Gotcha Capitalism

[Gaspar]

quote:Originally posted by waterboy

quote:Originally posted by Gaspar

quote:Originally posted by FOTD

They always have in order to keep the playing field level.....

For that, you frighten me.  

This goes beyond discussion of free market economics and descends into socialist, communist and/or fascist theory.

I have gone back and read many of your previous threads and have come to the conclusion that logical discussion about capitalist economic theory is not possible with you because you are in no way a capitalist.

I really don't care how you wish to label yourself, your posts provide the label that we will extend to you.  

You hate "big business" (which is just a code name for "success").  

You want to "level the playing field" so that those who have devoted their lives to ambitious and successful endeavors are treated no better than the loafers.

You drip with hatred for the people and positions that this country is built on.  . . . and are willing to adopt wild and outlandish conspiracies to strengthen your venom.

You consistently trash this forum with garbage articles and angry posts that serve no purpose but to scare off logical discussion.  

CF stands up to you every day and makes you look like an angry child.  

You actually make me like Obama less, just because he appeals to people with your mindset.  

All that said, there is nothing wrong with being a liberal.  I'm glad that you spend your day posting your opinions.  I think you serve as a force to expose to some fledgling liberals what happens when you take the liberal mindset too far.  

I notice that you have a small group of fans who are busy developing their own political philosophies, I encourage you to continue your rants and display to them what happens when you remove logic and personal responsibility from philosophical debate.  

"That's all I've got to say about that."

Gaspar, is there a Socialist, Fascist, Communist under every bed? Must we continue to hear rants to that effect everytime Capitalism is critiqued? And for gawd's sake, the world isn't bifurcated into Liberals and Conservatives. Its a continuum with people sprinkled all over it. Your obsession with labelling people and placing them into convenient mail slots just makes you sound like a political functionary. FOTD makes people, like you and CF, think...defend...and analyze. You should be thanking him.

And another thing for you economic geniuses. I don't like excessive govt. intervention either. But you ignore the fact that although there are no formal oligopolies (thats a tough one to spell) these huge companies do indeed share executives, lobbyists, and board members. They golf, drink, cheat, travel and attend seminars together. But somehow you think they cut each others throats? Loyalty is a laugher for these guys.  Business at the corporate level is an informal process of checks and balances that negates the competitive process. Its Washington without the burden of re-election. Somehow, products, quality and price all seem to be remarkably similar with the appearance of marketing territories that are the result of gentlemen's agreements. If they're real successful they whore out to a government job in a regulating agency. But, honestly, there's no official collusion. Really. Honestly.

I just bought a Hamilton Beach Wave Machine blender that was built in China and imported through a Mexican company to America. It broke on its first use. Upon inspection the design, using plastic and hard rubber gears, ensured its failure. How it ever made it to market is amazing, but even more amazing is how stupid I was to trust an old American brand whose only goal was to reduce price cause the buyer is stupid and won't notice till we cash the check. They were right.

I appreciate what you started saying in defense of FOTD, very well put, and I did thank FOTD for his frequent and colorful posts.  

I am not obsessed with labeling anyone, I just wanted Friend of The Devil to know that absolutely every position he has taken on this forum reflect  Socialist and/or Fascist philosophy.  Any mention of free market, or capitalist economic subject matter gets barraged with negative, angry posts by the devil's bud. Just read the entire thread "The Economy".

You began to make your point well in this post.  You were on point, and did a good job of highlighting my more emotional and, partially unfair, accusations towards FOTD. . .BUT then you slipped back into (indirectly) blaming the US government for your purchase of a crappy blender.  What a disappointment!

I don't feel that it is the responsibility of government to read Consumer Reports for you and recommend what products you should or shouldn't be able to purchase.  When dealing with any business, it is the consumer's responsibility to exercise the freedom to make decisions, even if they are poor ones.  

In our free market system, we vote with our dollars, and eventually Hamilton Beach will suffer from your purchase of a bad blender.  Imagine how many hundreds of people read this forum daily that will now refrain from buying Hamelton Beach products?  

Congratulations you have essentially made your mark and influenced the blender market without any government regulation, or limits placed on freedom.  I'm sorry that you are out your blender investment, but I assume you will now be a far better educated consumer of blenders.  This is the free market, and the only time that government should intervene is when the safety of the public is at stake.

Am I somehow off base?  I harbor no disrespect for anyone.  If I am applying a label to someone I want to make sure it fits properly. []

[waterboy]

Well, thanks for the critique.[8D] Nah, I don't blame the US government for my dumb decision to buy a product that is the result of poor management of the global opportunities that Hamilton/Beach made use of. I'll take the dang thing back to Penneys and get my money back. Was just commenting that it is getting harder and harder to be an astute customer of anything. Corporates have the edge and paired with lobbyists, lawyers, and politicians they rule. By the time the public learns of HB's exploits in cheap labor, cheap design and fraudulent claims on their packaging...they will have sold off to a Chinese manufacturer, taken their profits and headed towards another hapless brand. But would more regulation stop them? Not likely. Just make a cheap product more expensive. More business integrity would though.

[Gaspar]

quote:Originally posted by waterboy

Well, thanks for the critique.[8D] Nah, I don't blame the US government for my dumb decision to buy a product that is the result of poor management of the global opportunities that Hamilton/Beach made use of. I'll take the dang thing back to Penneys and get my money back. Was just commenting that it is getting harder and harder to be an astute customer of anything. Corporates have the edge and paired with lobbyists, lawyers, and politicians they rule. By the time the public learns of HB's exploits in cheap labor, cheap design and fraudulent claims on their packaging...they will have sold off to a Chinese manufacturer, taken their profits and headed towards another hapless brand. But would more regulation stop them? Not likely. Just make a cheap product more expensive. More business integrity would though.

100%  +1

P.S. I have an old Whirring (I believe that's the brand) blender that my grandmother left to me.  It weighs a ton, but has outlasted my wife's 2 Osters and 1 kitchenaid.  It has a metal sprocket that fits into the bottom of the glass.  I think it was the original blender the cave men used!  

All my wife's blenders suffered from terminal margarita syndrome (when the hardness of the ice causes the rubber or plastic sprocket to rip apart).

[waterboy]

The funny thing is that my wife wanted to buy another blender because she thought my old General Electric blender circa 1969 that my granny gave me, might break and she wanted to give it a rest. Its like your Waring. Heavy metal base, stainless blades, metal gears, heavy glass...built to withstand years of abuse. It probably cost $12.95 in the day. What, $30 in todays dollars? The new one was $20, plastic and hard rubber.[]