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blackpurse
= Cult of Ray =
USA
299 Posts |
 Posted - 05/28/2003 : 18:07:32
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quote:
Originally posted by mereubu
.... although I certainly understand and share your distaste for the chain and its business practices, it is one of the few places that allows the poor to have some reasonable facsimile of what everybody else has. I guess that from a Marxist perspective, that's just delaying the revolution and the poor should be above the materialism that has consumed the rest of society. ..... if you don't shop at the W-M Supercenter, you either go without or go to another town to get what you need in most cases.
Oh please. One of the reasons that WM is the only place that exists for those markets is that they ran everybody else -- that's small, family owned businesses -- out of business. Wal Mart becomes the monopoly, the only game in town. And before you go defending Wal Mart among the "working man", ask your local union organizer (if WM didn't run your SEIU local completely out of town) about WM's labor practices, and how so terrified they are of collective bargaining ( a marxist concept indeed), that they won't even allow, in some areas, to have the Salvation Army ringing their bells on their property because then they'd have to allow organizers to leaflet their workforce. Oh, and speaking of said workforce, check and see WM's record on discrimination -- it isn't pretty.
Wal Mart controls many a musical and literary market by outpricing mom and pop shops, running them out of town, and then declaring, via their standards, which books/records you may see and or buy, acting as town censor. They've already been nailed via a great antitrust lawsuit regarding prescription drugs. Plaintiffs were a bunch of mom and pop pharmacies that were out priced for prescriptions and went out of business. After they were safely run into the ground, WalMart went and jacked up their prescription prices. Gotcha, Wally!!! Plaintiffs won their case, but such victories are few and far between, because the average mom and pop CAN'T take on the Wal Mart behemouth because WM's legal army is too huge and well funded.
But who gives a shit about small businesses when you can have Fun Treats Barbie for $2 less? Who gives a damn about decent benefits for a workforce -- why Wal Mart serves the working man, right? I've checked around, the prices I see at Wal Mart aren't that substantially less than other discout stores. Plus, the quality in there is CRAP. Clothes fall apart, stuff breaks down, etc. You pay for what you get. That's not giving the poor things they otherwise wouldn't have. That's just giving them the illusion of having such a thing. KMart has better quality, but Wal Mart's running them out of business too. |
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mereubu
= FB QuizMistress =
USA
2677 Posts |
Posted - 05/28/2003 : 18:28:03
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Preaching to the choir here, blackpurse. I already said their business practices are despicable, and yes I agree that they're very very bad. I wept bitter tears in 1993 when the Piggly Wiggly and the local hardware store closed. Pinko Wisconsinites, you have to remember that there is very little unionization south of the Manson-Nixon line! I shopped at Woodmans and my co-op when I lived in Madison, but this is a whole nuther world. I merely wanted to keep the demonization of Wal-Mart at a corporate level before it spread to the poor folk who have shitloads more to worry about in Mr. Bush's Wonderland about than where they shop.
Anyway, I'm having a very hormonal day and y'all will just have to forgive me. In case anyone's noticed, there's always a distinctly, um, cyclical aspect to my more inflammatory posts. Sorry. |
Edited by - mereubu on 05/28/2003 19:06:07 |
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mereubu
= FB QuizMistress =
USA
2677 Posts |
Posted - 05/28/2003 : 19:09:40
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quote:
Originally posted by Jason
I like Wal-Mart for groceries. They don't do that creepy "discount card" thing that almost all the other chains do.
This cracked me up. I sometimes feel as though the Kroger police are monitoring my every move through that freaking card. They get really bent out of shape if you forget it. |
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NimrodsSon
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1938 Posts |
Posted - 05/28/2003 : 19:37:51
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| I wanna know where the hell this wall-mart is that sells all frank black and pixies albums. The only stores over here in Atlanta that sell ANY Frank Black albums are Borders and Best Buy and a couple of huge record stores about an hour away from where I live, and the only albums they sell are the 2 new ones. The walmarts over here don't even sell Pixies albums |
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mereubu
= FB QuizMistress =
USA
2677 Posts |
Posted - 05/28/2003 : 19:42:03
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Walmart.com. The evil lurks even in cyberspace, apparently.
