> Americans will almost always go for the Chinese merchandise, or shop at Walmart to save a few bucks. For a majority of Americans, saving "a few bucks" makes

> Americans will almost always go for the Chinese merchandise, or shop at Walmart to save a few bucks. For a majority of Americans, saving "a few bucks" makes a huge difference - that could be the difference between being able to buy $5 worth of gas they need to go to their next shift[1]. If you don't mind me asking - how much money (ballpark) can you spend on an impulse purchase? For some its single digit dollars, others tens, hundreds or thousands of dollars. When there's a difference of 3 magnitudes or order between people, the other's purchasing habits can seem alien (in both directions). Unbridled capitalism doesn't inherently optimize for the long-term stability of the entire system - instead, it is mostly a bunch of local maximums. 1. I never pass up the opportunity to link to Scalzi's timeless essay on "Being Poor" https://whatever.scalzi.com/2005/09/03/being-poor/ https://whatever.scalzi.com/2005/09/03/being-poor/