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Corporate takeovers are when a large company takes over a smaller company or takes over a town by forcing smaller business out.

Here’s my two cents, I disagree with them because I believe it to be anti-capitalist because in order for capitalism to work there has to be competition and with these corporate takeovers they eliminate smaller business. They employ people at min. wage with no benefits. I cant really say outsourcing is a big thing because what’s to stop the little guy from sending his x-rays to India to be examined.

I refuse to shop at Wal-Mart because all there products are made in foreign countries and if I shop there I would be supporting the top 5 richest in the U.S plus there is the deal about sex-ism in the Wal-Mart community which I think is offensive and warrants some attention. But people will shop there despite all these things only because they have "lower" prices.

There is also the issue of "cost of living" Wal-Mart sells things at cheaper prices and therefore people can afford things that they couldn't normally thus rising there standard of living. This in self is good thing however if they are able to create a monopoly we could easily pay a lot more then what were paying right.

Could the U.S.A be a large corporation? Will it be a good thing a bad thing? Is the government for the people or for big business (that is a whole different debate)?

Have any of you experienced a Corporate take over in your community if so I would be interested in hearing how it has effected you

Edit

major spelling corrections

This post has been edited by Blythe on 18th May 2005 21:34

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procastinate now, dont put it off

It's pretty rare for someone to describe corporate takeovers as "anti-capitalist." All of the things you're talking about-- paying minimum wages, lack of benefits, outsourcing, foreign products--are part of a capitalist economic model. The more regulation goes into business, the further away from the capitalist ideal it goes. Walmart's plan for world domination fits in perfectly with the capitalist model.

I'm not really sure what your point is. It seems like you have a few ideas that aren't really connected. It would also be really, really cool if you could spellcheck your posts. This was hard to read.

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Veni, vidi, dormivi.

I personally dislike it when companies buy out other companies.

One thing that drives product/service quality in the market is the element of competition; that's also partly the reason why we have anti-collusion laws. I believe that a company has the objective of making money, but also has an equally important obligation to provide quality goods/services, and that a company that doesn't deliver on the latter should (logically) have to face a smaller demand for their goods/services.

Now, the more companies within a market, the greater the amount of competition there is in the market. When there exist factors that somehow combine various companies--buying out rival companies, collusion/price fixing, etc.--the amount of competition is decreased, and the threat of competitors outselling one's company by producing superior goods/services also drops. This is not to say that as much competition as possible is always good; too much competition may adversely affect the health of companies themselves; but there should be, in my opinion, a healthy amount of competition in every market. Having too few companies risks creating the opportunity for oligopoly (or even monopoly).

Of course, keep in mind that I said 'in my opinion'. My only truly formal economics education comes in the form of a single one-term microeconomics class in college; the rest is from my thinking about things. However, I'm kinda interested in economics (as a hobby-like interest), so...yeah. Every so often I feel the temptation to become an entrepreneur by selling various kinds of junk or performing some odd but not-yet-market-established service.

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I didn't really have an opinion on it until an Albertson's moved in nearby and pretty much weeded out a nice old grocery store that I used to visit quite often. Albertson's is a little closer, and it's a little cheaper, but the people at the other grocery store knew us, were friendlier, and was enjoyable to shop at. So yeah, I'm for the little guy.

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And hey, put the laptop down for a while
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Capitilism is at it's core evil. But the people who work at the companies are human beings like the rest of us. So all you can do is hope for the best. Corporate takeover and mergers are legal activities and are the best way to make your business grow. Monopolies are illegal under US law. That's all there is to it.

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"That Light has bestowed upon me the greatest black magic!"

You're kind of all over the place there.

Corporate Takeovers aren't necessarily bad or good in and of themselves.

I don't shop at Wal Mart because I hate it. It sucks. I'm looking at a fishing rod, take ten steps, then I'm surrounded by children's clothing. Ten more steps and I'm looking at candy in bulk. And no one cares about keeping their sections (especially electronics) neat.

Cost of living and Standard of living are a little different there, Sport.

I would love to see how a Mom&Pop store is, but there isn't very many in my area.

The question of the govt being for the people or for big business is not even a question.

If you're going to take on serious economic questions seriously, get an understanding better than a semester-long high school course you can easily coast through.

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"I had to write four novels before they let me write comic books."
-Brad Meltzer

Quote (The Ancient @ 20th May 2005 15:35)

Capitilism is at it's core evil. But the people who work at the companies are human beings like the rest of us. So all you can do is hope for the best. Corporate takeover and mergers are legal activities and are the best way to make your business grow. Monopolies are illegal under US law. That's all there is to it.

That's not all there is to it. How can you say that something is evil and then shrug and figure that 'cause it's legal means it has to stay that way? Laws can be changed. The way the world works can be changed. If you think that corporations have too much power, organize and fight them. They've been beaten in the past and they can be beaten in the future.

