Here’s one of a number of reasons why I hate capitalism:

Recently I had a roofing contractor put a new roof on my house. I tried to relate to the contractor (a small businessman) as simply another human being. The result was that I let him get away with a few little things, wanting to get along with him. More serious: I had to end up chasing him down to fix a mistake that his crew had made. I think if I’d been simply respectful but business-like, that wouldn’t have happened; he’d have known he couldn’t get away with it with me. In fact, I’d have caught it before I even gave him the final payment.

This is the result of being reluctant to recognize that some relationships (all too many) under capitalism are not human relationships but simply monetary ones. The “cash nexus” Marx called it.

It’s too bad we have to deal with people like this, but that’s life under capitalism.