Seriously...listen to this one...I genuinely think you'll get a lot out of it.
http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/episode-938-understanding-the-problems-vs-the-symptoms
Thank you for this link. I have listened to the entire episode, unfortunately I learned few if any facts I did not already know. I agree with Jack that there is a much much bigger problem and that these companies are only a symptom. I also agree with him regarding what the bigger problems are. Interesting that he uses the headache metaphor, I often use it myself when talking about problems with the health care industry.
I think maybe the following is where we disagree. What I am hearing in your posts (maybe not what you are intending, but what I am hearing) is that since companies like WM are not the problem, only a symptom, I might as well continue to trade with them. I should continue to suffer the pain of the headache while I am treating the tumor? Can't I take a little asprin now, with the ultimate goal of eventually killing the tumor? I doubt the tumor will be killed overnight. How might we treat it? Might starving the tumor of blood, in the form of money, be a start? Stop feeding the beast. Lets attack as many blood vessels as we can, while we treat the disease at the same time. You profess to be a libertarian, I would think you would want to boycott companies like WM based on those principles as well. If you were to watch the documentary I mentioned earlier (The High Cost of Low Prices, found on Netflix if you are a member) you might agree that there seems to be a directive from the top to treat women differently than men. A direct violation of your libertarian principles that all people should be treated equally. You might also have a problem with supporting cheap Chinese goods as thier people are not often not afforded basic human rights. I actually do not think we are as far off as I originally did, I hope you can look objectively at my arguments, I think we might actually agree.
A couple of quotes from the episode:
At 18:45 "The deficiency is in the heart and mind of the consumer" - I completely agree. Joe the butcher and Bill at the hardware store went out of business because people felt it was more important to save a dollar on some cheaply made Chinese crap or some Monsanto fed cattle grown with steroids than to support thier local businesses.
At 40:14 "If there were enough people like you it would be there. ... We as a society are the problem, but we can only fix it one person at a time" - I completely agree. One person at a time. The journey of a thousand steps I mentioned earlier.
At 44:35 "We can make choices about where we spend our money. ... If there is a better alternative then by all means use it" - The point I was originally making. I do not consider it a great effort to not support these companies. I actually boycott many of the companies he mentioned for the same reason.
To recap, I think the three of us actually agree on the main points, maybe just not the fine points. Safe Journeys!
