[H]omer <spam@xxxxxxx> espoused:
> Verily I say unto thee, that Mark Kent spake thusly:
>
>> The illusion of choice in the absence of choice has become
>> fundamental to our current economy
>
> Indeed, the self-proclaimed "elite" have poisoned society with this
> "choice is bad" indoctrination, to the extent where it is gradually
> becoming impossible to lead a normal life. This is then exacerbated
> by so-called academics who support such theories, fuel the hysteria,
> then produce/endorse studies that negatively impact consumer choice.
>
> Take Barry Schwartz, whose "choice is bad" lectures have apparently
> convinced retailers like Tesco to consolidate product ranges to the
> point where most traditional (i.e. good) brands have disappeared in
> favour of tasteless, unbranded, genetically-modified, cheap garbage;
> produced by slave labour in the third world. Who does that benefit?
> Certainly not the consumer, nor the exploited slaves?
>
> And this is not mere speculation, since Schwartz has actually cited
> Tesco as one of his "success" stories; and as a long-standing Tesco
> customer, I can tell you that the choices are becoming rather bleak,
> in terms of grocery goods at least.
Interestingly, I think that things are not going so well for Tesco at
the moment. Sainsbury seem to be on the rise again, and Morrisons are
coming in hard, too. I'm not sure that everyone is as unsophisticated
as Mr Schwartz would like.
>
> If "choice is bad" then naturally that implies that "monopolies are
> good", which is precisely the ideology that the "elite" are all too
> eager to propagate, since they believe they have exclusive right to
> the world's resources. Like satanic chipmunks they hoard as much as
> they can, killing to obtain it if necessary, so they can gorge them
> -selves on it in the bleak winter to come; a metaphorical winter of
> their own creation - induced because the landscape is now bereft of
> those very resources that they now hoard. So what make the hoarders
> believe they have such a right? Nothing but selfishness, malice and
> greed.
>
> Presumably Schwartz gleefully looks forward to the dystopian future,
> where the whole planet is owned and controlled by just one man, who
> starkly polarises society into the elite and their slaves. Will the
> future ruler of our planet be crowned Caesar, I wonder, or CEO.
>
The game he's playing has only one winner and lots of losers. Whilst
this is often touted as the major advantage of capitalism, in that it
promotes competition in order to be the winner, it does have the
interesting side-effect that there's usually only one Gold medal spot.
--
| Mark Kent -- mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk |
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| Cola trolls: http://colatrolls.blogspot.com/ |
| My (new) blog: http://www.thereisnomagic.org |
|
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