The 1920s? My history books left the Wal Mart takeover out of its description of the Great Depression.
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The 1920s? My history books left the Wal Mart takeover out of its description of the Great Depression.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fe 26
Mom and Pop is no Hawaii, that is for for sure.
You're reading way too much into the elephant and broom metaphor.Quote:
Originally Posted by Some Stupid Japanese Name
Business does more for absolutely everyone than government. That is not to say that government doesn't do anything, but when it tries to get in the way, it often causes side effects that are predictable to everyone but apparently those writing the laws. That was the original point I was making, which is why none of your responses had anything to do with it. Even some of your examples, like environmental clean up, utilize technology developed in the private sector. There are responsible companies and irresponsible ones and efficient companies and inefficient ones, but there is no responsible or efficient legislature.
edit: I thought more about this in the shower, specifically your point about how a shitty environment benefits no one, which is clearly true. Why is that we can't get people motivated to take control of their own future and not buy products from companies that pollute? There are lots of examples of companies going way beyond any regulations in the this area. Why not support them instead? Are the consumers not a potentially much more effective group in this area than the slow as legislature?
Obama excuse checklist, to be filled out later:
[ ] Taken out of context
[ ] Republicans blocked him
[ ] We're racist
[ ] Bush was worse
[✔] He's only just the president
[ ] He had no knowledge of it
[ ] We're racist
[ ] It's only been five years
Stolen from reddit. Thought it was funny
This is way too broad and is totally meaningless. A lot of businesses actually do nothing for me, and I have no say in the matter because I have no representation or ability to influence their behavior. On the other hand, government has been known to do good things for me, like setting me up with a good education for ~16 years, or checking the water I drink or planes I fly on, or paying police to make sure I live in a relatively crime free neighborhood. I actually think, at this stage of my existence, as a very comfortable upper middle class American, the government has done a lot for me. That doesn't mean that I owe them everything I earn or anything, but in general it's done right by me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yoshi
And the thing is - the important thing! - is that if I don't like what government is doing, I have a say in the matter. I can influence them directly.
As the EPA and Verizon seizures get added to the list of current messes, that list is going to dwindle.
Do you still completely believe that? I have growing doubts.Quote:
Originally Posted by Diff-chan
The only thing standing in the way of irresponsible business is legislature. I realize in your world, everyone would simply stop supporting the shit businesses and only support the good ones. Unfortunately, that's not realistic. Look at Walmart. In the same way that expecting some inner city white (so I don't get called a racist by those who seem to think only blacks and hispanics live in the cities) chick to realize studying and keeping her legs closed (or at least utilizing birth control) might possibly lead to a better life than sitting around, getting high, and banging kids out to keep a minimal standard of living going.
Do you honestly believe that if there weren't laws in the way, every business wouldn't love to roll back to business standards as usual circa the turn of the 1900's? Think of the profits they'd be making if that darn OSHA wasn't in the way! Goddamn those inefficient and irresponsible politicians, first they made us give up our property, now they expect us to treat them as puh puh people?! I'm not going to sit on a toilet that some nigger just used! It'll be drenched in sickle cells and AIDS!
It's unquestionably true, both on a macro and micro level.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yoshi
Micro - granny doesn't get her SS check, calls her Congressman, gets sorted out in an hour. This never happens, though, because the SSA is accountable to voters and is very, very good at getting checks out.
Macro - Look at the tea party idiots and what they did in 2010. I mean, I donate money to political orgs I believe in. It's a battle of ideas that we hash out in elections. It's a great thing.
Every corporation (I assume the move away from "business" was intentional)? No, I don't think everyone would do that, but I am not so naive that I wouldn't expect Wall Street to try to push them if they're publicly traded.
To reiterate, I am not claiming government has no role here, but in terms of regulations, they should be for really blatantly obvious things like OSHA. Going back to the genesis of the discussion, trying to write laws to go after a single corporation doesn't seem well thought out or likely to succeed. Hell, let me make this more specific. If you were writing the bill in CA, how would you write it to try to have the effect you desire on Wal Mart?