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Why do I picture oz sitting at home watching his TV made in Japan, sitting on his couch made in China, wearing his clothes made in Singapore with his car full of parts made god knows where in the garage?
Oh OZ... thanks for the banter but they just don't get it. My entire point to this thread has been lost. All of your points are well taken and make perfect sense to most, I hope. Have a great day. Try as we might we can only save the world one checker at a time, I guess...lolol...I'm exhausted.
Koale
Why do I picture oz sitting at home watching his TV made in Japan, sitting on his couch made in China, wearing his clothes made in Singapore with his car full of parts made god knows where in the garage?
WHY do you think such things are no longer made here?
I guess it is progress,the corporations got YOU to do the job of the cashier AND pay for the privilege....
No discount on the price of your groceries AND they save on staff.
Americans are such suckers.
Are you sure about that?
Before you bash us 'stupid Americans' yet again, do some research, ok champ?
And answer this, how do you get around? If you say anything more advanced than a horse-drawn carriage, you are nothing but a hypocrite propping yourself up on enough hot air and America-bashing to keep your ego going for quite a while. Your mother must be so proud.
Oh OZ... thanks for the banter but they just don't get it. My entire point to this thread has been lost. All of your points are well taken and make perfect sense to most, I hope. Have a great day. Try as we might we can only save the world one checker at a time, I guess...lolol...I'm exhausted.
Koale
There are other jobs in retail other than cashier--and I've worked many of them. I've stood behind a deli counter and filled orders. I've mixed paint for customers. I've bagged groceries, pulled in carts, stocked shelves. I've set up displays, ran planograms and resets. I've straightened shelves.
Less cashiers mean more people out on the floor to help you find what you're looking for, hopefully people that now have the time to learn where those things are.
Having both admitted to not caring about the loss of small businesses or the loss of jobs,it is interesting that I am the hypocrite.
Food prices in the USA are kept low through the use of subsidies,which are paid to farmers by the fedgov,which gets it's money from....you.
I posted a graph showing a drop in percentage spent on food in the exact years that technology going into grocery stores (as we are discussing) has risen. My graph started in 1975, and yet agricultural subsidies as have been in place since the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933. That being said, the increase in percentage given to agricultural subsidies that I am assuming you are speaking about is the Freedom to Farm Act of 1996, which still does not show any major spike in either direction with regard to consumer purchasing.
From my research, the decrease in percentage of income spent on food by US consumers over the last several decades cannot be accounted for by subsidies, and CAN be accounted for by the increase in usage of new technologies. I am interested to hear your response. I am sure my research HAS to be wrong, since I am just another 'ignorant American', right? Try to include some numbers/statistics/names of legislative acts in your next post. It will lend you a little more credibility. To be honest, right now it seems like you are just making up whatever comes to your mind as you go.
I posted a graph showing a drop in percentage spent on food in the exact years that technology going into grocery stores (as we are discussing) has risen. My graph started in 1975, and yet agricultural subsidies as have been in place since the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933. That being said, the increase in percentage given to agricultural subsidies that I am assuming you are speaking about is the Freedom to Farm Act of 1996, which still does not show any major spike in either direction with regard to consumer purchasing.
From my research, the decrease in percentage of income spent on food by US consumers over the last several decades cannot be accounted for by subsidies, and CAN be accounted for by the increase in usage of new technologies. I am interested to hear your response. I am sure my research HAS to be wrong, since I am just another 'ignorant American', right? Try to include some numbers/statistics/names of legislative acts in your next post. It will lend you a little more credibility. To be honest, right now it seems like you are just making up whatever comes to your mind as you go.
Care to elaborate on these 'new technologies' that have been used in the last few decades to lower food prices to the consumer?
Care to elaborate on these 'new technologies' that have been used in the last few decades to lower food prices to the consumer?
Sure. One major technology is the lean manufacturing process (kanban systems for example). Increases in distribution channels through transportation network optimization modeling has dramatically helped costs. Computerized systems to get away from traditional manufacturing processes. The idea of reducing waste through JIT production and moving towards extreme efficiency means much, much less cost eaten by companies in dead weight loss. Even physical technologies such as RFID tagging of pallets (which leads to reduction of inventory cost, less spent warehousing and less inventory tied up on the books at any given time). Computerized modeling of consumer habits has also allowed grocery stores to more precisely stock shelves such that bread, for example, does not expire on shelves nearly as quickly as it did 40 years ago.
I don't want to ramble (I could write several pages on any of these topics), so if you want me to expand on any of these technologies, just say so and I will be more than happy to do so when I have a bit more time.
Oz, where are you getting your information? I am curious where your ideas have come from. You have yet to post a single number or reference.
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Lolol...
