[ExI] morality

[efc at swisscows.email]

Hello spike, and I apologise in case I stepped on any toes or offended you 
in any way. That was certainly not my intention.

I am curious about peoples opinion about the issue, and I'm glad to hear 
about yours, since you live in the US and are much closer to real life 
there than I am.

> Are we now targeting specific businesses?  If McDonalds is junk food, then
> how about the nearly identical In-n-Out?  Burger King?  Do we tax all of

Let me just clarify a few things. I am targeting no business. When 
referring to Mc Donalds I was referring to what I vaguely remember reading 
in an article a long while ago, that's all, nothing else.

> them?  Do some get to skate because they offer salads to go along with those
> burgers, to make a healthy balanced diet?  McDonalds does.  I don't know
> about Wendys.

Personally I am against taxes in all their forms. So I think that is
enough to answer your question.

> Daniel fast food is what keeps homeless people alive.  High school students
> live on the stuff, if there is one close enough to campus.  I don't think we

You do make good points. A burgers is definitely preferable to
starvation.

In fact, it reminds me of once when I visited San Francisco and went to
a chinese restaurant. The amount of food I got was so enormous that I
got the rest in a doggy bag. Since I was travelling and had no kitchen
in my hotel, I was thinking about throwing it away, and a homeless guy
asked me for it. I gave it to him and he was genuinely thankful and
actually a very nice guy. I had very mixed feelings since I felt that
the world should not have to be this way (and no, I do not think high
taxes is the way forward here either).

> junk food or if it is not, but do consider the rise of the breakfast cereal
> industry in Battle Creek Michigan starting with John Harvey Kellogg.  This
> is a story for another time.

Please share, I'm all for interesting stories! =)

> will do that.  Making money is their job.  Making a lot of it is their moral
> obligation to their own stockholders.  Of course it is the responsibility of

I probably agree with you politically in a lot of questions, but when
talking about obligations to share holders I always make a point of
saying that yes, the obligation is to earn money, long term.

I run a business myself, and I can easily boost my short term profit at
the expense of long term. Just like epicureanism gets a bad reputation
when people caricature it in short term "terms", the same goes for
people who in my opinion have a very unenlightened view of capitalism
always pointing to short term:ism and saying "this is capitalism". As a
capitalist, I completely disagree, and I think it is a horrible way to
run a company.

Fortunately, in the long run, the market corrects this, and as you say,
Mc Donalds does serve sallad.

> Think about that.  Sheesh.

Good thoughts, and thank you very much for sharing.

Best regards, 
Daniel


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