8 Beers... - Page 10

Glenzig · #91 04-04-2014, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frieza_Prexus [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Rational self-interest that enables and perpetuates a modern standard of living for the largest number of people possible under the capitalist model.

If Costco decided to just up and waste the food that'd be one thing, and yes, it'd be stupid. However, after looking it up, it appears that Costco's refusal to distribute / sell comes from a salmonella concern.

When you walk past a starving homeless person do you give them the money in your wallet? When that runs out, do you give them all the money in your checking account? It seems that you're making a purely monetary decision. You make these decisions every day. The moment you withhold something for your self that is not essential to your staying alive, you make a decision similar to what has been done. Yes, if you buy food simply to waste it that is bad. But if you've got an economic justification for your actions, it begins to make sense in the aggregate.

I noticed you've missed some of my earlier posts. As I wrote above, donated clothing often decimates local textile industries. In that case, yes, it can often be better to dump the material. While one or two people might freeze if you dump, hundreds might freeze if the local textiles industry went under.

No. I buy the homeless person a sandwich. And I don't feel.guilty about not emptying my bank account for him. I rarely have more money than I need for food/bills. I'm not enjoying excess while other people starve. And the peanut butter in question was not contaminated. It was produced after the salmonella scare was over from the info I read in an interview with the companies president.

Frieza_Prexus · #92 04-04-2014, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glenzig [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I'm not enjoying excess while other people starve. And the peanut butter in question was not contaminated.

I take it you will only maintain enough cash for your own minimum needs for the rest of your life? That you will give away all unneeded excess?

quido · #93 04-04-2014, 05:20 PM

How much excess is enough?

Glenzig · #94 04-04-2014, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frieza_Prexus [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I noticed you've missed some of my earlier posts. As I wrote above, donated clothing often decimates local textile industries. In that case, yes, it can often be better to dump the material. While one or two people might freeze if you dump, hundreds might freeze if the local textiles industry went under.

Textile factories closing down because of thrift stores?? Hmmm. Nope. Textile factories close down in America because there are Cambodian children that are easy to exploit.

Glenzig · #95 04-04-2014, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frieza_Prexus [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I take it you will only maintain enough cash for your own minimum needs for the rest of your life? That you will give away all unneeded excess?

Yeah, pretty much. If I see something I can do for someone, I do it. Define excess. Do I have some things that I could probably reasonably.live without? Yeah, I'm pretty sure we all do. Do I have 5 cars sitting in the garage of my three story summer house? No. I have enough to live a pretty simple life. I have very few things that I want versus what I need. I feel like I'm doing pretty well. I'm certainly not storing up wealth while making excuses about my stock futures while not doing what I can actually do to help people that need it though. That's the sort of mentality I'm talking about.

quido · #96 04-04-2014, 05:33 PM

Comparing a regular individual's fiscal habits to those of a multi-billion dollar corporation is without scope.

Frieza_Prexus · #97 04-04-2014, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glenzig [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Textile factories closing down because of thrift stores?? Hmmm. Nope. Textile factories close down in America because there are Cambodian children that are easy to exploit.

Not generally is America, no. I noticed you missed my earlier post when I first mentioned this. Donated items often introduce an artificially cheap supply to areas. Africa and parts of Asia are generally hardest hit by this concept with regards to textiles.

If you could have a perfectly good car for free would you buy one? Of course not. Very few would. All of a sudden you have a car manufacturer that is out of business, and when the free supply runs out you have problems because a the supply was run out of business years ago.

Economic actions have consequences. Some are good, some are bad, and some have both. If a decision maker doesn't understand these relationships, good intentions can sometimes lead to disastrous results.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glenzig

Yeah, pretty much. If I see something I can do for someone, I do it.

Why are you playing Project 1999 when you could be working to feed the homeless?

Look, it's morally commendable to live an ascetic life, but it's not morally obligatory. The capitalist system of society, for all its flaws, is still the most efficient means of distribution that has ever worked for society. It accounts for human nature. Yes, I'd love it if we were all saints and world hunger was solved. A result of this system is that some will have far more than others, and sometimes people get left in the cold. It's not perfect, in fact, it's "the worst system that ever worked." We can have theoretical efficiency of 100% all day long where everyone gives every second of their day to feed to homeless, and for those who personally aspire to that, they are incredible people. But it's simply not a realistic notion to expect an entire society to embrace that ideal. Capitalism accounts for that, and manages to provide efficient distribution in spite of that.

In short, crazy shit happens, but it doesn't mean that the whole system is broken. Greed works because rational self interest drives people to contribute far more than they otherwise would.

lawll · #98 04-04-2014, 05:53 PM

Funny how people act like guinness is quality beer but little do they know it has fucking HFCS LOL. Marketing at its best.

Ahldagor · #99 04-04-2014, 05:55 PM

lawdy yall hit the nazi level of sincerity in actions and are not even arguing the points

essentially if it's cheaper for a company to dump food in a landfill than to transport it to people that need or would use then that food is going into a landfill. that's not greed, that's basic business. you don't serve 6 dollars worth of food to someone and charge them 4 in order to get on their good side. you serve them six dollars worth of food and charge them 10 because you're providing an "experience" for them. that's not greed that's rhetoric. jeremy brought that up somewhere today and everyone seems to have glossed over it without much consideration.

Frieza_Prexus · #**100** 04-04-2014, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ahldagor [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

lawdy yall hit the nazi level of sincerity in actions and are not even arguing the points

essentially if it's cheaper for a company to dump food in a landfill than to transport it to people that need or would use then that food is going into a landfill. that's not greed, that's basic business. you don't serve 6 dollars worth of food to someone and charge them 4 in order to get on their good side. you serve them six dollars worth of food and charge them 10 because you're providing an "experience" for them. that's not greed that's rhetoric. jeremy brought that up somewhere today and everyone seems to have glossed over it without much consideration.

I concede my immersion levels hit 110%.