All depends on what it's worth to you, I guess. As @ska pointed out, I'm not really talking about buying all of your groceries at the corner store at a 3x mark

All depends on what it's worth to you, I guess. As @ska pointed out, I'm not really talking about buying all of your groceries at the corner store at a 3x markup. In every city I've ever lived in, I've had the option of taking my business to an independently owned (grocery|hardware|pharmacy|etc.) store where the "10% shop local tax" more or less applied. To me this seems like a fair exchange for the peace of mind I get from knowing that I'm not being targeted by government-grade surveillance tech when I walk through the door, and that the employees I interact with are being paid a living wage. YMMV depending where you live but I hardly believe this is a phenomenon isolated only to the places where I've lived. Also, if your local shop doesn't carry an item you want, you can always speak with management and ask for them to stock it :)