Stupid is as stupid does and stupidity votes Obama

[Guynemer]

With Ben around, you gotta troll harder than that to even register on the radar, man.

x-post x2

[Hauldren Collider]

They are afraid of its presence and 'competition' because a huge megastore can source goods from around the world at the very lowest prices, force suppliers to accept very low prices for their goods, artificially keep prices on some items low and generally undercut any small business they choose.

How does this hurt consumers? Also, predatory pricing is illegal.

[Ben Kenobi]

huge megastore can source goods from around the world

Kentonio - not everyone has access to these goods - especially areas in the hinterland. Walmart brings in good that were not previously available, and in large quantities, to people who demanded such things but couldn't afford to ship them up.

[kentonio]

How does this hurt consumers?

It has positive effects (ie reducing prices on many goods, introducing large range of item choices) but also reduces the choice of places you get to shop. The most important part however is that it often completely devastates local businesses. Say you have a small town with a thriving high street and a Walmart opens nearby. Next thing you have businesses closing down throughout the town, the high street dying and the whole character of that town changing substantially.

I'm not being completely one sided on this by the way, I can see the benefits of megastores and in places they can do a lot of good, but it's important to also recognize that they bring with them some pretty severe side effects that are outside the simple 'people get cheap prices' equation.

Also, predatory pricing is illegal.

Welcome to the world of large megastores.

Kentonio - not everyone has access to these goods - especially areas in the hinterland. Walmart brings in good that were not previously available, and in large quantities, to people who demanded such things but couldn't afford to ship them up.

This is a very fair point, but they also undercut small businesses who may have been offering the same product already. As a small business it's just not possible to compete on prices with a company that sources it's goods by the millions of tons.

[Ben Kenobi]

they also undercut small businesses who may have been offering the same product already.

I used to work for one of the small local businesses that was a Walmart competitor. We offered everything Walmart didn't - excellent customer service, trained staff, small store and good products. We also had a very different business model and targetted customers that Walmart did not. (Ladies 35+). I was the only guy there, I was fixing their order system so they could take the whole show online and sell to everywhere in Northern BC.

The Great recession killed that business venture, sadly. They have all the work they need to do it, so when things eventually turn around I'm sure they will be able to do it. The market is quite large and underserved, and the volumes are such that Walmart's model doesn't work.

[Asher]

And that, in a nutshell is why Hauldren Collider is saying that you have a self-awareness of zero.

Do you understand just how stupid this statement is, Asher?

How is my opinion of bigoted people being bigots saying no one else can have other opinions?

Bigots are free to be bigots. They're still bigots in my eyes.

[snoopy369]

Local politics tends to be ruled by expediency. If a meaningful number of residents of New York demanded more taxis at lower medallion prices, it would happen within two election cycles.

Of course, if free market medallions were as easily obtained as cars and driver's licenses, we'd be talking about how those evil Democrats were screwing the people of NYC by allowing unqualified drivers and unsafe vehicles to run rampant on the streets, turning Manhattan traffic into a daily horror show. My contention: the people on NY care much more about traffic than they do about the number of cabs on the streets.

As for Chicago's liberalism, machine aldermen like Bernie Hanson (from my old ward) and Ed Vrdolyak are among the most repressive, conservative people I've ever met. For them, politics is about nothing more than staying "in" -- maintaining the status quo. Any actual move toward liberal social policies was evaluated strictly in terms of voting potential. Bernie hated the gays and worked to keep them out of his Wrigleyville district - until they became a significant voting bloc there. Suddenly, he was a paragon of acceptance. Twas ever thus.

Regarding Wal-Mart, the city's unwillingness to let them in was, again, driven by votes, nothing more. Wal-Mart earned a (probably well-deserved) reputation as a destroyer of previously viable local businesses, which became an easy, seemingly "pro-local-business" stance that played well in local politics.

NYC folk might prefer their streets be emptier, but it's an example of the government acting to prevent normal operation of business, isn't it? Again, a liberal (pro-government anti-market) policy? Not necessarily bad, or wrong - neither the 100% liberal nor the 100% conservative position should/can be held - but certainly not free market. That might be a very good example of something that seems like it should be regulated, but the implementation of such was so abysmal that it has major negative consequences. Thus why some of us are conservatives - for all of the negative consequences of the free market, the government often is as bad or worse, and usually costs more.

I don't care to get in the middle of the Wal-Mart: Good or Evil debate, but it is nonetheless an example of an anti-conservative policy, no? Certainly it's a philosophical point - again, you can believe in the market or you can believe that there are things the government should act to protect, that's up to you; but it's certainly not conservative to believe the latter.

[snoopy369]

How is my opinion of bigoted people being bigots saying no one else can have other opinions?

Bigots are free to be bigots. They're still bigots in my eyes.

You're an anti-bigot bigot

[kentonio]

I don't care to get in the middle of the Wal-Mart: Good or Evil debate, but it is nonetheless an example of an anti-conservative policy, no? Certainly it's a philosophical point - again, you can believe in the market or you can believe that there are things the government should act to protect, that's up to you; but it's certainly not conservative to believe the latter.

Conservatism does not equal completely unrestrained market, at least not outside the US anyway.

[snoopy369]

Sure, but that's what I was saying elsewhere - you can't be 100% free market of course; everybody is somewhere in between.

[Jaguar]

Conservatism does not equal completely unrestrained market, at least not outside the US anyway.

Exactly. The US GOP is uniquely pro-market. So why is the US the richest country in the world? Is that in spite of the GOP?

[Imran Siddiqui]

You have to be really sincerely sorry, though. What sort of Christian are you, Imran?

A universalist Christian

[kentonio]

Exactly. The US GOP is uniquely pro-market. So why is the US the richest country in the world? Is that in spite of the GOP?

Richest yet with that wealth in the hands of such a small minority.

[Jaguar]

So what's your take on the forgiveness thing? What if, in his final hours, Joseph Stalin returned to Orthodox Christianity? (a faith for which he was initially in seminary before becoming a dictator.) What if he deplored his actions as much as you or I do? What if he wished for all the world that he could just do some kind things before he left this world, to try to begin to make up for all his meanness and sin?

Would he belong to the Kingdom of Heaven or not? I think the literature is pretty clear that he would, but does that bother you too much to accept?

[Felch]

Conservatism does not equal completely unrestrained market, at least not outside the US anyway.

Are we to believe that you're a disciple of Chesterton and Belloc?