i choose

To those of us who feel that the unfettered capitalist model of the last few decades has resulted in...

No wait, let me start that again. To those of you who feel that...

Actually, that's not quite right either. On reflection, it's evident that when I say either "us" or "you", I actually mean "other people".

OK then. For those people who feel that the...etc etc etc...has resulted in too much choice, this article, (via Bookforum) while hardly a model of scientific method and you (no, I really mean "you" this time) get the feeling it's not really, utterly, completely serious....well you can read it for yourselves, eh?

The author delegates, or outsources, or actually renounces his ability to choose, a whole series of everyday decisions to a random bunch of strangers. He gets some predictable and some less predictable responses but it certainly seems to confirm the saying about always giving a new or urgent project to a busy person because they will always take it seriously and get it completed.

VVBSea has felt overwhelmed by choice for a quite some time now. Insurance, banks, at the supermarket...far too much of it all around. The size of the Australian economy seems to push us into only semi-competitive duopolies in any sector where major investments are a barrier to entry. Of course some government policy settings, ie the Trade Practices Act and how it gets interpreted, are also barriers to entry and it'd take someone else to discuss whether the TPA is the prime culprit.

Just to clarify the observation being made here, my principal objection is that too much choice is cost-shifting. I've usually got better things to do on my Saturdays than compare, say, medical insurance offerings. The offering companies go to immense lengths - of course - to obfuscate their offerings so that they can't be compared readily.

There are services I can use to help me make the decision. If they're free to the user, and therefore paid by the insurance companies, then often it seems that not all will subscribe so the service isn't comprehensive. If the consumer has to pay, then this consumer asks "why the bloody hell should I?" which, if nothing else, should tell you not to let me anywhere near a tourism advertising campaign: rather like these coves.