Capitalism when it's gone off the rails.

[LFC]

Pollies can change the rules but as we know that costs votes - you can't win - pollies have their piece of the blame.

As for corp profits - I was pretty sickenned once again CBA made a motza.

 

[Muz]

Pollies can change the rules but as we know that costs votes - you can't win - pollies have their piece of the blame.

Hang on. If corporates are gouging and are responsible for the vast majority of inflation why are you giving them a free pass and blaming politicians? Put the boot into the real culprits.

And what you're seeming to suggest is we need more regulations and higher taxes to keep these clowns in check. Completely agree with more regulations and higher taxes on super profits. They're getting away with blue murder.

 

[LFC]

nothing OTT what I said Muz, was I only blaming pollies ? no.
Both need the boot up their arse's.
I have no issue big corp/especially OS ones paying more tax's absolutely and getting pulled in (within balance) And also our Gov's protecting our Export resources farfar better than has gone on for decades.

 

[Football us life]

Rather than totally relying on supermarkets, we've maintained a dual grocery shopping way of.doing things down the years.

Combining weekly or bi-weekly trips to large supermarkets for bulk items with frequent visits to local specialty shops for fresh, high-quality products. The bakers, butchers, greengrocers etc. Its not a rejection of supermarkets per se, but a preservation of an independent grocery shopping culture that values quality, tradition, and a bit of human connection.

Easy to do it if you can afford it of course, but Im not sure there's much difference.....

 

[Monoethnic Social Club]

Rather than totally relying on supermarkets, we've maintained a dual grocery shopping way of.doing things down the years.

Combining weekly or bi-weekly trips to large supermarkets for bulk items with frequent visits to local specialty shops for fresh, high-quality products. The bakers, butchers, greengrocers etc. Its not a rejection of supermarkets per se, but a preservation of an independent grocery shopping culture that values quality, tradition, and a bit of human connection.

Easy to do it if you can afford it of course, but Im not sure there's much difference.....

Absolutely coupled with NO Uber anything, Ill pick up our once a week takeaway myself and put the money into the local blokes pocket.. AND Never ride share.. its a cabbie with cash and a tip .... They are the ones that are driving cars registered and tested every year.

 

[Monoethnic Social Club]

Hang on. If corporates are gouging and are responsible for the vast majority of inflation why are you giving them a free pass and blaming politicians? Put the boot into the real culprits.

And what you're seeming to suggest is we need more regulations and higher taxes to keep these clowns in check. Completely agree with more regulations and higher taxes on super profits. They're getting away with blue murder.

Can I ask why you would target Super profits and NOT every shareholder of these corporates?
They are after all accountable to every shareholder to generate a larger and larger profit every year?

 

[Football us life]

Absolutely coupled with NO Uber anything, Ill pick up our once a week takeaway myself and put the money into the local blokes pocket.. AND Never ride share.. its a cabbie with cash and a tip .... They are the ones that are driving cars registered and tested every year.

There's a Lebanese fella who's got the fruit and veg ahop near me.

He puts a lot of effort into what hevdoes, what he sells and the way he sells it.

He's probably the same price as Woolies and Coles on most items.

He's got an fantastic deli and smallfoods section too. And a juice bar. And he talks to his customers too. He's got 2 of his sons working there and they're onto everything.

I want to see small independent businesses like that do well .

The 2 butcher shops I go to are very customer minded as well.

As for the baker’s....Well I've got a dedicated thread for them....

 

[LFC]

Rather than totally relying on supermarkets, we've maintained a dual grocery shopping way of.doing things down the years.

Combining weekly or bi-weekly trips to large supermarkets for bulk items with frequent visits to local specialty shops for fresh, high-quality products. The bakers, butchers, greengrocers etc. Its not a rejection of supermarkets per se, but a preservation of an independent grocery shopping culture that values quality, tradition, and a bit of human connection.

Easy to do it if you can afford it of course, but Im not sure there's much difference.....

agreed though depends where you live and time factors.
Mind you I shouldn't talk the wifey does most of the shopping.
She prefers supporting the local independants - I think she is going to head back to the early morning produce market run again which is far better quality and price for bulk fruit vegies etc......
Trouble is people are time poor and slaves to the local duopoly.
I try to support independants for I know what they go through being a small biz owner myself.
Trouble is they are getitng less and less and that sucks bigtime !
Hate supporting bunnings - when I can I buy elsewhere for eg.

 

[Monoethnic Social Club]

There's a Lebanese fella who's got the fruit and veg ahop near me.

He puts a lot of effort into what hevdoes, what he sells and the way he sells it.

He's probably the same price as Woolies and Coles on most items.

He's got an fantastic deli and smallfoods section too. And a juice bar. And he talks to his customers too. He's got 2 of his sons working there and they're onto everything.

I want to see small independent businesses like that do well .

The 2 butcher shops I go to are very customer minded as well.

As for the baker’s....Well I've got a dedicated thread for them....

Im 100% for this... I wish I had the time to NOT be so reliant on Coles or Woolies... WILL NEVER spend money in Aldi or Costco.. I want my kids to have jobs in the future.

