Comment by quartesixte

>because it calls attention to how merchant/consumer is a false dichotomy

Yes! People forget that the many merchants in this country are also participants in this consumer economy as well. I think one's exposure to mom&pops/small businesses informs this view greatly. One can be forgiven of seeing merchants as faceless corporations if the entire shopping experience has happened at faceless multinationals (...of whom's profits contribute to many consumer's 401ks!)

And also Merchants are in many ways the "edge compute" of the long, very complex tangle of suppliers, wholesalers, service providers, and (of course) the bank. All which entail transactions that, in isolation, looks very similar to merchant-consumer.