NC:
“…The corporation farms get stronger, helped by government subsidies (tax money). It gets stronger than you because it has greater purchasing power. You have to charge more than they do because your operating expenses are simply higher. You don't have the same resources or power that the big corp has, so you can't wait for costs of things to go down, nor can you really bargain for better prices.
Economies of scale at work... – to quote Wikipedia:
“Many subsidy programs have limits on the size of the farm that can receive subsidies.”
“…small farms receive more payments in relation to value of their crops than big farms.”
I’m not for subsides, I think it works counter to the natural
“Or perhaps you work in a factory. You are the third generation and your family has helped make this company great. Of course you didn't invest MONEY, but you did invest labor and time. The company sees that labor is a LOT cheaper overseas and packs up shop and moves. Is it fair? You don't have the money to move overseas.”
You as the employee received wages for your effort. If part of your compensation package was Stock or Stock Options, then you would be part owner as well.
“The fact is that none of these companies got their alone. They got their with the help of American workers.“
Who were paid…
The unwritten contract is "I will work for you, you will give me work." The company benefitted from subsidies and shelters and other loopholes, paid for by their workers' tax dollars. And the company says "Thanks and f*ck you!"
Tax shelters and loopholes as they exist in the tax system MUST be closed…
“NO ONE gets there alone! NO ONE... So yes, you should benefit from your great idea. But you didn't get there alone. “
No, you are incorrect; I got there by paying my taxes which provide infrastructure (Roads, Police, Fire the Legal system etc.), my vendors who received a marketable wage or contract for their services.
Beks:
“Or let's say you are a capitalist, who makes their money sitting by the pool waiting for a check. Or you inherited it.”
I have worked my butt off so that my children have a better start than I. I have set them up with money and (hopefully) a profitable business if something should happen to me and my wife. Are you saying that my efforts (via tax) should be given to the government? I know of a few small business owners when they died, their children could not keep the business and were forced to sell in order to pay the inheritance tax. Some of these people were small farmers. Tell me how that is fair?
“It's not necessarily about what is fair, it's about what works. This is a society, no matter how much the right wants to focus on the individual.”
The individual must be able to flourish or society will collapse. If you nurture society at the expense of individualism and personal freedoms, you will be left with an empty shell of a nation.
“No one gets rich on an island. No one who works for their money gets rich without resources. Even the local dry cleaner is putting a bigger strain on the resources of my community than I am, why shouldn't they pay more?”
You are correct that we are “not an island” - we exchange goods and services with others. I believe that many states and cities charge Dry Cleaning businesses with special fees, there is also an environmental impact fee on their supplies. Now I won’t argue whether it’s enough or not, but the mechanism is in place to exact price on the resources that Dry Cleansers use.
“Is WalMart not using and abusing the highway far and away beyond what you and I are? Etc. etc. On and on it goes.”
Walmart pays licensing fees on their own trucks and pays a tax on the diesel fuel used which is proportional to the mileage driven. Now, again, I won’t argue whether the taxes are the correct amount, but again, there is a mechanism in place to recapture that burden.
cheers