Life without big corporations.

[Jonny5]

Did you type this on your iphone or your windows laptop?

Scrawled it on rock tablet and sent it by pigeon?

 

He's a decent chap is Bonzo but not one for thinking things through...

 

Without globalisation the population of this country would have to be slashed.

 

Although if it wasn't I suspect that the pollution needed to supply our energy would slash it for us.

[Bonzo77]

No we consumers have CHOSEN to go to Tesco local over the independent stores.

 

Why don't people ever grasp this when they bang on about big companies and greedy, sleazy corporations.

 

WE choose where we shop. WE generate their profits. WE demand cheap prices and thus cheap labour. WE demand supply of what we want and when we want it.

 

Local stores and wonderful little markets look pretty. But they simply do not offer the choice and service that WE customers demand. Show me an home grown, home produced independently operated store that offers late night opening, competitive prices, plentiful supply, wide choices of brands and products, plentiful car parking, employing massive numbers of staff, and then things might change.

 

Until then it always will be a fantasy.

 

I go to a farm shop called Arrow Farm. Look it up, it offers all that you've said farm shops don't.

 

---------- Post added 03-01-2015 at 22:21 ----------

 

Scrawled it on rock tablet and sent it by pigeon?

 

He's a decent chap is Bonzo but not one for thinking things through...

 

Without globalisation the population of this country would have to be slashed.

 

Although if it wasn't I suspect that the pollution needed to supply our energy would slash it for us.

 

 

Globalisation is pretty much the cause of everything I hate about the way things are at the moment.

 

It's less than 20 mins long and we'll worth a watch.

 

---------- Post added 03-01-2015 at 22:29 ----------

 

At which point, we will either need to earn more, or eat turnips.

 

For now, I'm rather enjoying all that the big corporations can offer me for my tea.

 

Funny you should mention tea. I've just grilled a couple of rib eye stakes with home made chips, onion rings, peas and mayo. Everything was from Arrow Farm and is produced locally, even the mayo. I've even got a nice bottle of English red wine from there. I've got a ready prepared lasagne for my tea tomorrow too. All from Arrow Farm and all local screw the supermarkets! Why would you want fish that's shipped to China just to be gutted and shipped back? English apples waxed in Africa, all with additives that make them look fresher than they really are?

 

It's all that nice, It stopped me being a veggie

[biotechpete]

I go to a farm shop called Arrow Farm. Look it up, it offers all that you've said farm shops don't.

 

Ha ha, not exactly local to Sheffield. And the 9-5 openings, with

Our opening times can vary seasonally.

 

That's what I call convenience

[Cyclone]

How does Apple generate wealth for us all?

 

Their products are manufactured in China and their store staff are paid low wages. Not to mention their lack of tax payments, here and in the US. We generate wealth for Apple by buying their products.

 

same goes for Tesco, Asda, well....all the big supermarkets.

 

I'm not suggesting limiting the size or how innovative or inspirational or even how much money a company can make. I'm just trying to see if we can use as much local produce as possible (such as food), and where that's not possible. Where that's not possible or when a smaller company grows, how can we make sure there's no way of them becoming greedy and placing profit before people's quality of life, such as not paying taxes and outsourcing cheap labour.

 

---------- Post added 03-01-2015 at 21:04 ----------

 

 

That's not how it's working at the moment though is it?

 

We have globalisation of food, trade agreements and treaties that are funded by the tax payer that means we pay for food twice. The market is restricted and local companies are pushed out of the market by large companies, such as Tesco.

 

At the moment, it's not possible for everyone to buy local because it's too expensive.

 

What a terribly fragmented market would exist if everyone bought phones from a local producer... There would be a lack of innovation and R&D, a lack of standardisation (even more than currently)...

 

And how does apple generate wealth. Your pension fund probably has shares, mine does, there are thousands, maybe millions of private investors, there are all the research and development staff, it's a huge company, and whilst it shifts money around to minimise tax, it pays staff, they pay tax, it produces something, people buy it, they pay VAT, it creates a huge supply chain, all of whom employ people to produce, to move, to develop, etc, etc...

[Bonzo77]

What a terribly fragmented market would exist if everyone bought phones from a local producer... There would be a lack of innovation and R&D, a lack of standardisation (even more than currently)...

 

And how does apple generate wealth. Your pension fund probably has shares, mine does, there are thousands, maybe millions of private investors, there are all the research and development staff, it's a huge company, and whilst it shifts money around to minimise tax, it pays staff, they pay tax, it produces something, people buy it, they pay VAT, it creates a huge supply chain, all of whom employ people to produce, to move, to develop, etc, etc...

 

I didn't say everyone should buy local phones. I thought you of all people would read threads before jumping in with silly comments?!

