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Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,675,688 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by lowercountry
I'll be candid. I have a lot of issues with the candidates as well but I also have a great fear of the "us vs. them" mentality that is reinforced by the media, as if running the country was a sporting event between the red jerseys and blue jerseys.
We need to get beyond that great divide but for the life of me I don't know how (or I'd run LOL). I think about 15% of the country is extreme left and another 15% is extreme right. The trouble is that those 30% are so rabid that they often carry the elections.
Having worked in broadcasting for 20 years, I can say that part of the "us vs them" perception is simply because the nut-jobs on the fringe do things to get more coverage, on purpose.
I think that your estimates are pretty dead-on. Also people frequently have serious misconceptions of other regions, & distant places within their own region.
Location: Some got six month some got one solid. But me and my buddies all got lifetime here
4,555 posts, read 10,406,049 times
Reputation: 2162
You want greed? The tobacco industry.
You have a company selling a product to willful consumers, one that's known to be extraordinarily and purposefully addictive AND can kill you.
You have executives making money hand over fist on selling that same product.
You have shareholders betting that more of the general public will take that risk.
When it all becomes too expensive, you have the Indians moving in to provide a cheaper alternative, in essence cashing in on the bigger tobacco company's loss.
I'm sure the pharmaceutical companies don't mind selling their medications to treat lung cancer, emphysema, etc. at some skyrocketed price so you know they're very much invested in how the tobacco companies perform. Because nothing can put a dent a pharmy company more than the downsizing or elimination of a disease and we can't have that (hence the treatment for polio but not the common cold...another pharmaceutical pay day).
Just last week TheStreet rated Philip Morris a buy and back in September their board of directors approved a 20.3% increase in its quarterly dividend.
At least hedge fund managers let you breathe enough clean air for you to go about your business.
You have a company selling a product to willful consumers, one that's known to be extraordinarily and purposefully addictive AND can kill you.
You have executives making money hand over fist on selling that same product.
You have shareholders betting that more of the general public will take that risk.
When it all becomes too expensive, you have the Indians moving in to provide a cheaper alternative, in essence cashing in on the bigger tobacco company's loss.
I'm sure the pharmaceutical companies don't mind selling their medications to treat lung cancer, emphysema, etc. at some skyrocketed price so you know they're very much invested in how the tobacco companies perform. Because nothing can put a dent a pharmy company more than the downsizing or elimination of a disease and we can't have that (hence the treatment for polio but not the common cold...another pharmaceutical pay day).
Just last week TheStreet rated Philip Morris a buy and back in September their board of directors approved a 20.3% increase in its quarterly dividend.
At least hedge fund managers let you breathe enough clean air for you to go about your business.
To be fair, by your reasoning, you'd have to put all the CEO's of alcohol companies in that same group because Alcohol is a vice and can kill you also....
Location: Some got six month some got one solid. But me and my buddies all got lifetime here
4,555 posts, read 10,406,049 times
Reputation: 2162
Quote:
Originally Posted by CouponJack
To be fair, by your reasoning, you'd have to put all the CEO's of alcohol companies in that same group because Alcohol is a vice and can kill you also....
I can't do that for a few reasons:
Alcohol isn't a carcinogen that affects those around them.
Alcohol doesn't contain a nicotine type substance that's designed to keep users hooked (one that's manipulated to various levels the way nicotine has been).
Some alcohol, red wine in particular, has a medicinal purpose. A doctor may suggest a glass of red wine or two each day. He will NEVER tell a patient to smoke a cigarette or two per day.
I understand alcohol contains properties that fuzz up perception, hooks certain drinkers, and has the potential to affect others. In moderation, just like aspirin, prescription pills, potato chips, soda, etc., alcohol won't cause the damage that tobacco can. Not cause cancer, or emphysema, increase your risk of heart attack or stroke.
But this ain't a health lesson. Look at the death tally in regards to tobacco, and think of the tobacco farmers, CEO's and shareholders who are farming it, offering it, betting on it, and ultimately profiting on it (not to mention the companies who sell various nicotine quit products like patches and gum...you know they have an interest in new buyers). Or the Indian reservations who step in with a cheaper alternative to make sure they can pocket a buck or two at the willful smoker's expense.
There's a lot of folks profiting over the close to 500,000 deaths per year in this country alone. Scary numbers.
Last edited by BrianH1970; 10-12-2011 at 05:16 PM..
But this ain't a health lesson. Look at the death tally in regards to tobacco, and think of the tobacco farmers, CEO's and shareholders who are farming it, offering it, betting on it, and ultimately profiting on it (not to mention the companies who sell various nicotine quit products like patches and gum...you know they have an interest in new buyers). Or the Indian reservations who step in with a cheaper alternative to make sure they can pocket a buck or two at the willful smoker's expense.
There's a lot of folks profiting over the close to 500,000 deaths per year in this country alone. Scary numbers.
Tobacco companies sell a legal product for which there is a demand. No one ever put a gun to someone's head and forced them to light up. Once again - personal responsibility for the consequences of one's actions. If everyone who currently smokes decided to quit tomorrow, then the tobacco companies would have to find a new product to manufacture and sell or they would go out of business.
BTW - your comments about pharmaceutical companies in your post above were completely ridiculous and indicate a complete absence of any real knowledge of the pharma industry...it did, however, illustrate how easy it is to vilify a large, corporate industry simply because they are a large corporate industry.
I don't understand how this became about "big business"?!
For me (and I honestly think many "movements" have different meaning for different people), this is about big FINANCE. Not about big business. Besides the obvious monopoly type situations a la price fixing and anti-competition, I have a problem with the large Too Big Too Fail financial firms. Their grip and tentacle reach through the economy is devastating... Yet, has no comparison to companies like large tobacco.
If you have something people want, there's nothing wrong with making money off it. Even if using it or using it irresponsibly will kill you or others (tobacco or alcohol). Adults have to be adults.
With large financial firms credit is the demand item falling into a grey area... we go after the corner loan sharks, but we leave the big ones alone. If I extend credit to you I know you can't pay back, then buy an insurance policy paying me when you default, while selling the original loan to some unsuspecting stoolie - I did something much worse then selling you cigarettes with warnings all over the pack. What's worse is that I do all the loan maneuvering lying about your ability to pay it back so that I get more for it and sell it easier... then when it all goes bad I tell everyone that you have to give me money or the world will end. Try selling that line as big tobacco.
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