The Phrase "Caveat Emptor," Again

The Latin phrase "Caveat emptor"--ordinarily translated as "Buyer beware"--is one of those phrases that, purportedly commending "Personal responsibility" to the public, is by the same token an announcement by those who have the power in the situation that they reject all personal responsibility, with government's doing so a matter of its, as usual, siding with business against the rest of society, and in particular declaring "Open season" on the consumer.

The public at large thus has every right to regard the utterance of "caveat emptor," whether in the original or in translation, whether spoken in so many words or not (for instance, in the seemingly more attractive language of "consumer choice"), with the utmost cynicism--and indeed fail to do so only at their peril. After all, consider where this principle can seem most operative, not in a world of, for example, online retail which has only become as developed as it has because (especially given all the awkwardness and potential for error in online orders) its allowing relatively easy redress of grievances to the consumer, but the much less certain matter of "hiring a professional," where the purchase and its risks are harder to assess, the consumer's rights apt to be less clear in the event of their dissatisfaction, and the bill likely to be very high indeed. Glib and cheerful about this as officialdom purports to be (investigating such matters online you are likely to be dismissed as insane if you think that there exist such things as dishonest professionals, and tradespersons--Heavens no!), a great many persons do such a thing only when they have absolutely no alternative, and absolutely dread finding themselves in such a situation, the more in as few have been totally able to wholly avoid such situation, or emerged from those situations wholly unscathed, financially and in other ways.