Optimization and the Standard Deal

  1) Institutions optimize to capture value for themselves.
  2) Therefore, any “standard deal” offered by such an
     institution has been optimized towards their benefit,
     and away from yours.

I think there are some good insights in this article, but I don't think that 2 follows from 1. Yes, the institution prefers its own needs, but it's not necessarily true that these needs are opposite of one's own. A business benefits from having satisfied workers, the workers benefit if the business continues to operate, etc.

I like the restatement at the bottom even worse: The problem with the Standard Deal is that it’s optimized to take value away from you.

There is a difference between optimizing for one thing and optimizing against another. It doesn't have to be a zero sum game between the owners and the workers. Optimizing for the institution does not imply trying to minimize benefit for the employee. There are win-win situations, especially if one is willing to count the consumer and the environment as external.