131–140 of 357 posts
> I’m not smart enough to figure out what the regulatory regime is that would ban most of what private-equity does and tilt the playing field in favor of resilient lifestyle businesses. When I discovered a polity full of SMEs and resilient lifestyle businesses, I immigrated here. Some vague thoughts from a few decades of trying to figure out specifically why it seems to work so much better than the Old Country: Resil…
It's weird how many people here will shout against any (assumed) critic of capitalism. "So you want to live in North Korea???". No, I don't. What I want is a system where we can get quality products that are not manufactured by slaves on the other side of the world, and that didn't require burning 3 bathtubs of gasoline. And our system definitely ain't it.
3tubs × 40gal/tub × $3.50/gal = $420. Wow, you're spending $420 on shipping? How far away are they keeping those slaves?
Of course the cost in greenhouse gasses is astronomical, which is a big part of the problem.
Every time I read takes like this I think people forget why big brands exist? Small business (or “lifestyle business”) vs big brand is often framed about being high quality vs cheap price, because in practice it often is. But in theory the two things are completely unrelated. Yes fixing stuff is good for the planet. But big brands could offer customer service just fine if people wanted it. Small business vs big brand…
So, how is that story going to help me? Apparently, I can't buy a sofa of this quality any more, and if I want it fixed, I apparently have to go to Canada.
This is like people complaining about how air travel sucks compared to the time you could get a rib roast carved in the aisle in the 1960s. Markets have determined that people prefer cheaper, shoddier sofas compared to expensive high quality sofas. If you don't believe that, then go into business as a high quality sofa factory.
In the same way that markets have determined that people ‘prefer’ renting small mouldy damp apartments and eating noodles than buying penthouse apartments and eating at five star restaurants?
In this article it means “small business that supports the lifestyle of its owner/employees”
I thought it meant that it was a business that provided a non-essential usually-trendy “lifestyle goods/accessories” for its customers.
It's weird how many people here will shout against any (assumed) critic of capitalism. "So you want to live in North Korea???". No, I don't. What I want is a system where we can get quality products that are not manufactured by slaves on the other side of the world, and that didn't require burning 3 bathtubs of gasoline. And our system definitely ain't it.
3tubs × 40gal/tub × $3.50/gal = $420. Wow, you're spending $420 on shipping? How far away are they keeping those slaves?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> When I need a sofa, I want to be able to “just” get a sofa. Simple and predictable. If the sofa is good quality, even better. So, how often do you eat at McDo? (whose entire value proposition is "just" get some calories, simply and predictably)
> So, how often do you eat at McDo? Just because you want to "'just' get a sofa" it does not follow that you "'just' get some food" as well. Or at least not always: sometimes you may 'just' want to, and sometimes you'll want something more that 'just' calories. And you may not care about sofas as compared to other things: you may 'just' want a sofa, but if you're really into cooking then you may want more than (say)…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think there are two issues that are going in parallel 1. fixing stuff As long as some dude on the other side of the world is willing to make a new sofa and send it to you for cheaper than it is to fix it locally, the idea of fixing it locally will just never take off. You can ban/limit international trade, but then you're just screwing over poor people on the other end of the world for a "feel good" kind of thing 2…
Ikea sofas can be underrated. My wife bought a Grönlid loveseat at a consignment store (read: it wasn't even new) for $100 and we enjoyed it for almost 9 years. No sagging or falling apart, it remained comfortable until the day we sold it or gave it away - I don't recall now.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think there are two issues that are going in parallel 1. fixing stuff As long as some dude on the other side of the world is willing to make a new sofa and send it to you for cheaper than it is to fix it locally, the idea of fixing it locally will just never take off. You can ban/limit international trade, but then you're just screwing over poor people on the other end of the world for a "feel good" kind of thing 2…
Ikea sofas can be underrated. My wife bought a Grönlid loveseat at a consignment store (read: it wasn't even new) for $100 and we enjoyed it for almost 9 years. No sagging or falling apart, it remained comfortable until the day we sold it or gave it away - I don't recall now.