 

[LFC]

Im 100% for this... I wish I had the time to NOT be so reliant on Coles or Woolies... WILL NEVER spend money in Aldi or Costco.. I want my kids to have jobs in the future.

well here the thing about this and I know its swings and roundabouts especially now feck all manufacturing here were so reliant of Imports ! hence bending over to China on another tangent.
You mention Aldi/Costco.
Some will say they employ aussies thats the main thing.
I have this mental battle with some people in my industry - I see some SM I suss out of a client that their company is Aussie and family owned.
Their main product is made here BUT you also got to import other lines.
Now many companies pride themselves being Aussie and their packaging quotes as such.
Then you have silly small minded consumers say in SM their product is either China made or Thailand made etc - you can't frigging win.
This crowd employ alot of aussies right around the country.
So what do you say about this ? just curious.

 

[Monoethnic Social Club]

well here the thing about this and I know its swings and roundabouts expspecially now feck all manufacturing here were so reliant of Imports ! hence bending over to China on anotehr tangent.
You mention Aldi/Costco.
Some will say they employ aussies thats the main thing.
I have this mental battle with some people in my industry - I see some SM I suss out of a client that their company is Aussie and family owned.
Their main product is made here BUT you also got to import other lines.
Now many companies pride themselves being Aussie and their packaging quotes as such.
Then you have silly small minded consumers say in SM their product is either China made or Thailand made etc - you can't frigging win.
This crowd employ alot of aussies riight around the country.
So what do you say about this ? just curious.

Coles and Woolies AND the independant local supermarkets and milk bars used to employ ALL of our 16-19 your old kids once upon a time remember? Now you go into the Coles and there are 17,000 self checkout scanners and one bored 60 year old mum standing at the entry making sure nobody steals?

Just lke the shops in our neighberhood high streets and cities... Now everywhere you drive past has a "for lease" sign on the window yet Amazon and whatever other bullshit internet delivery dildo machines they use are opening 50 hectare mega warehouses, ALL automated, and paying their drivers $5 an hour to work 72 hours a week and piss in water bottles... Spare me the "they provide jobs" line... let them fuckin pay tax in this country first and then we can talk.....

My neighbourhood has ONE milkbar lefgt (a little Vietnamese bloke and his wife) One, their sued to be a dozen... why? So some non-binary, entitled little arsehole can order $2 plastic dogshit from Temu and pistachio Dubai chocolate trendy whatever from menulog?

OUR Australia is gone brother, and while me and you cry wishing our kids could raise their families warm and safe like we did, their generation is arguing about who is a leftard adn who is a fascist... FFS

 

[theFOOTBALLlover]

 

[JS96]

You can imagine the pricks jamming all the prices up between 5.00pm and 7.00pm when the supermarkets are chockas with people trying to get something on the way home from work once these digital price tags get more ubiquitous.

There's no depth so low that these cunce will stoop to to make money.



I'd love to grab one of these CEOs and straight up ask him are you happy that kids are going hungry because you're making record profits. How the fuck do you sleep at night?

And before you scream 'communist scum' at me sharkboy I'm saying you can still make profits but when is enough enough? Surely at some stage they're going to have to do something. Couples are both working and some have a second job and they still can't get by. FFS.

It goes even as far as noticing everyone is buying loads on milk today that they then jack it up by the time you get to the checkout. Each country will have its own regulations on this but a massive clamp down or ban on this is needed.

Same thing over and over. Put the price up 50c then say it's not 30c lower and there's their 20c increase set.

There are examples of successful boycotts so the more people stop buying a certain product its shelf space will diminish. At the same time it's the entire bloody store. The Serbian boycott of German shops got a reaction.

 

[Muz]

Can I ask why you would target Super profits and NOT every shareholder of these corporates?
They are after all accountable to every shareholder to generate a larger and larger profit every year?

Shareholders are already targeted because they pay tax. Dividends are income and if you're getting dividends added to your income then you're paying the marginal rate your income has put you in. (It may even bump you up into a higher bracket.)

Unless they're franked in which case the company has already paid the tax.

My question is if the Commonwealth bank, for example, made $12 billion instead of $13 billion thats $1 billion to build a hospital in a regional area for example. Isn't that better than more money going to shareholders?

 

[Muz]

Taxis can get fucked. I'll never forget the pricks parking up outside the pub at closing and taking bids of punters desperate to get home for years when I lived in Sydney. All with their lights off which they're not supposed to do. And they're also not supposed to refuse a fair.

Most of the money the taxis make goes into the licence owners pocket not the driver's.

It all became fucked when licences, just like houses, became investment vehicles
No pun intended.

As for costs it used to cost me $45 to go about 8kms where I am with a cab. Friggin rip off. Uber is half that.

Tip them and it goes straight in their pocket and your still miles in front of a cab.

Those pricks shot themselves in the foot decades ago when they had a monopoly. Uber dragged them kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

As for cars that are checked and to standard, 95% of ubers I get in are brand spankers.