I wish to hell we had Borders here. We have Hastings and it sucks. They get one copy of every new FB album, and once I buy it, it's gone. Fuckers. |
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El Barto
= Song DB Master =
USA
4020 Posts |
Posted - 05/28/2003 : 19:46:22
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| Wal-Mart is a fucking piece of shit and I do not shop there. I couldn't be happier that I'm leaving this town because Wal-Mart just got approved to build a fucking store here. Goodbye K-Mart. Good luck all the rest of the small businesses. Part of the charm in this small town is all the local business...I don't mind paying extra at the local hardware store (which has been around since the Civil War) cause I know I'm buying quality. They just built a Wal-Mart 20 minutes up 81 and there's already one about 15 minutes down...this makes 3 Wal-Marts within a half hour drive of eachother. It's fucking disgusting. I couldn't agree more with blackpurse, who posted exactly how I feel, minus all my apathy :) Don't support Wal-Mart. |
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blackpurse
= Cult of Ray =
USA
299 Posts |
Posted - 05/29/2003 : 04:56:07
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quote:
Originally posted by mereubu
Preaching to the choir here, blackpurse. I already said their business practices are despicable, and yes I agree that they're very very bad. I wept bitter tears in 1993 when the Piggly Wiggly and the local hardware store closed. Pinko Wisconsinites, you have to remember that there is very little unionization south of the Manson-Nixon line! I shopped at Woodmans and my co-op when I lived in Madison, but this is a whole nuther world. I merely wanted to keep the demonization of Wal-Mart at a corporate level before it spread to the poor folk who have shitloads more to worry about in Mr. Bush's Wonderland about than where they shop.
Anyway, I'm having a very hormonal day and y'all will just have to forgive me. In case anyone's noticed, there's always a distinctly, um, cyclical aspect to my more inflammatory posts. Sorry.
Forgive me too. 22 weeks pregnant and I'm permanantly hormonal! (see my rant in the "Airplay" thread, if that's not a bitchy hormonal rant I don't know what is). But here's the thing. I have some issues with the way big labor is run, but overall, it DOES become an issue in the hands of the poor when they still shop there. The poor and the working poor shopping at Wal Mart does more to damage their chances of ever NOT being poor. It's essentially crossing a virtual picket line. Because those "cheap clothes" at Wal Mart are made by workers in foreign countries (in sweatshop conditions and pay, mind you), that's a shitload less jobs (with sustainable pay) available to the very poor who could use the money. Because Wal Mart spends a hefty amount in legal fees to avoid ever having to deal with a union, Wal Mart remains a haven of minimum-wage (hardly enough to get out of poverty), part-time, benefit-less "jobs" that does no good for the community except keeping bingo-playing gradmas off the streets. And back to censorship: it's not justswear words and sexual references. You'll see Rush Limbaugh's "The Way Things SHould BE" discounted at Wal Mart, but never Al Franken's "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot" there (even though Franken, like Michael Moore, at least bothers to cite his sources and not just wish things off the top of his head). You'll find Ann Coulter's books, but not Molly Ivins'. That's subtle politicizing -- and it's buying off the poor's sociopolitical power with cheap television sets. Wal Mart is evil.
Plus, and perhaps you've been too -- I've been there. Poor, I mean. Dirt fucking poor. Then "Working poor" (and "working" was working in community based orgs where the richest of my clientele were at the poverty line). The arrival of Wal Mart on the scene did absolutely no good for my clients. They were'nt suddenly able to run out and buy cheaper (or lets say, less expensive) stuff for their homes. Perhaps it's because I live in a big city, where healthy competition already existed, so Wal Mart wasn't this big savior, but the poor are still poor. But thanks to Wal Mart, they have Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter to read and KAthy Lee's sweatshop clothes on their backs, while their neighbor, the seamstress, is out of work.
There was a time when the concept of not crossing a picket line was a sacred trust among the poor and the working poor. It was very "we're in this together" and it gave the working man power. There are still pockets of this today (An example which brought a tear to my eye are the strippers/exotic dancers who are trying to unionize -- they're having actually an easier time of it in small union towns rather than big cities because as much as the mostly working class men who are their clientele want to see a strip show, their committment to the ethic of never crossing a picket line has made the strippers' union a reality in those small towns!!!). Wal Mart has successfully convinced the poor to not worry about your poor neighbor, you're not in this together, you have no power: it doesn't matter that there are children in Myanamar working 12 hour days for 50cents a week, it doesn't matter that nobody in town can find a job that pays better than minimum wage, it doesn't matter that a qualified woman is unlikely to get a management position there, it's immaterial that the guy greeting you at the door has no rights. Nike Shoes are on sale!!!!!
