An example of how stupid we are and what we tolerate...

[Orrex]

115. So, not having a phone is exactly the same as dying of thirst?

Your analogies are questionable, but here goes:

You mean all those folks who signed those bogus mortgages should just deal with it?

A contract based on fraud is not a contract.

Fraud prevents mutual agreement to a contract because one party intentionally deceives another as to the nature and the consequences of a contract. It is the willful misrepresentation or concealment of a material fact of a contract, and it is designed to persuade another to enter into that contract. If a special relation-ship exists, such as that of attorney and client, nondisclosure of a material fact is fraud. Many courts have held that mere silence concerning a material fact did not constitute fraud, but the emerging trend is to find a duty to disclose and, therefore, deliberate concealment of a material fact gives rise to an action for fraud.

More here.

What about the folks in Detroit who can't afford the water and getting it shut off....should they have read the contract they signed when they moved in the house?

Strictly speaking, I haven't read that the contracts in those cases are inherently invalid. That is, the mere stipulation that service will be terminated for non-payment does not, in itself, invalidate the contract. It may very well be that mitigating circumstances cause an agency higher than the utility company to step in on the customers' behalf, and personally I think it's shitty that one's water can be turned off at all, but what's the realistic alternative, in your wise view? I've had my own water turned off for non-payment; could I have called upon you to beat down the door of my water company?

You clutch at your pearls and wail about my lack of compassion, but that's simply a ridiculous display of emotionalism. Unless the lack of cheap, reliable cellphone service will result in death in four or five days, comparisons to forcible water shut-off are preposterous. Likewise, your comparison of a fraudulent contract to a non-fraudulent contract is pointless.

Do you feel better, having gotten that off of your chest? Or are you going to scold me again?