Giving money to Amazon, Wal-Mart, Microsoft, Google .etc

It’s like, you can’t have an argument for price gouging, when you’re enabling them by spending. If people were smart, they’d stop giving them money 10 - 15 years ago and they’d be right now, trying to reconstruct so they can be more economically friendly than how they are now.

  • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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    1 hour ago

    It’s not about “smart” vs “dumb.” People’s ideas are shaped by their Class Interests and Material Coniditons.

  • sit@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    3 hours ago

    Stop generalising groups of people.

    I cannot think of a proper example rn, but I see this everywhere.

    meme example

    group a does x

    also group a: says something contradicting x

    This happens across the board, not only in political topics.

  • rando895@lemmygrad.ml
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    6 hours ago

    They’d stop believing people are stupid, especially those they disagree with, and realize that their differences are mostly made up by the ruling class to keep them in line.

  • Mr_Blott@feddit.uk
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    11 hours ago

    You’re not getting cashback on your credit cards yous daft cunts 😂 You’re paying it in advance

  • Mesa@programming.dev
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    16 hours ago

    Thinking that they have the “one simple trick” for everything when most matters are actually a complex network of issues where there isn’t one answer.

  • Hanrahan@slrpnk.net
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    18 hours ago

    Stop driving (pollution, deaths, cost of living etc) and remodel cities and town around PT and AT , restricted gun ownership

    • doingthestuff@lemy.lol
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      10 hours ago

      How do people living with no PT or AT options stop driving?

      Also, the working masses must remain armed to prevent even further class slavery.

      • corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca
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        10 hours ago

        I’ve joined three different unions and the only guns I’ve used were loaned to me by a representative of my country for a short period decades ago.

          • Hadriscus@lemm.ee
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            7 hours ago

            OP mentioned remodeling cities around public transport, I think that also goes for more rural areas. There’s a solution for every scale : metro, bus, train, shuttle, etc.

            • doingthestuff@lemy.lol
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              4 hours ago

              I agree there are solutions, I have lived in places with great options. But getting things changed here is very slow and for now you still can’t walk or bike, and there are no buses or trains.

  • Vanth@reddthat.com
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    2 days ago

    I’m doing better now, but 15 years ago Walmart was the only option I had for food. Local/regional grocery stores were more expensive and I was living paycheck to paycheck with growing debt.

    “If people were smart they would stop buying the most cost-efficient option” is really not feasible.

    “If people were smart” they would read and stop putting oligarchs in power.

    • comfy@lemmy.ml
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      2 days ago

      “If people were smart they would stop buying the most cost-efficient option” is really not feasible.

      In fact, more and more people don’t have the luxury of buying more expensive options.

      Of course, stealing is an option, and I think ‘If people were smart’ they would accept that stealing from Walmart is not an ethical or pragmatic problem, but it’s a risky behavior so I wouldn’t criticize people for not stealing. [edit: see Fubarberry’s reply]

      • Fubarberry@sopuli.xyz
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        2 days ago

        Stealing from walmart also isn’t sustainable if many people are doing it. For example there were a ton of walmarts and other stores in the Chicago area that recently closed due to high theft at those locations. Now whole communities there are left without convenient shopping options, which can be a big problem for people with limited transportation options.

          • Fubarberry@sopuli.xyz
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            15 hours ago

            You can look up videos of some of the stores that were closed, they were basically being straight up looted.

            I remember seeing the videos, and thinking to myself how I didn’t understand how they could afford to stay in business like that. So when they announced they were closing those stores for theft, I didn’t really think the given reason was ever in doubt.

            • Didros@beehaw.org
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              2 days ago

              "“The decision to close a store is never easy,” company officials said in a statement. “The simplest explanation is that collectively our Chicago stores have not been profitable since we opened the first one nearly 17 years ago.”

              The stores lose tens of millions of dollars a year, according to the company, a figure that nearly doubled in the last five years despite numerous strategies to boost performance, including building smaller stores, offering local products and building a Walmart Academy training center."

              https://news.wttw.com/2023/04/12/walmart-closing-4-chicago-stores-company-says-losses-have-doubled-last-5-years

              Doesn’t sound like theft was ever the problem here according to them?

        • mke_geek@lemm.ee
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          2 days ago

          Stealing isn’t right.

          The Walmart near me closed due to high theft. There were actually people stealing from the construction site when the store was being built, so it really was a ticking clock as to how long the store itself would even last.

          Some people are just awful.

          • comfy@lemmy.ml
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            6 hours ago

            Stealing isn’t right.

            I conditionally disagree. In fact, there are many real situations where stealing is the right option. There are valid reasons why folk lore glorifies figures like Robin Hood. And when it comes to international conglomerates like Walmart, which hoard astronomical wealth while others who can’t afford bread starve nearby, theft of the hoard is justice in its most appropriate form (if one values human survival more than legal property rights).

        • comfy@lemmy.ml
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          2 days ago

          Good point. If there aren’t other local stores remaining to fill the gaps, then that would be a critical problem.

          • SinAdjetivos@beehaw.org
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            10 hours ago

            Walmart, Kroger, etc.'s entire business model is to undercut other local stores to drive them out and become local monopolies. If they exist in a location there likely aren’t many, if any, local stores remaining…

    • NeoToasty@kbin.melroy.orgOP
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      2 days ago

      But you’ll notice that the price comparison is narrowing and Wal-Mart is slowly not looking better off than the competition. It’s almost like shopping at Dollar Tree is more feasible, it’s what some of us are going to be forced to be doing if not now. Just shopping Dollar Tree almost regularly.

      • finderscult@lemmy.ml
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        2 days ago

        Entirely depends on region. Walmarts strategy is to take a loss in an area until all local competitors are out of business then crank back up until that area is profitable enough to subsidize new areas. In my area Walmart is cheaper than pretty much everyone except dollar stores, and dollar stores treat their employees even worse while having even worse quality food for barely any cheaper.

  • MrSebSin@sh.itjust.works
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    2 days ago

    They would understand that socialism is not communism. Also you can have capitalism and socialism at the same time, you just have to give and take a little.

    • comfy@lemmy.ml
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      7 hours ago

      They would understand that socialism is not communism.

      Socialism has so many definitions that this can be subjectively true or false. This isn’t even some trivial gotcha, the terms were used interchangeably even by significant writers of the 1800s. For another example, a socialist mode of production and a capitalist mode of production are contradictory.

      If one wants to make these kind of broad claims without starting pointless arguments, they’ll need to use a more specific term than ‘socialism’.

      • emmie@lemmy.ml
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        8 hours ago

        Op probably thinks socialism == Scandinavian welfare states. Most online USA midwits don’t know the difference

      • Hadriscus@lemm.ee
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        7 hours ago

        If you want your contribution to have any weight at all, you’ll elaborate. As it is, it is just worth dismissing

        • AntiOutsideAktion@lemmy.ml
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          1 hour ago

          So people can just say whatever shit they want offhanded and not be criticized, but if you want to say they’re wrong you have to give exhaustive reasoning and proof for each and every thing, huh?

          That’s a really dumb thing to believe so I’m wondering if you just speak frivolously without thinking and would like to walk your position back a bit.

        • comfy@lemmy.ml
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          7 hours ago

          As it is, it is just worth dismissing

          If we dismiss dismissals, this will go on looping forever. The person they replied to did not elaborate on some very dubious claims, and as is, are just worth dismissing.