End rant. And I can't even take motrin!!!! |
Edited by - blackpurse on 05/29/2003 05:05:54 |
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blackpurse
= Cult of Ray =
USA
299 Posts |
Posted - 05/29/2003 : 05:26:38
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quote:
Originally posted by El Barto
Wal-Mart just got approved to build a fucking store here. Goodbye K-Mart. Good luck all the rest of the small businesses.
Same thing happened in my big city: there's a goddamn wal mart about 20 blocks from mine and steaknsabre's house. It replaced a mall that was having some problems, but was loaded with locally owned tenants (a really old mall, it was). Neighbors turned out by the hundreds to planning commission meetings begging them not to give Wally a permit to demolish and then build their butt ugly box in the 'hood, but Wally's got more power than the people who actually fucking live here.
The K Mart in our neighborhood closed last week. |
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El Barto
= Song DB Master =
USA
4020 Posts |
Posted - 05/29/2003 : 13:07:55
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| The thing is, I live in Shitsville, PA...these are small towns seperated by farmland (OK, so Carlisle and Chambersburg are medium, but Shippensburg is small, even tho there's a University here). Like...what the fuck. Wal-Mart makes me sick. |
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Carolynanna
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Canada
6556 Posts |
Posted - 05/29/2003 : 13:13:56
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Wow, I'm completely impressed that there are so many yanks that hate Walmart. I try at every moment possible to tell everyone I know not to shop there. Mostly because I think we Canadians should shop Canadian, but you're right about the small business factor.
I bet I don't have to tell everyone not to shop at the GAP, I think I'm gonna make my own shirts that say Gap with a big red circle and slash across it - Anti-Gap.
If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention. |
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El Barto
= Song DB Master =
USA
4020 Posts |
Posted - 05/29/2003 : 18:25:03
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| Carolyn, if you want to do even better (and get a nice smile out of it), make a shirt that says "Friends don't let friends shop at the GAP." I made one :) I ripped it off of a friend's idea, but damn it was a good idea. |
Edited by - El Barto on 05/29/2003 18:25:27 |
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Cult_Of_Frank
= Black Noise Maker =
Canada
11687 Posts |
Posted - 05/29/2003 : 20:46:34
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... but be sure to do it on an overpriced Gap shirt. Then smile at the irony as you use their own clothes to bring them down.
That is, if you can get past the fact that you are, in fact, buying the clothes from them to begin with... I don't condone stealing. :) |
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blackpurse
= Cult of Ray =
USA
299 Posts |
Posted - 05/30/2003 : 05:08:57
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quote:
Originally posted by Carolynanna
Wow, I'm completely impressed that there are so many yanks that hate Walmart. I try at every moment possible to tell everyone I know not to shop there. Mostly because I think we Canadians should shop Canadian, but you're right about the small business factor.
I bet I don't have to tell everyone not to shop at the GAP, I think I'm gonna make my own shirts that say Gap with a big red circle and slash across it - Anti-Gap.
If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.
I don't buy grownup clothes there (too overpriced plus they don't understand about women who are built like women!), but I have picked up a few cute child outfits (on clearance sale, of course. I can't bring myself to buy retail there!). I'm in the dark here, what's wrong with the Gap? (I'm embarassed, I'm usually in on the poop with evil empires...)
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jOb
- FB Fan -
Ireland
17 Posts |
Posted - 05/30/2003 : 05:36:48
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Of course I'd download it!I'd still buy it when it came out for the following reasons; to support FB & the C's, to get the album sleeve and graphics on the c.d and to add it to the collection!!! I wouldn't feel comfortable having a copied c.d of any artist in my collection...I'd feel like a criminal!It'd be tainted!!
By the way, 'the Black sessions'...how come that's never in FB's discography? |
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mereubu
= FB QuizMistress =
USA
2677 Posts |
Posted - 05/30/2003 : 08:59:18
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quote:
Originally posted by blackpurse
quote:
Originally posted by Carolynanna
Wow, I'm completely impressed that there are so many yanks that hate Walmart. I try at every moment possible to tell everyone I know not to shop there. Mostly because I think we Canadians should shop Canadian, but you're right about the small business factor.
I bet I don't have to tell everyone not to shop at the GAP, I think I'm gonna make my own shirts that say Gap with a big red circle and slash across it - Anti-Gap.
If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.
I don't buy grownup clothes there (too overpriced plus they don't understand about women who are built like women!), but I have picked up a few cute child outfits (on clearance sale, of course. I can't bring myself to buy retail there!). I'm in the dark here, what's wrong with the Gap? (I'm embarassed, I'm usually in on the poop with evil empires...)
