As the cost of basic necessities continues to rise, the appeal of living a long life quietly diminishes. It’s hard to feel optimistic about the future when simply surviving becomes more expensive every year.

What’s most disturbing isn’t just how costly life already is—but the reality that prices will likely continue climbing, driven less by necessity and more by corporate greed.

Take Walmart as an example. Many everyday items—especially toys or automobile accessories—are marked up to extreme degrees compared to their actual manufacturing cost. In some cases, the markup appears to be hundreds or even thousands of times the original price.

Here’s a clear example:

Walmart currently sells the “Snoop on the Stoop” plush figurine for $34.97.

The exact same item can be found on AliExpress—direct from the supplier—for $0.99.

That’s not a minor difference. That’s an astronomical markup.

In fact, anyone could theoretically buy these items in bulk from suppliers and resell them at retail prices, simply by watching trends and checking AliExpress before making purchases. The real frustration is that consumers are being told these inflated prices are “low” or “discounted” when they clearly are not.

How is this legal?

When a product that costs under a dollar to manufacture and source is sold for nearly $35, it starts to feel less like normal retail pricing and more like price gouging—especially during a time when families are already struggling with housing, food, and healthcare costs.

At some point, this stops being about convenience or brand value and starts raising serious ethical questions about how major retailers operate—and who, if anyone, is actually holding them accountable.

This practice is deeply frustrating. Shopping at Walmart often feels uncomfortable, knowing that many basic purchases are significantly cheaper through other sources. Since the company transitioned to the next generation of Walton ownership, its pricing model has raised serious ethical concerns.

As for living a long life, it becomes easier to imagine when practices like this are actually addressed by Congress or the Senate. Without accountability, it’s hard to feel hopeful about the future. When basic survival keeps getting more expensive, people naturally start questioning the system itself.

Sometimes it feels like the only truly affordable option left is to retreat into simplicity—places where resources are still accessible and not endlessly marked up. While nothing is ever completely free under government oversight, there is a growing sense that people cannot be taxed indefinitely while prices continue to inflate without consequences. Eventually, the public notices. And when enough people catch on, exploitative pricing models become harder to defend.

Right now, the economy feels less like a system designed to support people and more like one designed to extract from them. Officials often present themselves as agents of change, but too often the “change” they deliver is simply more money taken from the same pockets. That dynamic will not improve on its own.

Real change is unlikely unless more people speak up—by contacting their senators, filing complaints, and demanding transparency and accountability from both corporations and lawmakers. Silence only ensures that these practices continue unchecked.

To contact your U.S. senator, start by visiting www.senate.gov and using the “Find Your Senators” dropdown menu to select your state. This will take you to a results page listing your senators along with links to their official websites. On each site, you’ll find multiple ways to reach them, including online contact forms, email options, and phone numbers for both their Washington, D.C. office and their local district offices.

You can also contact your senator directly by calling the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and requesting to be connected to their office. When you call, clearly identify yourself as a constituent, explain your position on the issue, and make a specific request—for example, urging them to support or oppose a particular bill. If you reach voicemail, follow the same approach. Calls are logged by staffers whether they are answered or not.

For written communication, you may send a message through the senator’s official contact form or mail a letter directly to their Washington office at:

Office of Senator [Name]
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

Be sure to include your full name and mailing address, as offices often prioritize correspondence from verified constituents.