The Cruelty of Capitalism
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Thanos @ Wed Aug 16, 2023 7:37 pm
$1:
The oddest thing about free market capitalism is that it can make it's most vehement & antagonistic critics* very rich.
- Douglas Murray
- Douglas Murray
* see Michael Moore, Noam Chomsky, David Suzuki, legions of entertainment industry mouthbreathers, hordes of legacy media reporters/journalists/show hosts, endless numbers of Democratic candidates, and a brand new host of "democratic socialist" podcasters & YouTubers as evidence
Scape @ Wed Aug 16, 2023 8:03 pm
None of which are billionaires.
Thanos @ Wed Aug 16, 2023 8:31 pm
Nah, they just work for or are owned by billionaires, just like everyone else is.
DrCaleb @ Tue Aug 22, 2023 7:25 pm
G20 poured more than $1tn on fossil fuel subsidies despite Cop26 pledges – report
Why does a super profitable industry need to be subsidised? ![[huh]](./images/smilies/icon_scratch.gif "huh?"){kind=icon}
rickc @ Wed Aug 23, 2023 12:30 am
Scape Scape:
I admit that I spend way too much time on social media and youtube, but what the hell its free. Years ago (seems more like a lifetime now) before the pandemic I used to see people on social media saying things like: "hey come work here, its a great place to work with great pay and great benefits", "the management team is great, they really take care of their people". I seen people saying things like that, and I personally knew people that said things like that. No one says things like that any more. Its literally been years since I have seen or heard any one saying any thing close to those remarks.
Some employers lost a lot of money during the shutdown, Some employers seen their profits increase, like fast food restaurants. They got to lock their dining rooms and only sell through the drive thru. Tables don't get dirty when no one is sitting at them. Floors don't get dirty when no one is walking on them. You don't need 10 cashiers when only the drive thru is open. All the sit down restaurants are closed so the drive thrus are doing a lot more business with a lot less people working. Most fast food restaurants could get by with three people: a cook, a cashier working the window, and a manager to fill in the gaps. Sales up, profits up, payroll down. I am honestly surprised that the dining rooms opened back up. The Mcdonalds near me kept their dining room closed for years. Now that it finally reopened it only has one cashier. There are kiosks taking the place of cashiers. The businesses that did have to shut down went into survival mode. They put in place drastic cost saving measures to ensure the survival of the company. They eliminated or drastically slashed matching contributions to retirement accounts. They lowered peoples hours below fulltime to eliminate benefits like medical, dental, etc. They cut pay for salaried people then worked them to death. Some people I know were on 12 hour shifts 6 days a week. They eliminated positions for people that had been there a long time and had four weeks vacation so they could hire new people for less money and no vacation.
Companies went into survival mode, but they never came out. Its been over three years since the pandemic started but companies are acting like its still a thing. The retirement match money never came back. The people never came back. Companies say that they can't get anyone to work but thats bullshit. In my city there are thousands of workers that were never called back. The hotels purposely kept areas closed for years hoping that the workers would have to take other jobs just to survive. They started charging customers for valet parking. Who is going to want to tip the valet when they have to pay an outrageous fee to valet park as well? No one. The valets lost their tips which is what they were working for. Hotels starting charging "resort fees" for using the same pool that people had been using for 20 years now. They started charging people to self park at the hotel, the same hotel that self parking had been free for 50 years. Restaurants starting adding bullshit charges to the bill claiming that its a "service charge" or a charge so that they can provide medical benefits to the wait staff. The wait staff gets their medical insurance through their union. Guests get pissed off about paying more money to the hotel restaurant so they tip less to the wait staff. The wait staff live off of their tips. Its all bullshit.
Companies went into survival mode and never came out. They found that those cost cutting measures equals more profit, way more profit. They are not about to give up that profit any time soon. I personally do not know one person that has a favorable opinion about their employer. They might like what they do but they hate who they work for. All the companies are lying, cheating, thieving bastards these days. A "squeeze every last fucking cent out of them" mentality has taken over business in the U.S. these days. No one gives a shit about service any more. I hate my fucking job because I hate my fucking employer. All my co workers feel the same way. Everyone I know in this city feels the same way. We (our hotel casinos ) stick it up the customers ass and break it off. We fuck them every way you can imagine. We take what should be a cheap vacation and nickel dime them to death. Its death by a thousand cuts, or in our case a thousand surcharges. When they (legitimately ) bitch about something we are supposed to gaslight them into thinking that they are the problem. Everyone is happy but them. Thats kind of hard to do when the complaint line is out the door. I am supposed to piss down peoples back and tell them that its raining. I don't get paid enough to defend that greedy cock sucker. People know when they are getting fucked, and they sure as hell know when we are throwing in sand for good measure. Its only a matter of time before someone goes off and shoots up the place again. You can only push people so far.
