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The media seems to have a fascination with the tech billionaires of Silicon Valley and the like. I think mostly because Baby Boomers are fascinated by anything that disturbs the narrow little world that they grew up in, and they seem to have a love/hate relationship with this "Net 2.0" that has both let them tweet about disrespectful athletes, but also has made them no longer masters of the world. But I think that Big Box stores changed American life just as much as the dotcom era and later social media did, its just underreported because it seems "normal enough" to the Boomers and the media that panders to them. But lets compare the two: Big Box Stores: Bad: Increased oil dependence by sprawling out communities Also destroyed lots of habitat (Generally bad for the environment in a lot of ways) Ruined town character, and disrupted community relations Drove down wages Ugly and tacky Good: Gave access to cheap stuff to people who otherwise wouldn't have had it Made it so that if you wanted to buy something simple like a keyboard you could just drive to Best Buy and get it, instead of having to go to the one weird crowded computer store run by neckbeards Tech/DotCom Bad: Used a lot of resources by encouraging conspicuous consumption Encouraged people to stare at screens all day Disrupted communities Full of smug fuckers who play foosball all day and made rents in San Francisco riduculous Good: Enabled people to interact with the wider world Greatly eroded barriers around the world Encouraged new forms of creativity and community Made life generally more fun and versatile and convenient I think on balance Tech gave more to the world. Big Box stores changed communities more than is generally accepted, I think it tore apart traditional social fabric much more than the internet did, but unlike the internet, it didn't replace it with anything. Also, on a personal level, even though tech is full of smarmy fuckers who I kind of want to punch, lots of them try. Like Zuckerberg. He looks like an annoying, smug bastard. But I think he means well, or means something. I could actually have some type of conversation with him. Compare that with Alice Walton, who literally killed a woman while drunk and wasn't charged for it because Texas. I think the choice is clear here.
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Sep 19, 2016 02:21
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I don't know where your going op
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Sep 19, 2016 02:30
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Darth123123 posted:I don't know where your going op Going down to Walmart to pick up 5 packages of Candy Corn Oreo for 10 dollars
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Sep 19, 2016 02:33
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9/11 changed everything
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Sep 19, 2016 02:34
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I'm thinking millennials are worse than Walmart or the tech booms or anything really
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Sep 19, 2016 02:37
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jackyl posted:I'm thinking millennials are worse than Walmart or the tech booms or anything really SELFIE STICKS!
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Sep 19, 2016 02:41
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glowing-fish posted:Going down to Walmart to pick up 5 packages of Candy Corn Oreo for 10 dollars Wait, you're fat too? Somebody fucked around with this message at 03:47 on Sep 19, 2016 |
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Sep 19, 2016 02:48
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Someone do big pharma and big farming.
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Sep 19, 2016 02:51
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i think that every human creation including humans themselves must be burned away from the face of the earth
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Sep 19, 2016 03:07
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Serious Frolicking posted:i think that every human creation including humans themselves must be burned away from the face of the earth Are you sure you didn't mean to post this in the Evangelion thread?
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Sep 19, 2016 03:12
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What is the alternative? The country has always been sprawling. Many communities rely on big box stores to survive, suburbs don't matter because they're hosed, and cities have the option of banning corporations that they feel would do harm. You may as well blame it on suburban development because that is where Targets and Wal-Marts thrive and cause the most waste. I agree that it's bad to lose diversity and put everyone underneath the thumbs of corporate giants but maybe we deserve it as Americans because we're ugly & tacky. Fix the suburban problem imo. Nuke em preferably.
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Sep 19, 2016 03:14
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Big Box stores are pretty bad, but they're not as bad as those Keurig machines that make the terrible little cups of coffee.
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Sep 19, 2016 03:16
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Arian_Samurai posted:Big Box stores are pretty bad, but they're not as bad as those Keurig machines that make the terrible little cups of coffee. paging 3O
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Sep 19, 2016 03:22
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glowing-fish posted:SELFIE STICKS! Nothing is dumber and more baby boomers.txt than the moral panic over selfie sticks/selfies in general.
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Sep 19, 2016 03:40
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who loving gives a poo poo
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Sep 19, 2016 03:41
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Chinatown posted:who loving gives a poo poo Quite a few people do, and people who don't, should.
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Sep 19, 2016 03:54
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But where else can I buy big boxes?
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Sep 19, 2016 03:59
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Real hurthling! posted:9/11 changed everything Yeah, but that was for the better
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Sep 19, 2016 04:02
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glowing-fish posted:Quite a few people do, and people who don't, should. seek help
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Sep 19, 2016 04:05
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jackyl posted:I'm thinking millennials are worse than Walmart or the tech booms or anything really Amen.
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Sep 19, 2016 04:12
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actually what you have a problem with is de-industrialization, not Walmart OP. time was an average chap could get a job making things rather than just jobs selling things
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Sep 19, 2016 04:17
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the pros and cons of french bread pizza vs big box stores:
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Sep 19, 2016 04:23
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gary oldmans diary posted:the pros and cons of french bread pizza vs big box stores: I used to get this really good French Bread pizza, fresh bread, fresh cheese and sauces and just a little oregano on top, at my local independent grocery store in Montana. It cost me like under 2 dollars for a slice, which was a pretty good deal. There was some big box stores on the other end of town, but I liked my small, locally-owned market with its fresh deli food and bakery with extra good donuts. If I could have just instagrammed one of these great french bread pizzas, I would have had a perfectly cromulant joinder of all three of our topics.
