - for whatever reason. Maybe they weren't born with enough talent. Maybe they didn't work hard enough. Maybe they had other life-altering problems that got in the way. I don't think that anyone has come up with some all-encompassing formula for success that would work for anyone. Likewise, no one has been able to come up with any generalized explanation for failure that could be applied in every situation.
But people often don't really look beyond the surface, and as a result, they're inclined to accept surface level explanations for how things turn out they way they do. Those of us who were born and raised in the United States have been a lifetime dose of endless propaganda and an overall national philosophy of greatness in American Exceptionalism, Manifest Destiny, the American Dream, or whatever it is they're calling it these days.
And at the center of that is our devotion to "freedom" and "liberty" - the idea that we can all make our own choices and enjoy all the fruits and benefits of our free market economy. We look around and see a modern, technologically-advanced, comfortable, luxurious society where most people seem reasonably well-fed, provided for. We also know that most of the rest of the world (outside of the insular bubble known as "The West") isn't doing all that well. Most people ostensibly attribute this disparity and marked difference in standards of living to our political/economic system, which values "freedom" (such as it is), as opposed to other systems which are not free.
I think where most capitalist ideologues make their mistake is in implying/assuming that an economic system like capitalism automatically means "freedom," when such is obviously not the case. Likewise, they do the same by assuming that socialism automatically means "not free," when such is not the case. Sometimes, capitalism can be free, sometimes not. It's the same for socialism. The level of "freedom" doesn't always correlate with economic policies or "systems" for doing things. A lot of people seem to miss that.
A "system" is just a way of doing things, whether it's the metric system or a traffic system. The US and UK have different traffic systems, but we both somehow manage to get to where we're going. One could argue that "our system is better," since we drive on the right side of the road, while the British drive on the wrong side of the road. One could even cite statistics about traffic accidents and say "Look at all those accidents those Brits are having!" And no one could even counter it by saying that "Americans have accidents, too" because that would be "Whataboutism."
But that aside, I somehow doubt that the current system will continue to enjoy the same level of ideological support that it has in recent decades. A lot of younger people seem less and less enamored with capitalism than my generation was. Most of my generation are/were a bunch of consumerist, materialist sell-outs. We bought it all and still couldn't get enough. We wanted our instant gratification, and now we're hooked on it.
But we're at the point where the system probably won't be able to sustain endless consumption on endless credit for much longer. It's already taken its toll on America to a noticeable degree. Our once booming industry has degenerated into a Rust Belt, which can actually be found nationwide, not just in the Rust Belt states. The roads are falling apart, boarded up buildings, abandoned warehouses, factories - all signs of an economy that once was - but will never be again. We are in decline, as other countries are surpassing us.
Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying that capitalism is all bad. In fact, I don't think capitalism - or any other abstract ideology - is necessarily "good" or "bad" in theory. It just depends on how it's used and the general political culture of wherever it's practiced.
I think the problem we're facing at present is more due to a prominent component within our political culture in which capitalism and free-market economics are treated as some kind of Sacred Cow, while its adherents are zealously devoted to it with a kind of religious fervor. I've seen it over and over. I wouldn't even attribute it all to conservatives or Republicans either. There are plenty of liberals and Democrats who also worship the basic principles of capitalism as if it's a Sacred Cow. Some are "reformed" capitalists while others might be "orthodox" capitalists.
In fairness, socialists aren't much different, as there are/were plenty of religiously zealous socialists as well, to varying degrees. I've never denied that. But at least in comparison to how socialists were 50-100 years ago, they've mellowed out considerably. They're not what they once were.
