Council bans new fast-food outlets in South L.A.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Mutter... mutter someone's never heard of IG Farben... mutter...

[JohnFKennedy]

God Damned conservatives always using the power of govt to screw over the poor!  We should all learn a lesson here and vote Democratic, they'd never do something like that.

Nah.. conservatives just use the power of corporations... to which the poor are completely powerless.  At least here they can show up to the city council meetings and bitch.

Yeah, we've done this before.  Corporations are so much more horrible than govts, you'd show me examples, but it's just so obvious right?

Nestlé springs to mind with the controversy over breastfeeding in the third world along wiith its use of child labour in the production of chocolate. On labour conditions there was also the case a few years back relating to Gap and other companies who were effectively using slave labour to manufacture their products and forcing pregnant women to have abortions in order to keep their jobs. Then there's the PG&E case that is the subject of the film Erin Brockovich. There are more than a few cases of despicable corporate practices.

Of course there are cases of government atrocities, but I don't think that the Nazis or Soviets should really be the benchmark for this topic.

[Хahar 🤔]

But libertarians are, of course, guaranteed to do so.

Que?

If elected, they'd use government's power to tax to screw over the poor.

[dead0man]

Of course there are cases of government atrocities, but I don't think that the Nazis or Soviets should really be the benchmark for this topic.

Ahh, you get to cherry pick which corporations are bad, but god forbid the other side would get the same privilege heh?  But that's ok because as we both know, every govt commits atrocities, not just the extremes.

[JohnFKennedy]

Of course there are cases of government atrocities, but I don't think that the Nazis or Soviets should really be the benchmark for this topic.

Ahh, you get to cherry pick which corporations are bad, but god forbid the other side would get the same privilege heh?  But that's ok because as we both know, every govt commits atrocities, not just the extremes.

No, I just think it is ridiculous to compare any government or corporation to the extremes of people like Hitler and Stalin. Further to that I would say that the companies I named are far more representative of corporations at large than the Nazis and the Soviets are of modern governments. That's also why I didn't talk about the many companies that helped to make the Holocaust possible such as IG Farben which Al mentioned.

Further to that, there is a far more potent mechanism for expressing popular outrage with government abuses than there is with corporate abuses; there has been a boycott against Nestlé in action for about thirty years now and yet there is still evidence to suggest they have not reformed their practices (although they claim they have).

I hate government abuses just as much as I hate corporate abuses. My problem is that you tend to neglect the latter while continually emphasising the former.

[NDN]

Mutter... mutter someone's never heard of IG Farben... mutter...

Too obvious.

[John Dibble]

But libertarians are, of course, guaranteed to do so.

Que?

If elected, they'd use government's power to tax to screw over the poor.

How so? You might argue that they would screw over the poor by removing a number of programs, but that's not using the tax powers. You might also argue they would make taxes lower for the rich, but that's not necessarily screwing over the poor. To screw over the poor with tax power they'd have to increase taxes on the poor, and given how anti-tax us libertarians tend to be I don't find that very plausible.

[Sam Spade]

Who will benefit the most from this law?  Anyone?

The current fast food operators in the area who are guaranteed no new competition!

You are a pretty perceptive guy sir. Bingo.

Ya, I thought that was kinda obvious.

[dead0man]

I hate government abuses just as much as I hate corporate abuses. My problem is that you tend to neglect the latter while continually emphasising the former.

..and I hate corporate abuses as much as I hate government abuses.  My problem is that you tend to neglect the latter while continually emphasising the former.

[JohnFKennedy]

I hate government abuses just as much as I hate corporate abuses. My problem is that you tend to neglect the latter while continually emphasising the former.

..and I hate corporate abuses as much as I hate government abuses.  My problem is that you tend to neglect the latter while continually emphasising the former.

Not really. I have always condemned both, something you should know given our conflicts over Israel. Equally, I have been vociferous in my criticism of US policy in Guantanamo Bay, the human rights abuses of the Chinese government and many many more. I am also a paid up member of Amnesty International.

[CARLHAYDEN]

I hate government abuses just as much as I hate corporate abuses. My problem is that you tend to neglect the latter while continually emphasising the former.

..and I hate corporate abuses as much as I hate government abuses.  My problem is that you tend to neglect the latter while continually emphasising the former.

Not really. I have always condemned both, something you should know given our conflicts over Israel. Equally, I have been vociferous in my criticism of US policy in Guantanamo Bay, the human rights abuses of the Chinese government and many many more. I am also a paid up member of Amnesty International.

John,

In all honesty, you may think you are consistent, in criticizing the United States and other countries, but you're not!

Let me just cite a handful of countries with truly brutal regimes, which garner far less criticixm from you (both by volume and intensity) than your attacks on the United States: 

North Korea
Venezuela
Cuba
Zimbawbwe
Byelorussia

It seems to me that when leftish governments engage in mass murder, you consider it a minor thing, but when basically free nations don't treat terrorists very nicely, then you become severly critical.

[JohnFKennedy]

John,

In all honesty, you may think you are consistent, in criticizing the United States and other countries, but you're not!

Let me just cite a handful of countries with truly brutal regimes, which garner far less criticixm from you (both by volume and intensity) than your attacks on the United States: 

North Korea
Venezuela
Cuba
Zimbawbwe
Byelorussia

It seems to me that when leftish governments engage in mass murder, you consider it a minor thing, but when basically free nations don't treat terrorists very nicely, then you become severly critical.

Absolute nonsense. I have never considered it a 'minor thing' when any government engages in mass murder and I find your suggestion to the contrary to be both offensive and baseless. I am no blind supporter of anything 'left-wing' as you seem to suggest.

You'll notice I listed China as an example of a country I take great issue with in terms of human rights and recently signed an Amnesty International petition against the detention of a doctor who refused to participate in forced abortions as part of the one-child policy. I will be just as vociferous in my condemnation of 'left-wing' atrocities as I am in condemning 'right-wing' atrocities because mass murder is not about left and right but wrong.

If my condemnations of North Korea or Zimbabwe do not come in a similar volume it is because my knowledge of the situation is inferior to my knowledge of other issues. If my criticisms of 'basically free nations' are more intense it is for that exact reason; I expect more from a British or American government than I do from thugs like Kim Jong-Il and Robert Mugabe.

[dead0man]

..and that comes across as America hating.  It may or may not be true, but that's what it looks like.