Comments on: Ideology & Political Fund-raising

By: Bryan

Bryan — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 02:02:17 +0000

I don’t have any non-chain bookstores, and few chain bookstores after Wal-Mart and Books-a-Million hit town, but there are other sellers on the ‘Net that I use whenever possible, and a good local used bookstore, which has Canadian books because of the tourists.

They didn’t get big by being friendly, they followed the path of Wal-Mart after Sam died. They often play vulture, like they did in Campbellville, Kentucky, coming in after a plant shut down, and getting the plant and tax incentives for setting up a distribution site. They are a corporation, and act like one.

By: Steve Bates

Steve Bates — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 22:34:52 +0000

Amazon has a history of doing some pretty nasty things. For example, in their dealings with small-volume publishers, they often force them to grant Amazon less-than-profitable prices, i.e., to lose money on their Amazon sales.

Publishers who don’t comply one day find their catalogs listed on Amazon… technically… but with no prices listed for them and no Add to Cart button on the page. I have personally encountered this a couple of times.

I suppose the Randians approve of this tactic until the day they look around and discover that no one publishes the low-volume work they happen to need, because the publisher didn’t survive being Amazonned. (Oh, no; “Amazon” has been verbed, etc. …)

I am in no position to boycott Amazon altogether. But I do my best to give at least some of my business to local non-chain bookstores. (Murder by the Book is a favorite.)

By: Bryan

Bryan — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 19:46:26 +0000

I wish people would get it – corporations are a government creation. They aren’t part of capitalism or free markets because those are regulated by risk, and the entire purpose of a corporation is to limit risk.

By: ellroon

ellroon — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 17:15:23 +0000

“People don’t seem to understand that corporations are required by law to prioritize profits over everything, and can be sued by their shareholders if they don’t. Corporations are required to be evil, which is why they need to be heavily regulated for their government bestowed gift of limited liability and existence. Corporations are creations of government, not the market.”

Wonderfully said, Bryan. I’m stealing this quote… (with linkage, of course).