from Hacker News

The double thank-you of capitalism

by aminozuur on 6/7/21, 2:07 AM with 3 comments

• by WalterGR on 6/7/21, 5:05 AM

  ...when a merchant and a customer exchange money for goods, each thanks the other, showing that the transaction is not only voluntary, but mutually beneficial.

  WTF? I'm friendly and thank cashiers because they're almost certainly minimum-wage, part-time, no-benefits, paycheck-to-paycheck folks dealing with unfriendly people all day long. I'm not thanking them or by proxy their bosses or their company for the transaction, I'm not genuflecting to capitalism, I'm recognizing the humanity of the individual.

• by zepto on 6/7/21, 3:23 AM

  A great principle. The problem is that very few exchanges are ‘free’.