: No...it is not irrelevant. You, who are so preoccupied with forms of coercian and manipulation of "choice" should realize this. Those two are different factors. Manipulation, I shall assume, means advertising and so forth - I shall not place that with coercion.
: Every advanced technique offered by behavioral psychology, anthropology, social and motivational research is being used in this endeavor.
Very behaviourist. I am sure many things influence our daily decisions and our purchasing choices, I am also sure that none of these can be placed into the same boat as overt coercion.
: The last thing a company wants is choice if it means buying from a competitor.
See why they run to 'big gubment' for restrictive regulation then cant you? Anti trust anyone?
: But that's just the market place. What about some other choices. What about a sustainable environment? Should that be a choice?
It is one. You can choose to buy low energy household items, solar panels, hybrid fuel cars right now. Many people choose to grow or buy only 'organically' produced foods, choose not to fritter money ('national spend nothing day') and so forth. The choices already exist, what you should question is why people arent making the ones you might consider the 'right' choices as often as you might like.
:What about guaranteed employment? What about guaranteed health care, housing, and education? Is that a choice? Of course not. Why?
Consider what such a guarantee means. It obliges other to meet the terms of the guarantee regardless of whether or not they wish to. Cant fight for 'freedom' with slavery.
