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Every little shop and every resturant is closed? Really? That is a bit overdramatic don't you think? If people want local businesses to survive they need to shop there and choose to keep the $$ in their community.
If Wal-Mart cared about America it would buy from companies who manufacture in the USA rather than this overseas cr*p!
1. Read post I was originally quoting. Then my last status update.
2. I remember once upon a time when Walmart heavily advertised the fact a majority of the products they sold were made in America? They don't do that anymore. Somewhere around the time the Walton family started flying up the Forbes list of richest billionaires.
Do they really need tax incentives to open up a supercenter in some cornfield in rural Connecticut? They make a couple hundred billion a year.
Sorry, but I did not mean to say that I saw "NONE," and after re-reading my post, I can see where you got that, but I still maintain that big business is the cause for most of our American problems, and we need to stop patronizing them and their protectors in our government.
Sears, Roebuck; JC Penney's; Montgomery Ward's were blamed for the same problems in the early days of the 20th century. Do you refuse to patronize these places, too? (I realize Ward's isn't around any more.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ceece
Now what in the world would make you believe a thing like that? MANY MANY "mom and pop" stores close up shop when things go south. It would be stupid to keep a money loosing business open dontcha think???
Absolutely! Or the owners retire, the kids don't want to run the business, so they close it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ceece
There are many towns where McDonalds were actually the first ones in . Competition never hurts, if a place was good it would still get business. If it closed because of McD's it probably sucked anyway.
Remember, "mom and pops" often only last till "mom and pop" can't do it anymore. Sure there are some places that have been in a family for generations but usually the kids don't want to follow in their footsteps. And it really doesn't matter WHO is doing the hiring, mom and pop or McDs. Work is work.
Many Wal Marts moved in after the downtown was already blown away by nearby shopping malls. That said, I agree that WM doesn't need a lot of tax incentives to locate somewhere.
Stupid fatcat Republicans — and to maintain their majority, they’re just going to go on making more and more rich people until the country’s completely under their thumb.
I like to see the small (unobtrusive) business people make a successful career for themselves, and provide services and goods for their patrons. Specialty shops are often open fewer days, and that might help cut down the utility bills. I recall great bakeries, shoe repair shops, candy shops, clock repair, cabinetmakers, beauty parlors located in private homes, dressmakers, sewing machine and fabric shops. I liked it a whole lot better than the giant box stores that try to be "all things to all people." I have heard people asking (online) "Where are the places without the big box stores ? I want to find a private tea house, and a real bakery." I really miss the old movie theaters. The new ones aren't the same. Combining the best of the new with the best of the past is an idea I can support, if it's a sensible idea.
We've been looking at campgrounds to buy to escape wage-slavery and impending skyrocketing tax rates. Without exception, at every campground we visited that was run by the owners, we were treated as valued customers. But if the campground was run by non-owners, we were treated rudely and without any respect. The places run by owners were clean and well-kept, the ones run by non-owners were unsanitary and run-down.
The same pattern is found as we visit businesses on vacation. Small shops run by the owner are a delight to visit; larger places run by employees treat the customer as an inconvenience.
So what is the real problem with America? The businesses, which can only respond to government policies on taxation and level of regulation? Or Government, which was supposed to pursue policies that improved the quality of life of Americans?
Our overgrown government follows policies that increase its own size and power and money. Instead of protecting small business, our government is bought by the super-rich, who own the mega-corporations. Government could exempt small business from taxes, but instead it gives huge tax breaks to the largest corporations--when then send jobs overseas. Only large mega-businesses can bear the costs of massive government regulation and taxation. Small businesses cannot survive during economic downturns, since they can't offer the low prices allowed by volume buying, or the large selections of big inventory.
There are almost no mom-and-pop businesses left where I live, and I therefore minimize shopping until I go on vacation. Thus, thanks to government policies, I do not stimulate the economy by spending more. With huge taxes and overregulation, we are left with mega-businesses that are unpleasant to deal with, and the economy shrinks.
Government is not the answer to a shrinking economy: it is the cause of it.
If you study our history, you will find that in every instance, our American ideals have been sacrificed for the sake of big business. What we call our American values, what brought our ancestors here to begin with -- and even Native Americans came here from somewhere else, has always been to seek freedom from oppression, to live abundantly, and to worship our gods, freely.
I stopped paying attention and started laughing around this point. "Native Americans came here from somewhere else" (?) Yes, about 12,000 years ago their ancestors crossed the Bering Strait from Asia. Industrial-era debates about property ownership, let alone sentiments about the sanctity of the North American continent, did not play a role in the migration, so far as we know.
My problem in this thread is that I see McDonalds which are locally owned and operated as franchises being compared to Walmart
Something that most people don't know is that the majority of fast food chain locations are actually independent franchises. Each Subway and Quiznos location is a privately owned franchise - the only difference is that they have a centralized supply system and some corporate rules regarding operating hours, benefits, etc. Franchises also exist for Taco Bell, McDonald's, Wendy's, etc but they also have corporate owned locations as well.
Stupid fatcat Republicans — and to maintain their majority, they’re just going to go on making more and more rich people until the country’s completely under their thumb.
Too bad they're making more and more poor people..............
There is no America to take back . America committed suicide . I don't see us building a new one over the ruins .
Last week I finally accepted it .
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. Competition never hurts, if a place was good it would still get business. If it closed because of McD's it probably sucked anyway.
