When does capitalism become predatory?

WHEN is 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 had been struggling – unsuccessfully – to submit a claim, I figured I could easily resolve the problem.

Instead, I found myself tangled in a Kafkaesque bureaucracy that was clearly designed to maximise 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.