Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

["Don Rua" <rua AT mindspring.com>]

Thanks for the article, Thomas. Despite my rant to follow, I did enjoy
hearing what he had to say, and I always enjoy hearing your thoughts. The
message posted definitely rings with many people today, but I also think it
carries an all too familiar and narrow tune: Capitalism and Corporations are
ruining America (can't say that's a new or unspoken idea), coupled with
"Look how intelligent and better they are in other countries". I've heard
those constantly for years now. Finally, he follows with a plea that no one
asks good questions, and then he asks them(actually worn out ones, but heh),
and you post it on a forum for many to see. Surprise, or does he know it's
an untruth even as he writes the article? I don't think they are
enlightening, or profound, but they are entertaining and great for a
speaking engagement, blog, or press article. In retrospect, I almost think
his article is a great example of what he rails about. Same ol, same ol.
Here's some counter information:


There's a good stream of foot-traffic and bikes down to my town center in
Floral City (one stoplight), where I find a hardware store with owners that
know everyone. Across the street is a sole proprieter small motors and
service company that everyone uses for their mowers, chainsaws, etc. There
is a barber/salon, movie store, garage, 'head' shop, and small pharmacy.
There are three convenience stores within a block, all three of which have
deli's. In addition to that, there are small 'grocery' stores within a mile,
and two "vegetable stands" within a mile. In the county I've seen ranches
and farms, all varieties of nurseries, there are very few high paying jobs,
basically because most business are small businesses owned by families or
entrepreneurs, quite a contrast from the corporate takeover the writer
describes. There's a small city nearby, Inverness, too small to have their
own police force, but I have my choice of the aforementioned small grocers,
or Publix, WinnDixie, WalMart, Kash & Karry, or quite a variety of foods at
Dollar, Webb Five & Dime, etc. I can get McD's, or stop at the "88 Cent"
breakfast diner, or fry up eggs from our own chickens.

I believe people see what they want to see, and I believe 7-11 sells what
the locals will pay for. The idea that BigCorp drives intelligent people to
stop buying vegetables in place of 37 kinds of beer is ludicrous. Does Bud
show us attractive people having fun with a drink? Hell yeah. Does it mean a
crap to me other than an appreciation for quality production values...nope.
I rarely drink beer because I don't want to drink beer, and I do what I
want, not what Bud wants. The people that are buying beer every day after
work, were picking up a bottle of 'shine' 100 years ago, or smoking
something to 'ease their stress'. If you think the great majority of people
in America are no longer 'intelligent' enough to buy what is good for them,
perhaps the debate should shift to the values/culture driving institutions
of public school and changing family units.

    So, there are still thousands and thousands of items/shops just like the
writer describes, not only 'still' in America, but in many instances ONLY in
America. The problem is, most INW readers are living in a metro environment,
with 3 good sized cities, 15+ universities, a world-class tech hub, etc. You
take all those pieces, and find surprise at changes in store fare? I think
not. What people have to realize is that if they want change in their life,
they must accept change in their life. :) You miss drive-in theaters? Okay,
let's see how many of you want to give up PS2 and XBox. Want to see a play?
Turn in your TIVO and DVD. You miss the local butcher? Okay, give up your AC
and heat pump. It comes with the turf people; you get what you pay for. It's
not BigCorp's fault, BigCorp is OUR fault. Show me an empty Walmart. Why are
they so full? Because their ads are so great, Bah! It's because they give us
essentially the same quality as we used to receive, for less price and often
more variety than the grocers our parents went to. It's not complicated. As
people flock to that deal, small competitors die...oh, boo hoo...doom and
gloom...what shall they do? Next paragraph.

