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Robbery

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Clarissa

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I went to the grocery store yesterday. Several times I caught myself grabbing something I always buy, noticing the price, and putting it back because the price is not what I’m used to. The raise I got this year will be eaten up entirely by the inflation.

I’m sure soon enough we’ll get inured to the high prices. And that’s not good because it’s part of what I keep talking about. The dispossession, the robbery, the enormous transfer of capital that is being deployed against us on all sides. That’s the most important thing happening right now.

10 responses to “Robbery”

  1. methylethyl Avatar
    methylethyl

    Yeah. My average grocery run used to cost about $180. Like, in 2019. Right now, even though I am doing the same as you: re-thinking things I normally buy and often putting them back… we’re in the $290 range now, and that’s after giving up things like purchasing bread (I bought my first 50# bag of flour recently, and am baking it myself now). If I have a couple of big-ticket items like diapers, it goes over $300. I swallow hard, re-check to see if I got anything silly I can put back… and pay the lady.

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    1. Clarissa Avatar
      Clarissa

      At first, I thought it was my problem. I berated myself for overspending because the grocery bill suddenly looked very different from what I’m used to. Then I figured out, hey, it’s not me. Everybody is feeling it. Except, of course, for the bastards who organized it.

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      1. methylethyl Avatar
        methylethyl

        Yeah, it is incredibly demoralizing to have started to do all sorts of cost-cutting things… cooking more meat-and-beans type dishes (chili, stew) to be able to stretch the meat out farther, baking at home (yeah, I know Wonderbread is still cheap but my kids are spoiled and won’t eat it. It tastes like plaster) instead of buying the “good bread”, being more fastidious about using up leftovers, etc. and still cracking $300 on a trip to the grocery store. Like a punch in the gut.

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        1. cliff arroyo Avatar
          cliff arroyo

          “incredibly demoralizing”

          It’s called nudging*… those bugs aren’t gonna eat themselves….

          *https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nudge_theory

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          1. methylethyl Avatar
            methylethyl

            Oh yes, I’m familiar with the “nudge” folks: otherwise known as government by passive-aggression. Or maybe Devouring Mother bureaucracy. I think there is a direct link between their work and the current fudging of vixenation numbers: I think they’re trying to peer-pressure and social-stress people into getting foxed by making it look like way more people have already done it. I mean, who wants to be part of the tiny minority, right? We wanna be the cool kids, right? Right?

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        2. xykademiqz Avatar
          xykademiqz

          “…still cracking $300 on a trip to the grocery store.”

          Yep.

          Liked by 1 person

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          1. methylethyl Avatar
            methylethyl

            Sigh. The single thing that annoys me most is that… my favorite brand of coconut milk, which cost less than all the rest and also didn’t have the weird preservatives and stabilizers, has disappeared. You can still get coconut milk, but now you have to buy the $1 more per can, and choose between sodium metabisulfite and guar gum.

            And this is how they’re trying to hide the inflation everywhere. You can’t buy that thing anymore. It comes in a smaller package but costs a bit more now. Whole chickens are still 98 cents/lb, but all the leg cuts that used to be cheaper than that now cost $1.80/lb. Which you expect over a long enough stretch of time, but not over 1 year!

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            1. Clarissa Avatar
              Clarissa

              I have several things like that which I always bought and now they disappeared and there’s some overpriced, fussy version. Wanted to buy kefir, but the plain one has been gone for weeks. They either have flavored versions or an expensive jug of something very gussied up and messed-with.

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          2. Clarissa Avatar
            Clarissa

            At least, after this thread I feel less alone with it. Solidarity!

            Liked by 2 people

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  2. PaulS Avatar
    PaulS

    From what I’ve heard there have been significant supply chain disruptions due to the lockdowns. This means that companies have to buy from whoever has supply in stock which is generally much more expensive than their usual supplier. All of this results in higher prices in stores. Of course, the people who advocate lockdowns can’t imagine living in a situation where groceries are a significant expense.

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A conservative literary critic and college professor

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