tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1579705626818354150.post3052671404786097895..comments2023-09-28T05:56:51.582-04:00Comments on Titanic Deck Chairs: Wal-Mart in Honduras: A Capitalist Success StoryC. Augusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05860759500684485756noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1579705626818354150.post-70338096204999007242018-10-27T05:59:02.915-04:002018-10-27T05:59:02.915-04:00Thanks for taking the time to line this all out fo...Thanks for taking the time to line this all out for people like us. This post was very useful in my opinion. <a href="https://www.persiapage.com/listing-category/iranian-persian-supermarket-middle-eastern-grocery/" rel="nofollow">persian grocery</a><br />Yousufzaihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03950904033459775022noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1579705626818354150.post-30371263483277981322017-12-18T16:18:57.800-05:002017-12-18T16:18:57.800-05:00I love your thoughts.I love your thoughts.Jaxon Oakleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18013418052583602539noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1579705626818354150.post-55194758277242206162009-07-17T06:05:11.932-04:002009-07-17T06:05:11.932-04:00No kidding, Jim. Pretty much any time I hear abou...No kidding, Jim. Pretty much any time I hear about Honduras or Wal-Mart, I think of this post. And with the particular confluence of events right now...C. Augusthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05860759500684485756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1579705626818354150.post-78885774516511696002009-07-17T02:35:36.074-04:002009-07-17T02:35:36.074-04:00How sad it is that I find this post today, when Ho...How sad it is that I find this post today, when Honduras is trying to throw off a socialist president and Walmart is coming out for socialized medicine.Jim Maynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1579705626818354150.post-39410008244680701942008-08-09T22:22:00.000-04:002008-08-09T22:22:00.000-04:00Ok..I listened to a really good podcast a few week...Ok..<BR/><BR/>I listened to a really good podcast a few weeks ago where the speaker was addressing this issue.. specifically in relation to Wal-mart... I will see if I can figure out where it came from... oh the perils of waaay too many feeds.<BR/><BR/>:)Clayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01355381643953755204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1579705626818354150.post-78218542982312084072008-08-09T20:33:00.000-04:002008-08-09T20:33:00.000-04:00I'm not talking about tax breaks, Michael. I'm ta...I'm not talking about tax breaks, Michael. I'm talking about trying to silence competitors' free speech or sue competitors for things that any reasonable individual would never do and any person with an ounce of common sense would realize was wrong. See my blog for more information.<BR/><BR/>I haven't made up my mind about WalMart. I'm still waiting for more information. Obviously, their Monicahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10223664599729768316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1579705626818354150.post-90708236021433358232008-08-09T18:23:00.000-04:002008-08-09T18:23:00.000-04:00liriodendron, ... and on that note, it is not how ...liriodendron, ... and on that note, it is not how much your big bad corporation loves government subsidies, it is whether they would give them up in exchange for a taxless society. Can you objectively show that?<BR/><BR/>Let's take one step back and look at the bigger picture. The reason corporations do what they do is because they are populated with your neighbors -- those same friends who Michael Clendenin Millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16581122565726095706noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1579705626818354150.post-89319623327169352982008-08-09T15:44:00.000-04:002008-08-09T15:44:00.000-04:00Hey L, don't worry about going off on a topic tang...Hey L, don't worry about going off on a topic tangential to the original post. I'm interested in the discussion as it has evolved.C. Augusthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05860759500684485756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1579705626818354150.post-6973697589005070582008-08-09T14:19:00.000-04:002008-08-09T14:19:00.000-04:00"The moral issue is not decided by what they take,..."The moral issue is not decided by what they take, but by whether they oppose the system as a whole. Measuring the status of that in a mega-corporation is all but impossible,"<BR/><BR/>"Exactly" on the first sentence. "Nonsense" on the second. I can think of at least one mega-corporation who don't oppose this type of system, but loves it. I can objectively show that, but I'm not going to go Monicahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10223664599729768316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1579705626818354150.post-34126873285967033622008-08-09T12:49:00.000-04:002008-08-09T12:49:00.000-04:00Not so fast! I don't see the moral distinctions ye...Not so fast! I don't see the moral distinctions yet among the multitudinous methods governments dream up to rebate and subsidize. In my state, <I>every</I> business gets to keep a $30 sales tax collection allowance. Yes, it's a miserly pittance of value only to the smallest business on earth, but is it immoral to keep that yet moral to accept other government handouts? When you stop shopping at Michael Clendenin Millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16581122565726095706noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1579705626818354150.post-40267886323525095762008-08-09T09:17:00.000-04:002008-08-09T09:17:00.000-04:00That