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heavyblinker -> RE: Warren Buffet made $12 billion in 2016 (12/31/2016 12:59:05 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: tamaka
As opposed to working at some nice small business.... oh wait...
Believe it or not, I actually agree completely with everything you've said about the neo-feudal society on this thread... but it's not like small businesses don't also buy from China, and while owning a small business is probably preferable to working at Walmart, working there is not exactly a guarantee of stellar working conditions, high salaries, etc. In fact, they're probably more likely to squeeze their employees because they don't have to worry about being regulated. The only thing that would really prevent this is kindness, the fact that they know their employees and directly interact with them, community ties, etc. But you can have small business owners who are total bastards too-- much worse than even the corporations.
I actually have no problem with large chain stores and massive multi-national corporations-- globalization and free trade are great incentives to maintain peace and stability on the planet. The problem is the combination of massive multi-national corporations and weak governments who refuse to force them to give back to the world that they're taking so much from, because they only care about the markets.
Imagine if Walmart was suddenly forced to pay the same wages and benefits as government employees receive, or even conditions similar to unionized manufacturing jobs (and they can certainly afford it)... then not only would you have better working conditions in America, but you could potentially have better working conditions in every single country where Walmart has opened a store.
All of this protectionist isolationist shit is just so fucking misguided... we don't need to destroy the corporations and ruin the economy while we're at it, we need to force them to accept responsibility for the world they've created and start creating wealthy consumers, promoting environmentally friendly practices, and giving back to the people instead of lining their pockets.
I find it really bizarre that the same party who used to condemn the idea of a higher minimum wage is now so concerned about the loss of unionized manufacturing (assuming this isn't just a socially acceptable way to justify racist paranoia). It's like you don't deserve a decent wage unless you're slaving away in a factory somewhere... but as I keep saying, the thing about 'saving manufacturing' is more about retaining 'man jobs' than real concern about what is best for society.
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