It's been years since I've heard the exact reason why the Gap (and Old Navy too, of course) is bad, but if I remember correctly it's your basic sweatshop labor/child exploitation kinda thing. I swear, it's hard to find actual good places to shop. There are so many potential things to boycott, that you've got to pick your battles, I guess. (Example: I used cloth diapers when my daughter was a babe, and one greener(and much wealthier)-than-thou mother tsk-tsked and scolded me for not using unbleached diapers made out of organically grown cotton or hemp (which are very expensive). Now, we were on WIC and had just declared Chapter 7, so we were pretty damned poor at this point. She kept lecturing me, and I finally just had to say, "Look, lady, I'm doing what I can here, but if you think I'm going to give up a couple of weeks worth of grocery money for something's that's just going to get shat on, you're a lunatic." Sigh. Sometimes it depresses me that in order to vote with your wallet, you actually have to have a certain amount of money above and beyond the basic subsistence level.)
Back to our earlier W-M thing, I really do agree with you. I'm just saying that, from the perspective of the small-town poor folk, they love the damned place. Until there is either some alternative given to them or some education, nothing's going to happen there. (I actually had an employee in a small business that I patronize once tell me, "Well, actually, you can get this a lot cheaper over to the Wal-Mart." Arrggh!) Anyway, it's frustating.
Have a happy, hormonal Friday! :-) |
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Carolynanna
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Canada
6556 Posts |
Posted - 05/30/2003 : 09:17:51
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I understand what your saying about money mere, I would love to buy all my food organic but its so expensive and with a couple of kids, well....
And the reason WM can have such a vast array of cheap merchandise is because of their size, scales of economy.
I hate the GAP for quite an array of reasons some of which are,
1. They ruin songs that were once good with their cheesy commercials.
2. Those cheesy commercials tend to dictate who we should be. Like some people actually feel good about themselves simply because they are wearing a logo which has absolutely nothing to do with who they are.
3. Those cheesy commercials and advertising jack up the prices so much that it is virtually unaffordable for most of us, so only the elite get to wear the stuff or you waste a weeks worth of groceries on a gd teeshirt.
I could go on....
If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention. |
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Broken Face
-= Forum Pistolero =-
USA
5155 Posts |
Posted - 05/30/2003 : 18:39:15
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i took a very cool class this past semester called "God, Money and Power" - it was basically a social justice class, and you'd be surprised how many "intelligent" people have no idea about what goes on in the world. by far the worst thing that i heard was when my teacher had to explain to a 19 year old what a sweatshop was. this class was full of people wearing the most expensive, trendiest clothes, with their 150 dollar sneakers and hot shit cell phones with cutesy rings (unlike my kick ass self made "where is my mind" ring), and they really couldn't be bothered with certain concepts and ideas, the biggest one being that just because a store is in the mall doesn't mean that you should shop there. they seemed so detatched at the idea that their purchasing habits can make a difference that 90% of the class slept walked through it. one girl, a self professed millionaire, who was GIVEN a BMV during the semester, didn't see why she had to do three hours of community service for the class. THREE HOURS! maybe i'm just a hippie with better bathing/fashion habits, but three hours out of my life seems like a fair trade to see some good done in the world. these people were trying to defend wallmart's strategies and manuevers as if there was nothing wrong with them. "its good business." true, but ethics come into play somewhere, and that was the point that no one could seem to grasp - that by the way we act and how we put forth our ethical principles CAN make a difference.
i apologize to you all, i have a fever and a wicked cough and this is probably incoherant as fuck, but i got off on (yet another) rant...
-brian |
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mereubu
= FB QuizMistress =
USA
2677 Posts |
Posted - 05/30/2003 : 20:19:13
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Man, Brian, you get to take the coolest classes.
Yeah, I would totally believe that quite a few people haven't made the connection between business and ethics. Your generation is really the first group of people to have been targeted as a marketing demographic from the cradle. The economy was doing pretty well, no major conflicts going on, and what the U.S. seemed to want to produce was a large pool of hungry consumers to keep it all going. Nickelodeon, regardless of it's programming, basically seems to be one long commercial. (In some countries it's illegal to advertise to people below the age of 7 b/c they can't distinguish between advertising and "reality," but no effort is made here to protect children from marketing strategies.) Anyway, it's sad but true that a lot of folks don't know where things come from and, what's more, they don't want to know. And that's the message of the dominant consumer culture.
We're going to have to change the name of this thread soon!
