When Does Capitalism Become Predatory?
Companies seek profits. That’s not illegal. But the law doesn’t dictate the bounds of ethics.
Your insurance nightmare isn’t a bug — it’s a feature.
Photographer: AleksandarNakic/E+When’s the last time you had an interaction with a company that made you question your sanity?
Mine was with a long-term care insurance provider. My parents, both in their 80s, have paid for their policy for decades, so when my dad told me he’d been struggling — unsuccessfully — to submit a claim, I figured I could easily resolve the problem. Ha. Instead, I found myself tangled in a Kafkaesque bureaucracy that was clearly designed to maximize a customer’s frustration until they give up. Communications went into the void. Forms were repeatedly lost or rejected for absurd reasons — and even when the company allowed it had received them, it was months before they were accepted, much less processed.