American businesses have reached a new pinnacle of greed and thievery. That said do NOT think that I am calling for socialism to save the day. People risk their lives to escape that bullshit. There are people living in socialist shitholes that would give their left nut to flip burgers in the U.S. They would probably be way more successful than the average American as well. Socialism caters to the lowest common denominator. The last thing that we need now is a bunch of stoner video game playing douchebags in their 40's (that are still living with their parents) thinking that they can do a better job of running companies than the people who actually got off of their asses and created the company. The best way to handle this problem is to vote with your wallet. Quit doing business with greedy assholes. Send a letter to corporate letting them know that you will return when the bullshit surcharges are gone. Get your sentiment out on social media and encourage other people to do the same. People complaining got self check out registers taken out of my local grocery store. Thats how its done. The government didn't do it, the people did. We need to see more of that. The people telling the companies how it needs to be, the companies listening because they need the money.
Scape @ Wed Aug 23, 2023 1:44 am
^^6 years ago pre-covid.
The snake is eating its own tail and it will eat you to if you let it. Uber, Spotify, Amazon and all of these low cost 'gig' economy based upon 'part time' labour with minimal standards can work when the initial investment money and buzz is high. Once the market is saturated and they have driven out the competition they then corner the market and up the price just like a trailer park that is full and know you are locked in. An economy that feasts upon itself is not sustainable and post covid the cracks are really showing in our housing, healthcare and economy.
It's not that capitalism is heresy but it does require a new deal as the ship of state is listing. We are top heavy and we have far to few with far too much. Robber barons would blush at the likes of Elon and Zuckerberg but even they are a very small part of the 1% and none of those billionaires are going to help you save your house from fires and floods from the climate catastrophe that is just getting started. We don't need a Nero fiddling while Kelowna burns.
Scape @ Wed Aug 23, 2023 2:03 am
We Are Witnessing the First Stages of Civilization’s Collapse
$1:
The question today is: Will our own elites perform any better than the rulers of Chaco Canyon, the Mayan heartland, and Viking Greenland?
It’s also evident that Diamond’s second precursor to collapse, the refusal to alter agricultural and industrial methods of production which only aggravate or—in the case of fossil-fuel consumption—simply cause the crisis, is growing ever more obvious. At the top of any list would be a continuing reliance on oil, coal, and natural gas, the leading sources of the greenhouse gases (GHGs) now overheating our atmosphere and oceans.
Finally, today’s powerful elites are choosing to perpetuate practices known to accelerate climate change and global devastation. Among the most egregious, the decision of top executives of the ExxonMobil Corporation—the world’s largest and wealthiest privately-owned oil company—to continue pumping oil and gas for endless decades after their scientists warned them about the risks of global warming and affirmed that Exxon’s operations would only amplify them. As early as the 1970s, Exxon’s scientists predicted that the firm’s fossil-fuel products could lead to global warming with “dramatic environmental effects before the year 2050.” Yet, as has been well documented, Exxon officials responded by investing company funds in casting doubt on climate change research, even financing think tanks focused on climate denialism. Had they instead broadcast their scientists’ findings and worked to speed the transition to alternative fuels, the world would be in a far less precarious position today.
It’s also evident that Diamond’s second precursor to collapse, the refusal to alter agricultural and industrial methods of production which only aggravate or—in the case of fossil-fuel consumption—simply cause the crisis, is growing ever more obvious. At the top of any list would be a continuing reliance on oil, coal, and natural gas, the leading sources of the greenhouse gases (GHGs) now overheating our atmosphere and oceans.
