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Weaving the Strands: Business, Economics, and Tax Policy 2.0

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Re: Weaving the Strands: Business, Economics, and Tax Policy 2.0

Monopolistic entities typically benefit from more government. Patents, trademarks, excessive legislation *coughppacacough*...

The fact that government can be used by business to further its corruption is an argument for cutting ties between business and government, not eliminating government!
 
Re: Weaving the Strands: Business, Economics, and Tax Policy 2.0

The fact that government can be used by business to further its corruption is an argument for cutting toes between business and government, not eliminating government!

When was anything about eliminating government brought up my me in this discussion? You're going after the wrong person on this one. You'll want to go after the guy using the NWO-fabricated exaggeration as an argument for fascism (i.e. Somalia) as a crutch, trixR4kids.
 
Re: Weaving the Strands: Business, Economics, and Tax Policy 2.0

When was anything about eliminating government brought up my me in this discussion? You're going after the wrong person on this one. You'll want to go after the guy using the NWO-fabricated exaggeration as an argument for fascism (i.e. Somalia) as a crutch, trixR4kids.

I was crossing the streams. My apologies. :)

(We should have a hash table mapping posters' crazies for easy access. I'm getting my LOLbertarians mixed up.)
 
Re: Weaving the Strands: Business, Economics, and Tax Policy 2.0

I know they deeply, deeply ef over their suppliers. That and economy of scale allows them to undercut competitors. It would only natural for them to then operate like any monopoly: drive the suppliers even lower (no other market for their goods) and drive their prices as high as they can (no other supplier for the consumer). The gap between means maximizing the profit margin while ALSO getting windfall sales.

Capitalism is its own gravedigger.
Forcing suppliers to lower their prices because you're the only buyer in town is monopsony, monopoly is when you're the seller and can force prices up. Wal-Mart is neither, technically, but certainly do have monopsonistic characteristics.

Monopolies never hold true to any sort of large scale unless they're supported by government. As soon as they raise prices, other competitors will come into the market and drive prices down again. Predatory pricing - undercutting prices to take a short-term loss so that the competition goes out of business - never works for the very reason that as soon as the prices go back up more competition moves into the market. It forces you to continue the predation long enough and you drive yourself out of business, too. Wal-Mart has low prices, but they're only pennies difference from Target on most goods (I've compared more than once), and other similar competitors, in all likelihood. Due to the negligible difference, customers will then decide if they want the purely lowest prices or choose to spend the few extra pennies for a different shopping experience, such as Target. (I use Target as the example because they're the only direct competition in town around here).
 
Re: Weaving the Strands: Business, Economics, and Tax Policy 2.0

The hell is Pravda?

Pravda was the name of the Soviet propaganda newspaper. Its translation to English is "truth". This is what we have today with the government media complex. Ever notice how they're all reporting on the same stuff, but never do any of those "in the in-crowd" report on the real things happening, such as Italy banning vaccines due to their causing of autism?

You may whine about sources such as GMN, Infowars, and Michael Savage, just because they may not be part of the "in-crowd", nor should you take every word any source says as absolute dogma. You'd be surprised what they've found, though, and the revelations you will find from just ten minutes of reading their journalism and watching their videos.
 
Re: Weaving the Strands: Business, Economics, and Tax Policy 2.0

Corporate media being ruling class propaganda and InfoWars being highly profitable nonsense are not mutually exclusive.

Let's assume a typical market is composed of 90% conformists and 10% contrarians. I'll run "the guys you don't like are evil" on Fox and MSNBC to capture the former, "the guys you think you like are evil TOO!" on Prison Planet and InfoWars to capture the latter, and maximize my profit.
 
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Re: Weaving the Strands: Business, Economics, and Tax Policy 2.0

Corporate media being ruling class propaganda and InfoWars being highly profitable nonsense are not mutually exclusive.