is interesting, Clay. I did not know that. ...That is interesting, Clay. I did not know that. There was also some hub-bub over them importing goods and labeling them as "made in America" years ago. I don't doubt that. Of course, there is no way a small business would be able to do such a thing without the government jumping all over them. If all businesses were prosecuted equally, that would be one thing, but in fact, a small business Monicahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10223664599729768316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1579705626818354150.post-53797922089845100762008-08-08T22:45:00.000-04:002008-08-08T22:45:00.000-04:00Just to be clear... I wasn't merely pointing out t...Just to be clear... I wasn't merely pointing out tax breaks.. though to the extent that this slants the playing field by means of arbitrary gov't fiat in favor of large corporations... I was also pointing out that apparently Wal-Mart (and apparently some other big box type stores) are actually allowed to keep some or all of the sales taxes that they collect from their customers while acting as a Clayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01355381643953755204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1579705626818354150.post-72315231403171579782008-08-08T13:11:00.000-04:002008-08-08T13:11:00.000-04:00Great points, Mike. A quick look at the Ayn Rand ...Great points, Mike. <BR/><BR/>A quick look at the <A HREF="http://www.aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/governmentgrantsandscholarships.html" REL="nofollow">Ayn Rand Lexicon</A> supports this view, and Rand's own words (last entry on this page) speak directly to L's concerns:<BR/>------------------<BR/>//Quoting from Rand's essay, “The Question of Scholarships,” The Objectivist, June 1966, 11.//<BR/><C. Augusthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05860759500684485756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1579705626818354150.post-38717238215738859302008-08-08T12:34:00.000-04:002008-08-08T12:34:00.000-04:00Liriodendron,Apply the same principle that underli...Liriodendron,<BR/><BR/>Apply the same principle that underlies the morality of one's right to self-defense and the principle that allocates guilt to an accessory to a crime and you will be clear on the subject of receiving government handouts.<BR/><BR/>Every man has a right to his life - to be free from coercion. Implicit in claiming that right is the obligation to grant it to all other men. No Michael Clendenin Millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16581122565726095706noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1579705626818354150.post-84845710184942849562008-08-07T23:09:00.000-04:002008-08-07T23:09:00.000-04:00point taken.point taken.Clayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01355381643953755204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1579705626818354150.post-12453048365979198472008-08-07T22:57:00.000-04:002008-08-07T22:57:00.000-04:00Clay, your comment raises some issues I've been th...Clay, your comment raises some issues I've been thinking about lately. In short, just how much is it OK to soak the system? It disappoints me to see businesses acting in an Orren Boyle manner, but tax breaks seem to be a relatively minor infringement of rights compared to the tactics some companies use -- like trying to silence the free speech of their competitors through lawsuits.<BR/><BR/>Monicahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10223664599729768316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1579705626818354150.post-15854104941201891642008-08-07T22:21:00.000-04:002008-08-07T22:21:00.000-04:00Clay, I haven't done any looking into how Wal-Mart...Clay, I haven't done any looking into how Wal-Mart works in the U.S. If they are true mixed economy players, working the system of pull and force, seeking out government hand outs of our money, that's certainly a bad thing.<BR/><BR/>But point of the post wasn't to extol the virtues of Wal-Mart per se. The point was that leftists and anti-capitalists commonly point to American big business as C. Augusthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05860759500684485756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1579705626818354150.post-69944305164378266412008-08-07T20:14:00.000-04:002008-08-07T20:14:00.000-04:00So while I'm generally pro-business I don't know q...So while I'm generally pro-business I don't know quite what to make of the fact that a big part of the reason that Wal-mart is so successful is that they get (temporary) tax exemptions in various communities that they move into which gives them a playing field that is substantially skewed to their advantage.<BR/><BR/>I have also read that Walmart is sometimes the recipient of some sort of tax Clayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01355381643953755204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1579705626818354150.post-72443796760088338652008-08-06T14:33:00.000-04:002008-08-06T14:33:00.000-04:00I agree. I blogged about an article on WalMart aw...I agree. I blogged about an article on WalMart awhile back that reported that even in the US, WalMart has REDUCED prices on so many items this year by reducing packing size and sourcing locally -- which reduces their transportation costs, obviously.<BR/><BR/>I do grocery shopping at WalMart whenever possible. Why pay $1 more for the same damn bottle of olive oil at the regular grocery store?Monicahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10223664599729768316noreply@blogger.com