 

[Muz]

Im 100% for this... I wish I had the time to NOT be so reliant on Coles or Woolies... WILL NEVER spend money in Aldi or Costco.. I want my kids to have jobs in the future.

That's your choice but Australian supermarkets are the most profitable in the world. The. Most. Profitable.

And the reason for that is the fuckers have no competition and they collude and rip us off. Fuck Coles and Woolworths.

Go overseas to any European country and go to the supermarket. Just about every item is half the cost of what we pay here.

And how's this for a fucking joke, you can find Australian beef cheaper in Asia than you can in Australia.

I mean FFS I bought Bundaberg ginger beer in Bali from a supermarket for half the Australian price. How? They had to ship the bastard there.

A 600ml bottle of cold coke in a Japanese supermarket when I was there about 3 months ago was $1.00. One dollar. In Australia it's almost $5.00. And there's no guff about 'cheaper labour costs' because Japan is a first world country.

They charge more because they can. Pure fucking greed. It's never enough for these parasites.

We're fucked at every turn. Don't start me on the cost of a 6 pack of beer.

Supermarkets, Coles and Woolworths, rape us blind because they can so keep supporting a giant duopoly, that's your choice but there's a reason prices are so high. Punters are (a) too lazy to shop elsewhere and (b) fucked even if they wanted to because there's next to no competition.

Unfortunately, like you, we shop at Coles and Woolworths a fair bit. We do use Aldi too because they're about 30 per cent cheaper.

Long story short, if you want more of the same keep shopping at Woolies and Coles. Want to change things up, shop elsewhere.

 

[JS96]

Taxis can get fucked. I'll never forget the pricks parking up outside the pub at closing and taking bids of punters desperate to get home for years when I lived in Sydney. All with their lights off which they're not supposed to do. And they're also not supposed to refuse a fair.

Most of the money the taxis make goes into the licence owners pocket not the driver's.

It all became fucked when licences, just like houses, became investment vehicles
No pun intended.

As for costs it used to cost me $45 to go about 8kms where I am with a cab. Friggin rip off. Uber is half that.

Tip them and it goes straight in their pocket and your still miles in front of a cab.

Those pricks shot themselves in the foot decades ago when they had a monopoly. Uber dragged them kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

As for cars that are checked and to standard, 95% of ubers I get in are brand spankers.

I read something about London taxis being deregulated. Learning The Knowledge and being an ultras reliable service is great. Not to say there aren't bad eggs.

The Australian taxi industry got rid of decent services decades ago. Sadly it was all about money. The wankers at airports who refuse nearby fares. Don't they realise once they go somewhere there's a chance the next customer could be around the corner?

My dad drove for Central Coast cabs and had to take someone down to Sydney CBD once on a Saturday night. No sooner had he dropped someone off the next person banging on his window asking for a ride. While being totally out of zone his boss on the coast was fine with a few cheeky fares but he drove around the CBD for a good two hours and of course the passenger comments were 'it's nice to have someone running the meter properly and not taking the piss with games.'

 

[Monoethnic Social Club]

Shareholders are already targeted because they pay tax. Dividends are income and if you're getting dividends added to your income then you're paying the marginal rate your income has put you in. (It may even bump you up into a higher bracket.)

Unless they're franked in which case the company has already paid the tax.

My question is if the Commonwealth bank, for example, made $12 billion instead of $13 billion thats $1 billion to build a hospital in a regional area for example. Isn't that better than more money going to shareholders?

I guess smaller profits leads to lower performance in dividends which would lead to less stock value... Corporate philanthropy is seen as more of a value driver than an actual altruistic movement by some of these boards.... Its not right but it isnt going to change. We are ALL to blame, NOT just the board of the bank... they didnt make the system, they just profit from its machinations.

 

[Monoethnic Social Club]

Taxis can get fucked. I'll never forget the pricks parking up outside the pub at closing and taking bids of punters desperate to get home for years when I lived in Sydney. All with their lights off which they're not supposed to do. And they're also not supposed to refuse a fair.

Most of the money the taxis make goes into the licence owners pocket not the driver's.

It all became fucked when licences, just like houses, became investment vehicles
No pun intended.

As for costs it used to cost me $45 to go about 8kms where I am with a cab. Friggin rip off. Uber is half that.

Tip them and it goes straight in their pocket and your still miles in front of a cab.

Those pricks shot themselves in the foot decades ago when they had a monopoly. Uber dragged them kicking and screaming into the 21st century.

As for cars that are checked and to standard, 95% of ubers I get in are brand spankers.

Interesting to hear owner operator carriage services, regulated to they point of ridiculousness and let down by the very body that regulated the shit out of them described as a monopoly.. Let me guess the Milk bars and mum and dad fish and greasies "shot themselves in the foot" as well eh???

 

[Monoethnic Social Club]

Long story short, if you want more of the same keep shopping at Woolies and Coles. Want to change things up, shop elsewhere.

No argument with any of this ... my point was Aldi and Costco are NOT the answer.....