Yeah. That wasn’t a normative statement, just a descriptive one. We should be the customer, we just economically aren’t. I bet you and me buy the same kind of stuff.

The points I was arguing against in OP are that everything is built worse than it used to be, and that it’s because some group can just decide so unilaterally for personal gain. Some stuff is worse, some stuff is better, but it’s true that regulations haven’t kept pace with technology this century.