 

I have a SIPP and I wouldn't invest in Apple if their stocks went through the roof. I do have a few of their products, i'm a bit of a gadget nut and they still make the best computers. I'm not perfect either.

 

---------- Post added 03-01-2015 at 22:38 ----------

 

Ha ha, not exactly local to Sheffield. And the 9-5 openings, with

 

 

That's what I call convenience

 

I live in spinkhill, so it's just down the road. They're always open between 9-5. I go every weekend.

[Cyclone]

You want people to have the option to buy locally and you asked how Apple generated wealth for everyone (implying that apple should be broken up or not have been allowed to exist in the first place), what else did you mean if not that people should buy phones produced locally?

 

If you have a pension then you almost certainly have direct or indirect exposure to apple stock.

 

Apple exists as it is today because it invented (or perfected) the smartphone and the tablet. Before that it was a failing has-been computer hardware and software company.

 

Because it did so well with those products, it made huge piles of cash and is today one of the wealthiest companies on the planet.

 

How or why is this a bad thing?

[Solomon1]

What would life be like without big corporations?

 

That would be absolutely amazeballs!

[tinfoilhat]

No we consumers have CHOSEN to go to Tesco local over the independent stores.

 

Why don't people ever grasp this when they bang on about big companies and greedy, sleazy corporations.

 

WE choose where we shop. WE generate their profits. WE demand cheap prices and thus cheap labour. WE demand supply of what we want and when we want it. .......

 

 

.........is the totally correct answer!!!!!

[ECCOnoob]

I go to a farm shop called Arrow Farm. Look it up, it offers all that you've said farm shops don't

 

No it does not. It offers nowhere near.

 

Where is the late night opening, competitive prices, plentiful supply, wide choices of brands and products, plentiful car parking, employing massive numbers of staff.

 

I know the place. I have been there a few times as I work nearby. Also been to the other farm shop on the Welback Estate. Lovely places for an occasional treat or for something a bit special.

 

Never in a million years would I do my regular shopping there. For one thing I would be broke after 2 visits. The costs of buying supplies from there on a regular basis would be astronomical.

 

Where do I get my basics, my cereals, my tinned food, my cleaning and bathing products, my household goods, my ready meals. None of that from there?

 

Cant pop in their after my shifts at 10pm, midnight, 2am can I?

 

I get the point you are trying to make but its full circle again. Local independent traders do not offer the choice, supply and service of the supermarkets. We customers started the trend back in the 60s, that's when the self service, under one roof, out of town boom started. After 50 years there is no way we are going backwards

 

Repeated stops having to call into the Butcher, Baker, Greengrocers, Ironmongers, Newsagent, Stationers, Homestore and Chemist each and every week. No thank you.

Edited January 3, 2015 by ECCOnoob

[Bonzo77]

You want people to have the option to buy locally and you asked how Apple generated wealth for everyone (implying that apple should be broken up or not have been allowed to exist in the first place), what else did you mean if not that people should buy phones produced locally?

 

If you have a pension then you almost certainly have direct or indirect exposure to apple stock.

 

Apple exists as it is today because it invented (or perfected) the smartphone and the tablet. Before that it was a failing has-been computer hardware and software company.

 

Because it did so well with those products, it made huge piles of cash and is today one of the wealthiest companies on the planet.

 

How or why is this a bad thing?

 

I used Apple as an example of a company that doesn't generate wealth for us all. I previously stated that some products would probably need to be imported, such as phones.

 

---------- Post added 03-01-2015 at 23:21 ----------

 

No it does not. It offers nowhere near.

 

Where is the late night opening, competitive prices, plentiful supply, wide choices of brands and products, plentiful car parking, employing massive numbers of staff.

 

I know the place. I have been there a few times as I work nearby. Also been to the other farm shop on the Welback Estate. Lovely places for an occasional treat or for something a bit special.

 

Never in a million years would I do my regular shopping there. For one thing I would be broke after 2 visits. The costs of buying supplies from there on a regular basis would be astronomical.

 

Where do I get my basics, my cereals, my tinned food, my cleaning and bathing products, my household goods, my ready meals. None of that from there?

 

Cant pop in their after my shifts at 10pm, midnight, 2am can I?

 

I get the point you are trying to make but its full circle again. Local independent traders do not offer the choice, supply and service of the supermarkets. We customers started the trend back in the 60s, that's when the self service, under one roof, out of town boom started. After 50 years there is no way we are going backwards.

 

It offers everything I need when it comes to food and drink. It has plenty of parking, more than enough in fact.

 

It is more expensive. But that's as a result of the globalisation of the food industry. An industry that's subsidised by tax payers.

 

Go shopping at the weekend. It's a much nicer experience. You can talk to the people that actually produce the food. I've met some very nice people. They're so good for the community.