Are the rich cheap?

Originally posted by wedgehead2
Any government is a supression on individual's natural instinct to total liberty- apart from anarchy! Communism (in theory) does away with government- although has not and is unlikely to ever happen.

If communism means no government then I guess as a member of the Libertarian party here in the US I'm as close to a communist that you're gonna get. But please don't tell anyone.

Originally posted by Ullr
Everyone is not equal

Unless you're talking miniscule (i.e. irrelevantly small) differences like
professional skill, physical abilities, intelligence or education I'd have to
disagree.

Originally posted by stevetodd
..There has been recent talk over here about certain supermarkets (I forget which ones but it MAY have been Tesco and Asda) who are selling cheap clothes made in far east countries were the workers are being paid less than the survival rate.

When you say "...the workers are being paid less than the survival rate," it strikes me as a curious turn of a phrase. Is it possible that the workers in this far off Oriental country are glad to work at said clothing factory? Otherwise, they wouldn’t take the jobs. Consider: Before the foreign-owned factory came, there was...nothing. Now the workers show up to perform their tasks and they return the following day. Nobody dies. In fact, by earning a wage -- even a substandard one by Western standards -- the workers are able to lift their families out of poverty. Even that citadel of left-wing thought, the New York Times, agrees that being exploited is better than not being exploited:

http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?page=article&Article_ID=3464

Related:
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?page=article&Article_ID=1700

Originally posted by stocken
Unless you're talking miniscule (i.e. irrelevantly small) differences like
professional skill, physical abilities, intelligence or education I'd have to
disagree.

I'd add some more attributes to that list such as ambition, wisdom, charisma. None of these nor the ones you listed do I consider miniscule.

Originally posted by der schwarze Ritter
When you say "...the workers are being paid less than the survival rate," it strikes me as a curious turn of a phrase. Is it possible that the workers in this far off Oriental country are glad to work at said clothing factory? Otherwise, they wouldn’t take the jobs. Consider: Before the foreign-owned factory came, there was...nothing. Now the wo ...[text shortened]... ticle_ID=3464

Related:
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?page=article&Article_ID=1700

So its better exploiting people, keeping them near starvation, rather than actually letting them starve to death- kinda obvious.

Originally posted by Redmike
Even if that were the case, what difference does it make?

The market rewards those who do the work and garner the experience and credentials necessary to propel the enterprise. You might as well ask why a high school dropout should earn the same as a doctor or an engineer?

Originally posted by wedgehead2
It also about the effort you put in- the top mangement won't work 10x harder than the basic worker.

I know plenty of "worker bees" who show up every day and don't hit a lick. One needn't go further than any government run enterprise to know that this is true.

Originally posted by Ullr
This is true. However, do you agree in principal that a skilled worker is worth more per hour than an unskilled worker?

And I'm not defending the $10 million dollar per year CEO because I actually kind of like RedMike's idea having worked for a company where the "celebrity" CEO overpayed himself as he ran the company into the ground. Often times one gets ...[text shortened]... of ability but because they've invested capital or know how to play the boardroom politics.

Before celebrity CEOs can "run a company into the ground," they must face the wrath of angry shareholders as well as a board of directors with oversight authority to fire him.

Originally posted by wedgehead2
A skilled worker can produce more valuable goods than an unskilled worker, yes. An interesting point is why one worker is more skilled- better life opportunities, more natural ability, more drive?

Just because someone has more ability doesn't necessarily mean they SHOULD be paid more than they need, and more than the unskilled worker.

I'm glad I don't work in your shop. Try this: Why do so many German doctors leave their country to work in hospitals in England and America? Because they don't like your business model:

http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?page=article&Article_ID=8861

Originally posted by der schwarze Ritter
Before celebrity CEOs can "run a company into the ground," they must face the wrath of angry shareholders as well as a board of directors with oversight authority to fire him.

Of course but unfortunately some of these skunks are experts at the boardroom politics and quite adept at manipulating board members and other shareholders. I've seen it first hand.

Originally posted by wedgehead2
Not everything is about you. The whole is more important than the individual- this is the basis of any government- community over liberty. They do live within a budget- that budget includes your taxes.
You shouldn't make the decisions on who to give your money to- the government is there to work out where that money can best be spent. Also, there are government economies of scale.

Maybe in Britain, where you are a subject to the Crown, but over here in America, the rise of the nanny state is only a recent development. Our founding fathers would be appalled at how far we've fallen.

Originally posted by wedgehead2
...Not being an exploitative greedy "True American" such as yourself?
Your comment on the poor and weak shows you up for what you are- a neo fascist. The weak shouldn't survive- the powerful should rule- survival of the fittest- destroy the undesirables.

Bravo! What a performance. Such melodrama. Really, you should win an award. However, my advocacy for the rights of the individual over the group trumps any spurious claim by you that I’m a neo-fascist. Try again, whelp.

Originally posted by der schwarze Ritter
Bravo! What a performance. Such melodrama. Really, you should win an award. However, my advocacy for the rights of the individual over the group trumps any spurious claim by you that I’m a neo-fascist. Try again, whelp.

You think the weak should be left out in the cold! That survival of the strong mentality is extremist nonsense.

Originally posted by wedgehead2
You really are a fool! Welfare states are rarely if ever generous enough to discourage people from doing work so that the whole system collaspes.

Don’t believe me, just stick around awhile longer and you might be surprised by what eventually happens in France, Germany or Sweden. But if you are so enamored with communism, maybe you should talk to people who experienced it firsthand in Eastern and Central Europe. They will tell you it is a vile insult to humanity.

Originally posted by uzless
Industries that are nationalized create wealth for the government. It's only in the capatalist system where industry is fully privatized do you find a government that merely redistributes money.

Petro Canada (oil company) used to be owned by the Canadian government. Hundreds of companies in Europe, South America etc are owned by their respective governments and they all create wealth for the government.

I wouldn't know, since we don't have nationalized industry here except for the Post Office, and it's horribly inefficient compared to its rivals.