Feel better. Drink lots of water. |
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Erebus
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1834 Posts |
Posted - 05/31/2003 : 08:12:05
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quote:
Originally posted by mereubu
We're going to have to change the name of this thread soon!
How about:
Unadulterated Moral Arrogance or
Altruism Run Amok or
You're Evil If You Disagree or
Fount of Ethical Truth or
Goosestepping on the Left or
Young Commies Go Wet |
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mereubu
= FB QuizMistress =
USA
2677 Posts |
Posted - 05/31/2003 : 08:36:22
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Gee, Erebus, I thought for sure that you'd cast your personal vote for:
Everybody But Me Is a Fucker
I personally prefer something more whimsical. Pinko Playhouse, perhaps? Marxist Mardi Gras? Boycott Bargain Outlet? Decisions, decisions. . .
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Broken Face
-= Forum Pistolero =-
USA
5155 Posts |
Posted - 05/31/2003 : 09:58:12
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i vote for pinko playhouse
-brian |
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Steak n Sabre
* Dog in the Sand *
Uzbekistan
1013 Posts |
Posted - 05/31/2003 : 14:26:33
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How about ' Casting Out False Prophets'...
"All Praise Bob" |
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Carolynanna
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Canada
6556 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2003 : 11:38:44
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I like Pinko Playhouse too. But I also like my signature, best bumper sticker I ever read.
If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention. |
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speedy_m
= Frankofile =
Canada
3581 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2003 : 13:37:53
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| The cycle of consumerism is designed to be never ending. Our "culture" is oriented in a such a way that the only thing we want is more. The "thing" or product or in question is irrelevant. It's simply more. For consumers, it's material goods. For corporations, it's money. For the men behind the coporations, it's power. I don't really know anything, that's just an observation. |
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Carolynanna
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Canada
6556 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2003 : 13:44:18
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A very astute observation speedy.
If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention. |
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Perhaps
- FB Fan -
133 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2003 : 16:47:06
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This thread started as a question about buying/downloading the album. It seldom answers that question. However, I think we all agree that we'd buy the album. It turns out, though, there will be few (if any) outlets to purchase the albumn on-line (i.e., without the plastic packaging). And if so, then, few (perhaps some) will use that avenue. So, for those who do not, they are acting in a way everyone thus far has degraded.
Maybe you all try your best. But it is not clear to me that shopping at WalMart, Kmart, or Quicky Mart is any worse than eating wheat germ, buying from mom and pop, or relegating to the bike paths. I don't go to walmart, drive a car, or go to quicky mart. I don't give a shit about who does. But, no matter how many reasons one gives me, it is simply not clear to me that one choice is better than another. Maybe even walmart is the better choice.
Certainly it is a shame to not be educated about such matters (a sweat"what"?). But, do we know if people in sweat shops aren't getting paid at rates greater than before? Certainly dismal by American standards; but remember, we're the ones that need to do all the spending. Why is it automatically atrocious to anyone that there is small amounts of money and meager livelihood in other places? Because for most people in america happiness is even worse than a warm gun, it's money. Why not prefer to be in a sweat shop? Work for food and shelter, not cd's and things. What is the stuff of life anyway?
If I remember correctly, GAP did a commercial-though it may have been SNL. If it was GAP they earned my respect (but not my $). Will Ferrell doing "forever in blue jeans". No add can beat that. And this one makes it even more difficult to (pretend) that I can look from outside-in. That somehow I can act and speak as if I am not a part of it in one way or another. For some reason, if Will Ferrell can get them in blue jeas, then I simply have to raise my hands, shake my head, and laugh. Because it is all pretty funny. Oh yeah, what am I doing watching commercials anyway? |
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speedy_m
= Frankofile =
Canada
3581 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2003 : 19:31:59
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| The issue at hand seems to be ethics. Personal ethics are just that, they will vary from person to person. However, show me someone who will argue that exploitation is ever okay, or that dishonesty in any form is excusable in the name of the all mighty dollar; these are the people who both create and allow the type of things you have described to thrive. Why don't you try living in the conditions you assume someone might "prefer", and then see how cute the Gap ads are. I'm no social aid worker, and I even own a jacket from the Gap. I like that jacket a lot. Perhaps if I were more aware of the things Gap was accused of(and could be reasonably sure they were true) at the time, I may have reconsidered my purchase. If that's not clear to you, and if you "don't give a shit", then are you either exceedingly unintelligent or just apathatic and ignorant. |
Edited by - speedy_m on 06/02/2003 22:18:09 |
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Perhaps
- FB Fan -
133 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2003 : 07:47:23
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| Unintelligent or ignorant or apathatic; we could probably throw a bunch more into the pot. The point is, that what one may "find out" or come to "know" about a certain institution can only be interpreted through the lens one has. With that comes an extensive (exhaustive) set of biases which require the use of one's own perspective (in this case a worldview). I am not comfortable suggesting what is right/wrong for other people (cultures die off, customs end, and people suffer do to such human assumptions). I only know about my own experience, and can suppose I know the experiences of others around me (though this gets people in trouble too). People get blinded from interpreting their own behavior. They sit on a fence between two fields they roam in. That that happens is the point. If I may preach, it is to suggest that a rant does not absolve a ranter. |
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Carolynanna
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Canada
6556 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2003 : 09:01:14
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Well the thing that scares me is that it seems that at some point this whole world will be owned by one big corporation. There are a few really big companies that own so many brands but we don't realize it because they market by the brand name and not the company name. Proctor and Gamble own so many subsidiaries its crazy and GM too. In a marketing class of mine I found that Sara Lee (you know the cakes...) owns Playtex which does bras and feminine hygiene products, they also own l'eggs which is pantyhose and they own a lot more. But how would we know that. These corporations also acquire small businesses that might seem like a threat. Monopolies are not good!