...What the writer didn't mention was that instead of opening a nice diner
for a triple-thick shake, the entrepreneur who would have done that 40 years
ago is now the CEO of Google, and we can look up research on any disease in
the planet in seconds. Or the woman who would have opened a plant nursery,
is now the owner of a manufacturing plant making better EKG electrodes. No
more vacuum cleaner salesman? Hello customer service specialist. There are
even opportunities that actually can come back. There are a few milk route
companies that are growing strong, of late, and the 1950's tv store is now a
Dell kiosk selling you 100 times the entertainment and productivity power
for the same dollar. Somebody came up with all these new businesses. That
somebody is you, me, any semi-ambitious person out there. The reason VC's
come off so picky is that there are so damn many businesses to choose from
out there. I'm sure I'm not the only person on this list who has five ideas
they could run with right now if they were willing to make the sacrifice. So
you can't find cream soda, invent thunder-pop, or whatever you want. If it
makes life better for people, and you learn the ropes, you'll make it. The
people who will be next generations' butcher, or hardware stopkeeper, or
grocer do not fall from the sky. They are sitting in your chair, or if not
you, they are your neighbor and you can buy from them tomorrow, or work for
them. Just open your eyes and look for what you want, not for what you don't
want.

Finally, the writer(Cornwall?) used his lead-in to talk about the lack of
substantive ideas being discussed. That's just hooey. The INW list is one of
my agora's, and if it disappeared tomorrow I can assure you I'd find another
in a NY minute. You know you can, even before Blogging. There are
intelligent people wanting to discuss issues, philosophy, politics, the
human condition, you name it, it's out there. To say otherwise is a
profession of ignorance or unwillingness to look. Hell, if they discuss so
much 'meaningful' stuff in England, get on their discussion list, or chat
line, and discuss, then GUESS WHAT??? You are discussing what you consider
'substantive' issues, while living here in USA, so you've just contradicted
your own complaint in thirty seconds. i.e., there IS substantive discussion
here. Now find someone else doing the same, wah-lah! (If you can't find
others for intelligent discussion, I point again to the instruments used to
teach us how to live in society: school and family unit. For that matter, if
there's no one intelligent for Cornwall to talk to, I suppose he is from an
obtuse family, as I know dozens of cousins, bros, sisters, uncles, aunts,
etc. to talk with, without even hitting the net or town hall) The more I
look at it, he's just moaning and groaning about how terrible America is,
and there's really little substance to his own question.

"Can you imagine that happening in the US?" (legalizing
prostitution) ---Maybe he should visit Vegas.
" No way to wonder why teachers are paid less than prison guards, or to do
anything about it? A), he just did. (wonder), and B) I've worked in both
environments(nine years combined), and seen no justification for his
question. There are plenty of teachers who are making superior pay for nine
months work, and most prison guards make trailer-living pay while risking
getting a knife through their gut any day. As a matter of fact, I worked in
a joint in-school program with a teacher, where I was paid out of the
juvenile justice budget, and the teacher made 10K more than I for 3 months
less work a year, and no home visits. (I had to counsel each student in home
once a month. Yeah, all we do is lock'em up, NOT.)
"No way to ask why health care isn't a right instead of a privilege?" A)
what rock has this guy been under? This topic has been all over the place.
This guy talks very much like a political spin doctor, and B) it is a right
enjoyed by all Americans already. What Cornwall really wants is better
healthcare for the below-median income, paid by the above-median income, as
mandated by those wanting the votes of the poor masses, Hollywood, and
disaffected Nader groupies. We have the right to vote, but that does not
mean we have the right to ride in a limo to the booth. Capiche? Rights are
generally those things which your neighbor doesn't have to pay for so you
can sit on your ass drinking 37 beers from 7-11. Such as the right to bear
arms. Nobody buys you a gun for that right. The right to vote, the right to
a speedy trial, the right to free speech. If you lost your vocal cords
screaming "BigCorp Ruined My Country", that does not mean that your right to
free speech means the govt should buy you a megaphone.

By the way, if our country is doomed to ruin, as the writer suggests, it
will not be the fault of BigCorp. A BigCorp is just legal docs tying
individuals together to create greater efficiencies in a market. If we are
ruined, it will be because of us. WalMart wouldn't make a dime without us,
nor would MS, nor Apple, nor WilliamsSonoma. All this hooey about blaming
legal entities instead of the person in the mirror just strikes me as so
hypocritical and Boboish. "BigCorp should do more to help the poor, so we
don't have to give up our Starbucks, home wireless network, 37 beers, and
pot money." Wake up. There is such good in our country, and if you can't
find it, become it.


Crawling back into my whole...Don

PS- MichaelC, I didn't answer your last rebuttal to my thoughts, but I did
appreciate your answers, information, and communication style. For myself, I
tend to let fly with sarcasm and other verbal antics too easily.