[jmole]

It's both?

This is America, where muscular middlemen squeeze out the middle class so that capital flows to the top.

Margin for producers? Not gonna happen.

And for consumers? raise prices and lower portion sizes until profits start to decline.

Rent-seeking is the American dream

[refurb]

Providing groceries is not rent seeking. It’s literally selling goods.

People use “rent seeking” to mean “people making money in ways I don’t like”.

And having lived in other countries I benefit greatly as a consumer being able buy things cheaper at places like Walmart.

[lotsofpulp]

> Rent-seeking is the American dream

I assume it is everyone’s dream.

[r00fus]

If you are 100% self-interested, sure. Most people have a moderate amount of empathy, so it's not their "dream".

[lotsofpulp]

It would be interesting to find someone that turns down a $10M trust fund that yields $200k+ passive income.

In either case, there might be some people that would eschew that, but I doubt the population of people that would accept (or dream about it) it is restricted to “Americans”.

[cauefcr]

What's the probability of such a fund appearing, out of nowhere, for you?

Or what's the probability of creating one in your lifetime, from the bottom? That's what those in debt are thinking, that's what those without a stake in the profits are angry about.

[r00fus]

Whether I'd go for something like that (trust funds usually come with some strings)...

I'm just saying that's not my dream (to be born rich).

[IIAOPSW]

You could instead aspire to provide value for money.

[skinnymuch]

Don’t think it was Marx’s or MLK’s or Malcolm X’s dream (I don’t mean the white washed MLK, etc)