How about we call this thread "Damn the Man".
If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention. |
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Perhaps
- FB Fan -
133 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2003 : 09:26:05
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| I am not affraid of the companies as much as of the folk. Lat night we were discussing this outlandish theory that the dinosaurs farted themselves off the planet (something about gas and atmoshpere). Whether the theory is sound (I do not study gaseous phenomenon) it seems rather close to what our demise wil be. In a sense we will fart ourselves out of existence. Finally I can wash my hands of trying to solve this. Consumerism is flatulance. I am at peace. |
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Carolynanna
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Canada
6556 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2003 : 09:48:59
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Well Perhaps you're right about something. We will probably have destroyed our planet way before we have to worry about this other stuff hey?
If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention. |
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Cult_Of_Frank
= Black Noise Maker =
Canada
11687 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2003 : 21:08:21
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| Carolynanna, all this talk of multinats... have you read Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy (though I think there's now a fourth book)? As much about politics and the earth today as about humanity and the red/green/blue planet tomorrow. Chef recommends. |
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Carolynanna
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Canada
6556 Posts |
Posted - 06/04/2003 : 08:54:03
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Dean,
No I haven't read that but I'm interested, I'll be looking it up. I should have taken more polisci classes.
And pioneer, nothing you could say could convince of anything good about McDonald's. They tax the hell out of cigarettes here ($10 a pack) yet how many people have health problems due to poor diet. They poison us with their slop and give my kids a toy and tell them to put a smile on. I went to a festival here called Heritage days where people put on displays of different countries/cultures. Anyways, I don't know why but McDonald's had a display and there was Ronald in all his glory telling all the kids how great it would be to have their b-day parties at the golden arches. Hmmmmm, and the consumer has choices hey?
If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention. |
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Carolynanna
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Canada
6556 Posts |
Posted - 06/04/2003 : 10:46:48
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You know, for me, it all has to do with the concentration of wealth and power on this planet. Ideally, I would like to see a fair(er) distribution and thats really about it.
If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention. |
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blackpurse
= Cult of Ray =
USA
299 Posts |
Posted - 06/04/2003 : 11:04:09
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quote:
Originally posted by Carolynanna
You know, for me, it all has to do with the concentration of wealth and power on this planet. Ideally, I would like to see a fair(er) distribution and thats really about it.
that's pretty much it. On one hand, I respect anybody who works hard and does a good job to have more and perhaps live a little nicer than somebody who sloughs off, but if you look at the concentration of wealth, there comes a point when you just don't NEED that much money, yet they amass it beyond the point of need, while there are people who are starving. NIKE's Phil Knight does not NEED to pay people less than a buck a week to still live the life of luxury he does. McDonald's could make a more healthful product and still rake it in.
(It's hard for me to diss McDonalds. I don't deny everything you said, but my part-time job at Mickeys put me through school -- I was allowed to choose my hours and work around my classes -- very hard to diss them without sounding hypocritical. Nonetheless, I have trained my 4 1/2 year old to believe that "McDonald's is lame" and she continues to say -- and believe it -- because of the positive adult reinforcement she gets whenever she says it. Phew, we have one in our neighborhood and it's taken a year, but she never bugs me to go there anymore!) |
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