Finally, today’s powerful elites are choosing to perpetuate practices known to accelerate climate change and global devastation. Among the most egregious, the decision of top executives of the ExxonMobil Corporation—the world’s largest and wealthiest privately-owned oil company—to continue pumping oil and gas for endless decades after their scientists warned them about the risks of global warming and affirmed that Exxon’s operations would only amplify them. As early as the 1970s, Exxon’s scientists predicted that the firm’s fossil-fuel products could lead to global warming with “dramatic environmental effects before the year 2050.” Yet, as has been well documented, Exxon officials responded by investing company funds in casting doubt on climate change research, even financing think tanks focused on climate denialism. Had they instead broadcast their scientists’ findings and worked to speed the transition to alternative fuels, the world would be in a far less precarious position today.
We are near a Bronze Age style collapse of our society. I do not see our elites saving the planet but ushering in the demise.
DrCaleb @ Wed Aug 23, 2023 5:58 am
Scape Scape:
We are near a Bronze Age style collapse of our society. I do not see our elites saving the planet but ushering in the demise.
It's hard to choose what industry to go into. Torches and pitchforks, or hanging rope?
Scape @ Fri Aug 25, 2023 3:28 pm
Thanos @ Sat Aug 26, 2023 12:00 pm
Sometimes the market dishes out some very satisfying natural justice on its own.....
https://www.thedailybeast.com/better-ce ... e?ref=home
Ahhh, it's so nice when it finally happens to one of them.
Zipperfish @ Mon Aug 28, 2023 9:51 am
rickc rickc:
I admit that I spend way too much time on social media and youtube, but what the hell its free. Years ago (seems more like a lifetime now) before the pandemic I used to see people on social media saying things like: "hey come work here, its a great place to work with great pay and great benefits", "the management team is great, they really take care of their people". I seen people saying things like that, and I personally knew people that said things like that. No one says things like that any more. Its literally been years since I have seen or heard any one saying any thing close to those remarks.
Some employers lost a lot of money during the shutdown, Some employers seen their profits increase, like fast food restaurants. They got to lock their dining rooms and only sell through the drive thru. Tables don't get dirty when no one is sitting at them. Floors don't get dirty when no one is walking on them. You don't need 10 cashiers when only the drive thru is open. All the sit down restaurants are closed so the drive thrus are doing a lot more business with a lot less people working. Most fast food restaurants could get by with three people: a cook, a cashier working the window, and a manager to fill in the gaps. Sales up, profits up, payroll down. I am honestly surprised that the dining rooms opened back up. The Mcdonalds near me kept their dining room closed for years. Now that it finally reopened it only has one cashier. There are kiosks taking the place of cashiers. The businesses that did have to shut down went into survival mode. They put in place drastic cost saving measures to ensure the survival of the company. They eliminated or drastically slashed matching contributions to retirement accounts. They lowered peoples hours below fulltime to eliminate benefits like medical, dental, etc. They cut pay for salaried people then worked them to death. Some people I know were on 12 hour shifts 6 days a week. They eliminated positions for people that had been there a long time and had four weeks vacation so they could hire new people for less money and no vacation.
Companies went into survival mode, but they never came out. Its been over three years since the pandemic started but companies are acting like its still a thing. The retirement match money never came back. The people never came back. Companies say that they can't get anyone to work but thats bullshit. In my city there are thousands of workers that were never called back. The hotels purposely kept areas closed for years hoping that the workers would have to take other jobs just to survive. They started charging customers for valet parking. Who is going to want to tip the valet when they have to pay an outrageous fee to valet park as well? No one. The valets lost their tips which is what they were working for. Hotels starting charging "resort fees" for using the same pool that people had been using for 20 years now. They started charging people to self park at the hotel, the same hotel that self parking had been free for 50 years. Restaurants starting adding bullshit charges to the bill claiming that its a "service charge" or a charge so that they can provide medical benefits to the wait staff. The wait staff gets their medical insurance through their union. Guests get pissed off about paying more money to the hotel restaurant so they tip less to the wait staff. The wait staff live off of their tips. Its all bullshit.
