Freedom of Choice
America is the land of choice. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that Americans have far more choices in general than any other nation on earth. It's so ingrained in our psyche that we see "choice" as a given, almost an "inalienable right." This right to choose extends from the most grave (the choice to murder your own unborn child) to the most mundane (orange juice).
The last time I was at the grocery store I was struck by the vast selection of orange juice. Apparently, one or two choices is not enough for something as simple and basic as orange juice. For example, Minute Maid has no less than 10 varieties of orange juice! (This is excluding blends with other juices and "juice drinks.") Not to be outdone, Tropicana has at least 12 styles of OJ! According to Tropicana's website, you have the following options from which to choose:
With all of those options before you, if you're like me you might just stand there in a daze for several minutes trying to figure out which one you want. And then you might just walk away emptyhanded, or go grab a Coke.
2 comments:
Dennis Prager had a guy on, quite a while back, who wrote some psychological treatise on the paralyzation of choice. His thesis was that, while choice is a great thing, too much choice actually can lead people to be less happy. It seems you're not alone in your frustration upon seeing the endless array of OJ.
Being a capitalist, I am confident that the market will eventually work this out. In fact, in some ways, it already has. Costco rarely (if ever) carries more than one of the same thing, even in different brands. They only sell one OJ variety, and one mixed fruit juice (AFAIK).
It would be interesting to see if Prager himself has written anything on this subject.
While likewise a capitalist I, however, forsee the continuance of such nonsense. People have come to expect such subtle (and numerous) distinctions of options, and enjoy them. They will continue to buy "Light 'N' Healthy" for themselves and "Healthy Kids" for the young uns (and maybe an extra carton of "Immunity Defense" for Grandma).
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