this post was submitted on 19 May 2024
350 points (88.9% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26916 readers
1770 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don't post about US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Codilingus@sh.itjust.works 21 points 6 months ago (2 children)

To me, this reads like it implies that government and govt programs are bad because of the govt employees, but if you were to take those same "corrupt" politicians and put them to work at private companies that they would stop being "corrupt." Like it is a belief/reaction to one specific bad instance of a large government/program. "The government sucks at program X, so if we get rid of that program, the same general population will gain empathy, morals and efficiency if working for a company to run program X."

[–] HANN@sh.itjust.works 2 points 6 months ago (4 children)

It's a about competition. I'm not saying business owners aren't corrupt. But if one company, say nestle, turns out to be rotten then you can buy your chocolate chips from another company. But with government I don't have a say. If I don't pay taxes I go to jail and if I don't like how my taxes are spent then too bad. There is no alternative.

[–] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 10 points 6 months ago (2 children)

How often do we see real competition? Even if a new company comes along with a great idea, it's more likely to be gobbled up by a bigger company than be left to flourish.

[–] HANN@sh.itjust.works -1 points 6 months ago

And that's the right of the individual who owns and started the company. Part of the problem is people don't seek alternatives and just buy what is convenient. People value the big brand names. If we want competition then look for alternatives. Look around at the brands you use and figure for yourself if you are buying big brands or supporting competition and smaller brands. Focus on your contribution. We can't and shouldn't control others. Worrying about what you support is enough on its own.

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.world 9 points 6 months ago (1 children)

There is often no alternative in private business either. Take Nestle for example. Go look up how many different brands they actually own. You may think you've boycotted them, but in fact you're just buying one of their hundreds of other brands. We're very late in the capitalist system now, and the power has been heavily consolidated. Many industries are completely dominated by 1-3 companies, and they all collude to eliminate competition.

[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee -2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Name a nestle product that doesn’t have competition.

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.world 7 points 6 months ago

Name a Nestle product where the major competition isn't another Nestle product.

[–] gamermanh@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 6 months ago (2 children)

But with government I don't have a say. If I don't pay taxes I go to jail and if I don't like how my taxes are spent then too bad. There is no alternative.

It's called voting, really basic part of our world you seem to have forgotten about.

[–] HANN@sh.itjust.works -1 points 6 months ago

You happy with how that's been going so far? Do you honestly feel represented by trump/biden? We are presented two rotten options and told we get a say in politics. That's just one more option than dictatorships. If I don't want us tax dollars gifting missiles to Israel I have no option in either party. That's not a say in government. I don't get to tell the president to spend my portion of the taxes. I would rather keep those taxes and voluntarily give to homeless shelters and other charitable groups which do a much better job helping people then the government ever will.

[–] Bgugi@lemmy.world -2 points 6 months ago

Voting does not excuse you from whatever obligations a majority has decided are best for you.

[–] masquenox@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago

It’s a about ~~competition~~ monopoly.

FTFY.

[–] Kalcifer@sh.itjust.works 1 points 5 months ago

All monopolizations of power should be held under the utmost scrutiny.