Companies went into survival mode and never came out. They found that those cost cutting measures equals more profit, way more profit. They are not about to give up that profit any time soon. I personally do not know one person that has a favorable opinion about their employer. They might like what they do but they hate who they work for. All the companies are lying, cheating, thieving bastards these days. A "squeeze every last fucking cent out of them" mentality has taken over business in the U.S. these days. No one gives a shit about service any more. I hate my fucking job because I hate my fucking employer. All my co workers feel the same way. Everyone I know in this city feels the same way. We (our hotel casinos ) stick it up the customers ass and break it off. We fuck them every way you can imagine. We take what should be a cheap vacation and nickel dime them to death. Its death by a thousand cuts, or in our case a thousand surcharges. When they (legitimately ) bitch about something we are supposed to gaslight them into thinking that they are the problem. Everyone is happy but them. Thats kind of hard to do when the complaint line is out the door. I am supposed to piss down peoples back and tell them that its raining. I don't get paid enough to defend that greedy cock sucker. People know when they are getting fucked, and they sure as hell know when we are throwing in sand for good measure. Its only a matter of time before someone goes off and shoots up the place again. You can only push people so far.
American businesses have reached a new pinnacle of greed and thievery. That said do NOT think that I am calling for socialism to save the day. People risk their lives to escape that bullshit. There are people living in socialist shitholes that would give their left nut to flip burgers in the U.S. They would probably be way more successful than the average American as well. Socialism caters to the lowest common denominator. The last thing that we need now is a bunch of stoner video game playing douchebags in their 40's (that are still living with their parents) thinking that they can do a better job of running companies than the people who actually got off of their asses and created the company. The best way to handle this problem is to vote with your wallet. Quit doing business with greedy assholes. Send a letter to corporate letting them know that you will return when the bullshit surcharges are gone. Get your sentiment out on social media and encourage other people to do the same. People complaining got self check out registers taken out of my local grocery store. Thats how its done. The government didn't do it, the people did. We need to see more of that. The people telling the companies how it needs to be, the companies listening because they need the money.
Some employers lost a lot of money during the shutdown, Some employers seen their profits increase, like fast food restaurants. They got to lock their dining rooms and only sell through the drive thru. Tables don't get dirty when no one is sitting at them. Floors don't get dirty when no one is walking on them. You don't need 10 cashiers when only the drive thru is open. All the sit down restaurants are closed so the drive thrus are doing a lot more business with a lot less people working. Most fast food restaurants could get by with three people: a cook, a cashier working the window, and a manager to fill in the gaps. Sales up, profits up, payroll down. I am honestly surprised that the dining rooms opened back up. The Mcdonalds near me kept their dining room closed for years. Now that it finally reopened it only has one cashier. There are kiosks taking the place of cashiers. The businesses that did have to shut down went into survival mode. They put in place drastic cost saving measures to ensure the survival of the company. They eliminated or drastically slashed matching contributions to retirement accounts. They lowered peoples hours below fulltime to eliminate benefits like medical, dental, etc. They cut pay for salaried people then worked them to death. Some people I know were on 12 hour shifts 6 days a week. They eliminated positions for people that had been there a long time and had four weeks vacation so they could hire new people for less money and no vacation.
Companies went into survival mode, but they never came out. Its been over three years since the pandemic started but companies are acting like its still a thing. The retirement match money never came back. The people never came back. Companies say that they can't get anyone to work but thats bullshit. In my city there are thousands of workers that were never called back. The hotels purposely kept areas closed for years hoping that the workers would have to take other jobs just to survive. They started charging customers for valet parking. Who is going to want to tip the valet when they have to pay an outrageous fee to valet park as well? No one. The valets lost their tips which is what they were working for. Hotels starting charging "resort fees" for using the same pool that people had been using for 20 years now. They started charging people to self park at the hotel, the same hotel that self parking had been free for 50 years. Restaurants starting adding bullshit charges to the bill claiming that its a "service charge" or a charge so that they can provide medical benefits to the wait staff. The wait staff gets their medical insurance through their union. Guests get pissed off about paying more money to the hotel restaurant so they tip less to the wait staff. The wait staff live off of their tips. Its all bullshit.