Let's assume a typical market is composed of 90% conformists and 10% contrarians. I'll run "the guys you don't like are evil" on Fox and MSNBC to capture the former, "the guys you think you like are evil TOO!" on Prison Planet and InfoWars to capture the latter, and maximize my profit.

Prison Planet and Infowars are the same site. ;)

However, they aren't the only games in town when it comes to alternative media. It's cute how you see them as a scapegoat, though, similar to the "Blame Bush" people of the last decade.
 
Re: Weaving the Strands: Business, Economics, and Tax Policy 2.0

Well, reading up on the 5 year BP Oil Spill. The Feds haven't paid out and BP hasn't paid out.

That's how business and government work in this country. I just pray every day I don't have a disaster of some sort happen to me.
 
Re: Weaving the Strands: Business, Economics, and Tax Policy 2.0

However, they aren't the only games in town when it comes to alternative media. It's cute how you see them as a scapegoat, though, similar to the "Blame Bush" people of the last decade.

I'm not scapegoating them. I'm saying they're a business, and they sell paranoia. Just because they're calling out the mainstream media as corrupt and hopelessly compromised by the 1% doesn't mean the rest of what they're peddling isn't snake oil.

This is a case where the enemy of my enemy is not my friend.

I'd be interested in other sources of alternative media stories. Really the only one I like right now is Vice, who has their own problems (they're run by a self-promoting goofball and they treat their staff like crap).
 
Re: Weaving the Strands: Business, Economics, and Tax Policy 2.0

I'm not scapegoating them. I'm saying they're a business, and they sell paranoia. Just because they're calling out the mainstream media as corrupt and hopelessly compromised by the 1% doesn't mean the rest of what they're peddling isn't snake oil.

This is a case where the enemy of my enemy is not my friend.

I'd be interested in other sources of alternative media stories. Really the only one I like right now is Vice, who has their own problems (they're run by a self-promoting goofball and they treat their staff like crap).

Guerilla Media Network has been doing decently; I discovered them when following the trucker protest on the Capital Beltway a while back, they've also been covering the Feds trying to take over the Bundy ranch, as well as the SPLC's training of sheriff's departments to go after Constitutionalists (such as the one around Spokane WA); seem to be pretty decent. As always, they aren't dogma, so I'm not going to believe everything. The nice thing is that, because of the existence of the WWW, the First Amendment with regards to speech is more widely practiced, especially since desktops can practically run as servers and a domain name is fairly inexpensive.
 
Re: Weaving the Strands: Business, Economics, and Tax Policy 2.0

The nice thing is that, because of the existence of the WWW, the First Amendment with regards to speech is more widely practiced, especially since desktops can practically run as servers and a domain name is fairly inexpensive.

That is true. I would expect more and more restrictions on the internet (all in the name of counter-terrorism, of course) as more and more people become tech literate.
 
Re: Weaving the Strands: Business, Economics, and Tax Policy 2.0

That is true. I would expect more and more restrictions on the internet (all in the name of counter-terrorism, of course) as more and more people become tech literate.

You'll see it soon under the guise of "net neutrality".
 
Well, reading up on the 5 year BP Oil Spill. The Feds haven't paid out and BP hasn't paid out.

That's how business and government work in this country. I just pray every day I don't have a disaster of some sort happen to me.
We're still waiting on payouts for the Exxon Valdez.
 
Pravda was the name of the Soviet propaganda newspaper.

Was? It's still around and still has a reasonably high level of influence, albeit a significantly lower one than it did in its heyday. Last I paid attention the print version comes out a few times per week as opposed to its former daily distribution. The main Russian link probably won't do anyone here much good, but I've long been amused by how the featured stories differ depending on which language one chooses. While the English version is amusing in its own right it's a shame the Russian context is very difficult to properly translate as it's infinitely more entertaining.

english.pravda.ru

"Minsk ceasefire backed by forked tongue." They'd be easier to laugh at if you didn't have to respect that nation for being the unmatched world and historical leader in "trollism that matters."
 
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