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Sep 19, 2016 05:01
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Chinatown posted:who loving gives a poo poo
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Sep 19, 2016 05:06
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The good done by both of those things far outweighs nearly all of their negatives op, the question you pose is a loaded one that implies either of them was bad for the US when really neither of them were
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Sep 19, 2016 05:08
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CJacobs posted:The good done by both of those things far outweighs nearly all of their negatives op, the question you pose is a loaded one that implies either of them was bad for the US when really neither of them were Unlike millennials, who ruin everything.
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Sep 19, 2016 05:09
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recycle environmentalists
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Sep 19, 2016 05:41
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CJacobs posted:The good done by both of those things far outweighs nearly all of their negatives op, the question you pose is a loaded one that implies either of them was bad for the US when really neither of them were Source: Thomas Friedman's taxi driver whose nephew built an e-commerce business on a smartphone he bought at the local Wal-Mart.
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Sep 19, 2016 05:53
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amazon, google, and facebook might as well own the entire internet these days
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Sep 19, 2016 05:59
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Rutibex posted:actually what you have a problem with is de-industrialization, not Walmart OP. time was an average chap could get a job making things rather than just jobs selling things american manufacturing is the largest in the world they just don't need humans to do most of the work anymore
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Sep 19, 2016 06:27
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try putting the last letter of a firt name and making it the first part of the second name lol give it a try!!
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Sep 19, 2016 06:28
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I stored my jizz into your mom's big box, and america is worse because it created the op lol
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Sep 19, 2016 06:39
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Consume and sustain from renewables out of my rear end in a top hat OP. This world is a big gay gently caress and you're a puppet with titty strings.
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Sep 19, 2016 06:50
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why are homeless women called bag ladies and not box ladies
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Sep 19, 2016 07:59
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im gaye posted:why are homeless women called bag ladies and not box ladies Ya cant make a bindle out of a box
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Sep 19, 2016 17:20
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glowing-fish posted:Ruined town character, and disrupted community relations This is one of those complaints always brought up about big-box stores, but I'd argue that the VAST majority of towns where big-box stores opened never had any character to begin with.
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Sep 19, 2016 17:25
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It's true that they practiced predatory business tactics to drive small business out of the market though. That's pretty obvious. And I'm not just talking about having cheaper prices, I'm talking about operating at a loss and selling items below cost just to drive out competition (exactly what Amazon has done to many small businesses operated by Americans online). Being an entrepreneur in the USA has become incredibly difficult, from the standpoint of the average citizen wanting to start a business (not a venture capitalist with tons of cash to throw around). Many people have just given up and started selling through Amazon or eBay which take a hefty 15% off the top which eats into profit margins quite a bit. Would be nice if a presidential candidate addressed this instead of just saying they'll create more jobs (which to me is just doublespeak for 'business friendly' policies). Roylicious fucked around with this message at 17:33 on Sep 19, 2016 |
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Sep 19, 2016 17:31
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Roylicious posted:It's true that they practiced predatory business tactics to drive small business out of the market though. That's pretty obvious. Are you suggesting America is a capitalist society??
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Sep 19, 2016 17:33
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satanic splash-back posted:Are you suggesting America is a capitalist society?? Well you say that like this stuff is all kosher but in reality the USA is not a totally free market society and there are rules and laws in place to prevent the natural monopolization of markets. It's just that recently big interests have managed to skirt those rules because they have powerful lobby interests; and it doesn't help that our politicians literally don't know what the internet is or how it functions. Everyone knows WalMart was dumping at the very least but no small business had the funding to fight their legal teams over it. Amazon is doing the same thing now. This is from 2001: quote:The complaint accused Wal-Mart of selling butter, milk, laundry detergent, and other staple goods below cost at stores in Beloit, Oshkosh, Racine, Tomah, and West Bend. A bottle of laundry detergent that cost Wal-Mart $6.51, for example, was sold for less than $5 at several stores. The company’s intention, according to the complaint, was to force competitors out of business, gain a monopoly in local markets, and ultimately recoup its losses through higher prices. State officials filed the complaint after Wal-Mart failed to take corrective action following several warning letters sent as early as 1993. e: and 2000 quote:In Oklahoma, Crest Foods, a three-store supermarket chain, filed a predatory pricing suit against Wal-Mart. The suit contends that Wal-Mart sold goods below cost at its store in Edmond in order to force Crest Foods out of business. Wal-Mart employees—including on one occasion former chief executive David Glass himself—regularly visited the Crest store to monitor prices. According to the suit, Wal-Mart then targeted price cuts to undermine Crest Foods, often dipping well below its own costs to beat out its rival. Such tactics are illegal under two state laws, the Unfair Sales Act and the Antitrust Reform Act. The suit is expected to go to trial in about one year. Lotta good came from that haha. Roylicious fucked around with this message at 17:42 on Sep 19, 2016 |
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Sep 19, 2016 17:35
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tech is cool because people get like billions of dollars for things that are totally pointless walmart is bad because they try to make me show to receipt to the loving geriatric standing at the door and that is illegal i never signed any social contract consenting to search of my personal property gently caress OFF GRANDPA
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Sep 19, 2016 19:16
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