Re: Private Property and Capitalism

Enigl@aol.com
Wed, 16 Oct 1996 20:10:08 -0400


In a message dated 96-10-14 12:00:15 EDT, snaidu@undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca
(Suresh Naidu) wrote:

<< Look at United Fruit. They get cheap labour and produce from central
america, and they have a rich market here. >>

I'm sorry but labor has always been cheaper outside the U.S. Perhaps I
should hire MORE _expensive_ labor and go out of business faster. Where
would you have me go to get fruit? All I have to do is get fruit to in
winter?

I worked for Dole and I quit. But, the non-American employees were not
treated any differently. We all liked working for Dole until something
better came along. Then we quit. At Dolefil and Dolethai we were the
"richest" people around because we were employees of Dole. We negotiated a
better deal with Dole than anything else we could do at the time. Now we
can negotiate even better deals because we worked at Dole in the past.
What's wrong with that? I want to support myself. Dole wins, I win and
Dole's customer's win. Everybody wins.

<<Buy low, sell high, a maxim of capitalism. >>

Prices are negotiated not mandated (unless by socialist governments). The
buyer and seller have to be satisfied or there is NO deal. The maxim "buy
low, sell high" is a nice fantasy. Probability of this is very low because
it is a lose-win (see Game Theory: Prisoner's Dilemma contests). Win-win
deals survive better overtime.

<<Doesn't (m)atter how many people they suppress
down there, as long as we get our cheap fruit.

Suppress them??? You mean give jobs, education, housing, meals and money to
them?

<< How many children don't get an education >>

How many children didn't get an education before? How many _American_ farm
children didn't get an education UNTIL there were large corporations and
other alternatives to farming? ZERO.

<<because they have to work in sweatshops in order to support themselves. >>

You call them "sweatshops". . . I call them jobs. Jobs they are free to
take or not. They take the jobs because the "sweat" is worst in ALL the
alternatives.

"Support themselves"? What's wrong with "supporting yourself"? What where
they doing before? Not supporting themselves? Parasites? No they were
farmers and worked very hard too. Doesn't a farmer "SWEAT"?

They must think working for the corporation is better than before. Better
than farming for themselves. Or, they would quit.

<<India is a good example of capitalism running amuck. >>

What!? Why? About 2000 farmers apply for every one (1) job opening in the
Union Carbide Corporation even after the disaster. Those 2000 farmers had
it so good as farmers they _wanted_ to be punished? They _wanted_ to have
capitalism run amuck on them? I don't think so.

Without capitalism they would have a better education system than they have
now? I don't think so.