Companies went into survival mode and never came out. They found that those cost cutting measures equals more profit, way more profit. They are not about to give up that profit any time soon. I personally do not know one person that has a favorable opinion about their employer. They might like what they do but they hate who they work for. All the companies are lying, cheating, thieving bastards these days. A "squeeze every last fucking cent out of them" mentality has taken over business in the U.S. these days. No one gives a shit about service any more. I hate my fucking job because I hate my fucking employer. All my co workers feel the same way. Everyone I know in this city feels the same way. We (our hotel casinos ) stick it up the customers ass and break it off. We fuck them every way you can imagine. We take what should be a cheap vacation and nickel dime them to death. Its death by a thousand cuts, or in our case a thousand surcharges. When they (legitimately ) bitch about something we are supposed to gaslight them into thinking that they are the problem. Everyone is happy but them. Thats kind of hard to do when the complaint line is out the door. I am supposed to piss down peoples back and tell them that its raining. I don't get paid enough to defend that greedy cock sucker. People know when they are getting fucked, and they sure as hell know when we are throwing in sand for good measure. Its only a matter of time before someone goes off and shoots up the place again. You can only push people so far.
American businesses have reached a new pinnacle of greed and thievery. That said do NOT think that I am calling for socialism to save the day. People risk their lives to escape that bullshit. There are people living in socialist shitholes that would give their left nut to flip burgers in the U.S. They would probably be way more successful than the average American as well. Socialism caters to the lowest common denominator. The last thing that we need now is a bunch of stoner video game playing douchebags in their 40's (that are still living with their parents) thinking that they can do a better job of running companies than the people who actually got off of their asses and created the company. The best way to handle this problem is to vote with your wallet. Quit doing business with greedy assholes. Send a letter to corporate letting them know that you will return when the bullshit surcharges are gone. Get your sentiment out on social media and encourage other people to do the same. People complaining got self check out registers taken out of my local grocery store. Thats how its done. The government didn't do it, the people did. We need to see more of that. The people telling the companies how it needs to be, the companies listening because they need the money.
My kids are young adults now. My son comes from two professional parents. And he went to a high school in an affluent neighborhood where all the kids came from privileged backgrounds. But they are just checking out. My son and so many of his friends are completely disinterested in the work force. They take service jobs until the boss pisses them off, then go find another service job.
I don't know if it was the pandemic, or all the doom and gloom in the papers about the end of the world, or the fact that in Vancouver you need to make mid-six figures to have your own place, or the fact that jobs are just shitty now, but it's epidemic. The kids are not all right.
Canada's response, apparently, will be to take a record number of immigrants, even though there's a housing crisis in a lot of major cities. Politicians would rather engage in culture wars than address the fact that more and more Canadians are living cheque to cheque, accumulating debt they'll never pay off, paying higher prices every week, being taxed more and more by every level of government, and sinking from the middle class into the lower class.
If you're a conservative you should support busting up the oligarchies in telecom, energy, groceries and rewarding risk, competition and innovation. If you're a liberal you should support rent controls, building low-income housing. But nobody is doing any of this.
Because the politicians and media are millionaires working for billionaires, and that's all there is to it.
DrCaleb @ Mon Aug 28, 2023 10:18 am
Zipperfish Zipperfish:
If you're a conservative you should support busting up the oligarchies in telecom, energy, groceries and rewarding risk, competition and innovation. If you're a liberal you should support rent controls, building low-income housing. But nobody is doing any of this.
Because the politicians and media are millionaires working for billionaires, and that's all there is to it.
Because the politicians and media are millionaires working for billionaires, and that's all there is to it.
Testify!
Scape @ Mon Aug 28, 2023 10:46 pm
Stock Buybacks: How Grocers Eat Themselves
$1:
In the past several years, Loblaws, Metro and Empire have spent billions on their own stock – And at a time of food price inflation and grocery workers on strike.
Why are they doing it? And why do some economists say stock buybacks should be abolished?
Why are they doing it? And why do some economists say stock buybacks should be abolished?
And airlines, real estate, tech companies...
Stock buybacks are the primary driver of greedflation. Money that was spent on wages, equipment and expanding is instead reinvested into stockholder dividends.
DrCaleb @ Sat Sep 02, 2023 7:08 am
Scape @ Tue Sep 05, 2023 7:44 pm
Not the 1st controversy Sabine has gotten herself into. In general her content is solid as long as she sticks to her expertise. When she colors outside the lines into subjective issues she gets into hot water.
There were A LOT of flaws in her video and I would have to take issue with that video not for the errors but it was out of scope and below her usual high standard. Oh well, everyone has an off day but we still have the issue that capitalism is the worst system we have save all the other predecessors that were far worse.
Time to build a better mousetrap.
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