Capitalism when it's gone off the rails.

[Monoethnic Social Club]

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.'

And the city of London, realising that dudes in their own cars, unlicensed, relying on a google maps and centralised payment methods will KILL the very industry that draws people to enjoy the tourist experience of London so they work to PROTECT the cabbies, not destroy them.

There are good an bad operators in ANY industry... Uber killed the livelyhoods of thousands of otherwise unskilled migrants and reduced their nest eggs to worthless number plates the government gave them cent on the dollar for... why, because a few arseholes operators?

Instead, this 24/7 online and on demand economy has plenty of "student visa" labour on hand to be exploited by overseas pirates, don't want those pesky Aussie boomers to have any reward for their years of labour...

 

[Muz]

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???

Well they had no competitors, isn't that the very definition of a 'monopoly'? What am I missing?

 

[LFC]

I am responding trying to have a open mind and being the ol goat I am compared to many here - mostly I agree on the big picture whats to become.........

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?

well they still need shelf packers thankfully - so they are employing typically like banks less and less face to face service.

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?

I hear you - I've told the wife keep using the check out gal/guy, i do - my other grind also is always having to pay for bloody bags, just absorb that cost in the goods ffs imo - why didn't you long ago or did you ?

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.....

yes very sad the amount of empty shops, also Melb cbd is prob one of the worst in country, the discussion in another thread about Gosford being empty - many many similar around the country - the online age the young gens do not realise what they are doing to themselves buying online day in day out - yep Amazon and the likes are reaping the rewards at the same time putting people out of work ! yet people keep buying online and rave about it. (by the way I hardly shop online, I have to touch feel/try on if clothes/shoes/check the quality - HTF people buy vegs/fruit online astounds me - sheer laziness ! oh I'm time poor, gtfo)
Muz going on about uber - yep they reset the taxi rip off game (mind you I find costs have balanced out alot), used wisely great as I do getting to airport and back, trouble is my 20yr old entitled one spends a packet on them for NO, not going to travel the cheap way ie bus/train for its not good enough And I'm sure she is not alone.

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?

lets see what your kids do Mono I/we have scorned our kids what they do compared to us ol skool wog/aussie gen - ubereats deliveries at midnight/1 or 3am - then all these gens complain they are short of cash ! even though there's food in the feckin fridge. Oh have to have a $2k iphone/samsung also.

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

That it is - the KISS principle is gone - SM politics and other influences is the bigger cancer than they realise.....but I'm a capitilist greedy last line boomer what do I know

 

[Monoethnic Social Club]

Well they had no competitors, isn't that the very definition of a 'monopoly'? What am I missing?

In Melbourne alone there where 10-15 different cab companies. Silver top, Yellow cabs, Northern taxis, etc etc. not to mention the dozens upon dozens of owner operators that were independent.

I agree with you that investing in a taxi license in the 90s (funnily enough mostly because these migrant investors DIDN"T want to accumulate debt and rely on negative gearing ... oh the irony eh?) led to mini "monopolies" but it DID let owner operators gain the benefit of centralised dispatches and access to drivers...

I understand and share your aversion to "monopoly" but how exactly was it fair to the taxi and limo industry when a foreign company came to Australia, was literally an app that allowed ANYONE with a diverse license to pick up and drop of passengers.

• No specific driver education or testing
• No specific safety testing or evaluation of the vehicle being sued in a commercial capacity
• No specific insurance requirements apart from your normal civilian 3rd aprty
• No safety screening or backgriound check on driver
• No display of drivers identification (aprt from an app that could be easily maniuplauted)

I agree that the industry didnt do itself any favours and should have adapted with the times but allowing a direct rival to comp-ete without the same hindrances was/is un-Australian...

 

[LFC]

The Sydney taxi industry can only blame themselves especially the smaller independant owners who set the pricing of plates OTT.
That got culled in one full swoop due to the coming 2000 Olympics - the Gov opened up plates to the plenty to cover the demand wiped the asking prices.
Uber was great in the early days but for sometime now has balanced out more with the cabs - Diddi is the cheapest nowadays the daughter advise's lol.....

 

[tsf]

went into an aldi for the first time in my life last night, looking for a rake

 

[LFC]

went into an aldi for the first time in my life last night, looking for a rake

I got to say I like going through their bargain 2 rows.
That Crane brand sports clothing is good buying !
Certain tools/car stuff ok for the daily cars.
You never know whats there but I always find a bargain haha
We used to call my ol man the $2 shop man god bless him - spouse aldi is my $5 shop hehe

 

[tsf]

I got to say I like going through their bargain 2 rows.
That Crane brand sports clothing is good buying !
Certain tools/car stuff ok for the daily cars.
You never know whats there but I always find a bargain haha
We used to call my ol man the $2 shop man god bless him - spouse aldi is my $5 shop hehe

I was surprised by the random stuff they had in there

 

[LFC]

I was surprised by the random stuff they had in there

correct - thats what baffles me and as mentioned sometimes you go, great I'll have that didn't expect it.
Then you see random 4x4 gear or motor cycle gear etcetc - hence I don't mind jumping in for a quick look and quite affordable.
Some stuff could be crap but some not.
As mentioned that Crane clothing - go to Rebel or similar you pay $40 more.
I've bought regular good tshirts/great casual shorts serves my purpose's for everyday wear, gardenning whatever.

 

[Muz]

I was surprised by the random stuff they had in there

Mate shoppers in the know refer to that as the 'aisle of dreams'.

Pretty sure Beetoota have written about it.

