Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

A Billionaire’s Sears Fiasco Is Finally Nearing Its End

bloomberg.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 108 posts

Re: A Billionaire’s Sears Fiasco Is Finally Nearing Its End

#81

Post by mulmen »

stale2002 wrote: post #79
ocschwar wrote: post #9

How is it a fiasco? He wanted to gut the place and get the real estate. He gutted the place and got the real estate. It's a heist, not a fiasco

I wouldn't call that a heist. If a company can't make money from it's valuable real estate, then maybe it doesn't deserve to be a company, and should stop wasting everyone's time and money pursue goals that will fail. Eventually you have to learn not to throw good money after bad. If anything, the people who are trying to keep zombie corporations around are the thieves.

Then why systematically dismantle the company in a way that directly benefits your other business(hedge fund) instead of pivoting to a less real-estate focused business model?

Re: A Billionaire’s Sears Fiasco Is Finally Nearing Its End

#82

Post by stale2002 »

cultus wrote: post #8
bsenftner wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rand's legacy fits how she died: penniless and dependent on the institutions she viewed as failures of the human spirit. What a misguided wreak. Too bad she was influential, because much of the idiots stinking up the planet are her ideological children.

Objectivism really is a vacant and pretty incoherent "philosophy." It's no surprise she presented in in the form of tedious novels with wooden characters rather than engaging with actual philosphers. I think its popularity is due to the fact that it tells people what they want to hear, and they can think of themselves as John Galt-esque ubermenschen.

Rand's works need to be read while knowing the context that it was written in.

Rand grew up in Russia, and her works were a direct criticism of the failures of the Soviet Union and communism.

For someone who was watching their former country being torn apart, by cartoon villians, it makes sense that she would write about the exact problems that she saw happening. IE, cartoon villians looting the country.

Re: A Billionaire’s Sears Fiasco Is Finally Nearing Its End

#83

Post by mulmen »

conscion wrote: post #71

He saw about $240 million worth of stock that he personally purchased evaporate as the shares tumbled. Another $287 million that he received in compensation has all but disappeared. ... so he made $40 million?

How do you get -240 - 287 = 40?

Re: A Billionaire’s Sears Fiasco Is Finally Nearing Its End

#84

Post by dieterrams »

skookumchuck wrote: post #48
dieterrams wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fundamental problem with Rand's ideology is her cartoonish categorization of everyone that isn't Galt-esque or an enthusiastic, hypercompetent support person as evil looters/parasites. Iirc, Galt is basically trying to collapse society for everyone but the former. When you realize that you can't just write off people because they didn't turn out to be brilliant entrepreneurs or perky worker bees, and that the wor…

It's hard to get more cartoonish than Star Trek's Ferengi, a left-wing caricature of capitalists, going so far as having pointed teeth.

I was saying her categorizations are cartoonish, as in overly simplistic morally and sociologically.

Re: A Billionaire’s Sears Fiasco Is Finally Nearing Its End

#85

Post by skookumchuck »

cultus wrote: post #78
skookumchuck wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you sure about that? Most ST episodes have a pretty heavy-handed moral lesson on progressive philosophy. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/06/new-star-trek-series-...

No one bases their lives around Star Trek moral messages besides a few nerds. Also, you may want to read what I wrote again. I said "Star Trek is not pretending to be a moral philosophy." Ayn Rand claims that Objectivism is the basis for ethics, epistemology, metaphysics, etc. How on Earth does that compare to the Ferengi being greedy as a parable of capitalism?

> "Star Trek is not pretending to be a moral philosophy."

I gave a link showing it was Roddenberry's directive. Also, what do you think of the Prime Directive? (Which, of course, is routinely violated if the aliens don't conform to progressive ideals.)

> besides a few nerds

I've read progressive newspaper columnists citing Star Trek as a model to emulate.

Re: A Billionaire’s Sears Fiasco Is Finally Nearing Its End

#86

Post by stale2002 »

glalonde wrote: post #64
dieterrams wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fundamental problem with Rand's ideology is her cartoonish categorization of everyone that isn't Galt-esque or an enthusiastic, hypercompetent support person as evil looters/parasites. Iirc, Galt is basically trying to collapse society for everyone but the former. When you realize that you can't just write off people because they didn't turn out to be brilliant entrepreneurs or perky worker bees, and that the wor…

Everyone was cartoonish, even the good guys. It was like a small army of glimmering MD PhD's with perfect physiques vs. the lazy bums. It's a work of fantasy, why does anyone point to it and say "This is what I base my beliefs on."? That would be like using LotR as your moral compass. Except with worse plot holes like gross misrepresentations of how small mountain village economies could possibly function.

Rands work was a direct criticism of communism.

Given that this is the topic that we are discussing, I do not find her ideas to be fantasy at all.

Stalin and Mao killed many millions of people, both intentionally, and through mere neglect. Probably more than the Nazis. So given that this is the topic, her criticism of a collapsing society doesn't seem that ridiculous.

Re: A Billionaire’s Sears Fiasco Is Finally Nearing Its End

#87

Post by toss1 »

refurb wrote: post #72
toss1 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not OP, but yes, Sears would be a LOT better off without Lampert's engineering -- starting with his leaving a $billion in the company instead of siphoning it off to his hedge fund [1]. Lampert has done virtually everything to make the company fail, from employer actions that drove away anyone good, to screwing suppliers so that he now has no inventory, to letting the actual stores look like dingy, deserted, wasteland…

Sears was headed into the toilet long before Amazon became big. Lambert was the final nail in the coffin.

Agree, it was on a long slide. I'd argue that the right leadership could have reversed it, but Lambert absolutely sealed it's fate.

Following the coffin analogy, I'd say it was sick, but the family wasn't even talking about coffins, but Lambert came in and upended the bed, threw the patient out the window, bought the coffin, put the body in, and nailed it shut all by himself. Now, he's off to bury it.

Re: A Billionaire’s Sears Fiasco Is Finally Nearing Its End

#88

Post by 8bitsrule »

brianbreslin wrote: post #59

So many of the assets that Sears was known for, their tools, appliance brands, etc. are all siphoned off into Eddie Lampert's hedge funds.

It's almost as though he is "a great vampire squid ... relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money."

Re: A Billionaire’s Sears Fiasco Is Finally Nearing Its End

#89

Post by stephengillie »

paulie_a wrote: post #52
dawhizkid wrote: post #3

One of the most amazing "secret" benefits at Sears is their "Shop Your Way" loyalty program with Uber. Basically since last fall, every Uber Ride or Uber Eats purchase gives you $2-$4 cash back to use at Sears/Kmart online no matter the cost if you linked your accounts. Given my average Uber Pool is around $5, I've basically been getting 40% off all my Uber Pools for almost a year. It will be missed!

In my experience you never actually get your food with Uber eats. I use uber frequently, but Uber eats is crap.

If you're having a service or technical issue, try a customer service team before being negative on the internet.

Re: A Billionaire’s Sears Fiasco Is Finally Nearing Its End

#90

Post by memberservice »

bsenftner wrote: post #4
olefoo wrote: post #2

Hubris and an unshakable belief in Ayn Rand... http://evonomics.com/the-ceo-of-sears-jon-haidt/

Rand's legacy fits how she died: penniless and dependent on the institutions she viewed as failures of the human spirit. What a misguided wreak. Too bad she was influential, because much of the idiots stinking up the planet are her ideological children.

"Rand told her husband, O’Connor, that he would have to vacate their apartment twice a week while she and Mr. Branden had their trysts."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/nathaniel...

Post reply on HN