 

[Muz]

I was surprised by the random stuff they had in there

Hahaha.

Here you go.

Shopper Stumbles Across Chainsaw She Didn't Know She Needed In Aldi's 'Aisle Of Dreams'

When we contacted Aldi for comment, they revealed to us secret market research behind the significance of the aisle.

www.betootaadvocate.com

 

[tsf]

Does the USA hate China so much and feel so threatened by them because they’ve shown there is an alternative to their psychotic ultra capitalism?

China has lifted 800 million people out of extreme poverty in the last 40 years.

USA has gone the opposite direction.
But don’t tell them. Wouldn’t want their stock options to decrease in value.

 

[LFC]

well considering you have been a OS traveller you would have seen or heard long before Trump tenure's people there are racist/insular/have had their heads in sand for decades/living in the land of stars stripes is the best.
China have shown communism is great at capitilism as well
Ironically they both need each other as strange at it is.
tsf - no badge of honour what the CCP have done last 40yrs to me - it should be noted how much terrible stuff they have done and control.
Also how much they are conning/investing in many many countries having them by the balls.

 

[tsf]

well considering you have been a OS traveller you would have seen or heard long before Trump tenure's people there are racist/insular/have had their heads in sand for decades/living in the land of stars stripes is the best.
China have shown communism is great at capitilism as well
Ironically they both need each other as strange at it is.
tsf - no badge of honour what the CCP have done last 40yrs to me - it should be noted how much terrible stuff they have done and control.
Also how much they are conning/investing in many many countries having them by the balls.

They have a hybrid of capitalism and also communism.

I guess they have shown that alternative models can be quite successful

 

[LFC]

They have a hybrid of capitalism and also communism.

I guess they have shown that alternative models can be quite successful

haha - its just $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$, the model/s are how much do I need to offer/invest to XYX country for them to put their hands out - pretty simple mouse trap on the prey.

 

[Football us life]

If someone or more likely a particular society ever gets "communism" right it could well rule the world. It could well ruin the world, as some people will no doubt attest too.

Although a "fail-proof" version of communism is likely impossible. It would require solving inherent problems of incentives, economic calculation, and concentrated power. A resilient version might blend markets with social ownership and radical democracy, powered by a future of technological change which is coming in abundance.....

Realistically I doubt there's a "fail-proof" version of communism to be had in our lifetimes but my old fella who was a real advocate of "communism" always reckoned it was just around the corner.....

 

[Muz]

well considering you have been a OS traveller you would have seen or heard long before Trump tenure's people there are racist/insular/have had their heads in sand for decades/living in the land of stars stripes is the best.
China have shown communism is great at capitilism as well
Ironically they both need each other as strange at it is.
tsf - no badge of honour what the CCP have done last 40yrs to me - it should be noted how much terrible stuff they have done and control.
Also how much they are conning/investing in many many countries having them by the balls.

At the base level are people in the lower and middle classes objectively better off in the US or China? That's my question.

Yeah they don't have twitter and facebook but they have universal health care and brilliant infrastructure.

In America 66% of bankruptcies are due to medical bills. Half a million families every year.

https://americanhumanrightsinitiativefoundation.org/blogs/millions-in-medical-debt

In the US the top 1% of people own more than the bottom 50% of households. That's way skew-if.

 

[Muz]

If someone or more likely a particular society ever gets "communism" right it could well rule the world. It could well ruin the world, as some people will no doubt attest too.

Although a "fail-proof" version of communism is likely impossible. It would require solving inherent problems of incentives, economic calculation, and concentrated power. A resilient version might blend markets with social ownership and radical democracy, powered by a future of technological change which is coming in abundance.....

Realistically I doubt there's a "fail-proof" version of communism to be had in our lifetimes but my old fella who was a real advocate of "communism" always reckoned it was just around the corner.....

I always say capitalism is probably the best system because without it what would drive innovation and entrepreneurship?

BUT that doesn't mean it can't be better.

If you put capitalist countries on a spectrum with the Scando countries on one end and the US at the other I think we should shoot for the Scando end of the spectrum. Funnelling wealth upwards and hollowing out the middle class like they do in the US is just bad for everybody.

When they're using AI, like they do in the US, to deny health insurance to 91% of claims that is fucked up and wrong. But if you're a free market, neo-liberal then that's the free market at work and that's all fine and dandy.

 

[tsf]

If someone or more likely a particular society ever gets "communism" right it could well rule the world. It could well ruin the world, as some people will no doubt attest too.

Although a "fail-proof" version of communism is likely impossible. It would require solving inherent problems of incentives, economic calculation, and concentrated power. A resilient version might blend markets with social ownership and radical democracy, powered by a future of technological change which is coming in abundance.....

Realistically I doubt there's a "fail-proof" version of communism to be had in our lifetimes but my old fella who was a real advocate of "communism" always reckoned it was just around the corner.....

I am not sure about communism, but personally a mix of anarchism, socialism and capitalism is alluring.

 

[Football us life]

I always say capitalism is probably the best system because without it what would drive innovation and entrepreneurship?

BUT that doesn't mean it can't be better.

If you put capitalist countries on a spectrum with the Scando countries on one end and the US at the other I think we should shoot for the Scando end of the spectrum.

When they're using AI, like they do in the US, to deny health insurance to 91% of claims that is fucked up and wrong. But if you're a free market, neo-liberal then that's the free market at work and that's all fine and dandy.

Agree with that.

Of course there's one or two issues giing on with some of the Scandinavian countries but I think it's generally down to bad management rather than exposing flaws in the actual politics.