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Veni, vidi, dormivi.

Frankly I do not care and that has to do with my occupation. I am a teacher and I really do not worry about a bigger school coming in and taking over ours. Usually corporate takeovers are for the better, sometimes it is not but that is part of capitalism. But again I don't really care.

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War is for the participants a test of character; it makes bad men worse and good men better. - Joshua Chamberlain

U sir R a n00b >:-( - Cactuar

I don't really mind the cheaper prices and convenience of large corporate business, but I'm not all about the monopoly either. Competition is one of the main pillars of our economic model, and removing the competition is certainly not an ethical practice. But honestly, I think Walmart is the best example of that: they competed and won. But the problem is that no new challengers have come along, so it kept getting bigger and bigger.
But in the end, there will always be an alternative place to shop, or Walmart would start to go out of business (in theory, probably not really).

Here's something to look at: my town used to have a nice little ice cream shop. It was run by an older lady and her daughter; and it was a very nice place. They'd let you hang out all day, playing chess and doing homework and whatever. But, they had very thin profit margins, and were often on the verge of having to shut down. Then, a Dairy Queen showed up, and the little shop didn't last two months. They hired the owner and her daughters as managers, and now they make more than they ever did with thier own shop; and a Nappa opened up in the building where the old shop was (and just in time to save my alternator). Everyone won.

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Quote (karasuman @ 20th May 2005 16:50)

Quote (The Ancient @ 20th May 2005 15:35)

Capitilism is at it's core evil.  But the people who work at the companies are human beings like the rest of us.  So all you can do is hope for the best.  Corporate takeover and mergers are legal activities and are the best way to make your business grow.  Monopolies are illegal under US law. That's all there is to it.

That's not all there is to it. How can you say that something is evil and then shrug and figure that 'cause it's legal means it has to stay that way? Laws can be changed. The way the world works can be changed. If you think that corporations have too much power, organize and fight them. They've been beaten in the past and they can be beaten in the future.

You misunderstood me. We don't operate in an environment where capitilism is allowed to run in it's pure form. Government intervention is done so for what's percieved as the greater good of the people. As much as people complain about welfare, it's done with a noble intent and it is 100% counter to how a pure capitalist system would work.

This is simply my point. Maybe evil was a harsh word, but the basic principles behind capitilism and free markets are to make profits wherever they appear regardless of the expenses of others. A pure capitilist is not a good person, he cares only for bettering himself. When Walmart puts a mom and pop store out of business do you think they pay them in terms of the hardship they suffer at the loss of their livelihood? Or do they pay the smallest amount they have to?

But this doesnt' make Wal-Mart evil. They are simply operating under the current economic model as they should. And so far capitilism has proven to be the only economic model that works so good for it. But defending something on the basis of "oh it's free market" or "but that's how capitilism works" doesn't make it right.


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"That Light has bestowed upon me the greatest black magic!"

Corporations are only as good or as bad as the people that are running them. Even people that complain about corporations will enjoy the products some of those corporations produce (for most anyone on this board, I'll assume Square either did or does fall into that category).

A friend of mine said to me, "because I have been unemployed so long my mom reminded me that having time to think is a luxury. Imagine that."

And I said, "she's right. If no one was working, if everyone just took the time to think, like you do, we wouldn't be afforded nearly half the luxuries even middle class people in the US have. And honestly, thinking is not for everyone anyway."

Some people simply don't care about reorganizing the social structure. These people just want to live their lives and be bothered as little as possible. I don't think it would matter if the system was Corporate America or a state controlled conglomerate, like in Soviet Russia, so long as they could survive. And, if you ask me, Corporate America is a better alternative to Soviet Russia.

[And just in case anyone wants to make this counter-argument—yes, I know the Soviet Union wasn't "true Communism," but I also think that "true Communism" will never exist. I was reading some of the writings of Lenin. He's a brash young revolutionary…until he has to actually run a country. Then, suddenly, he becomes exceptionally practical, and sets to work convincing the remaining revolutionaries (who are not in power and are free to theorize) that a return to some basic capitalistic principles is necessary. (The work I'm referring to is his report to the Tenth Congress, March 15, 1921, called "Introducing the New Economic Policy" in "The Lenin Anthology," ed. Robert C. Tucker.)]

I said to this same friend of mine, who tends to lean Marxist, "you say things are bad now (under corporations) and you wish you could return to simpler times. Let me ask you to try something. Take your social position now, and put yourself in the exact equivalent during the feudal era. Now do you realize how much better off you are?"

His answer was, "I have it better than a king in many respects. But that also depends on how you define better off.'"

Which is about as much of a capitulation as I can get from the guy.

The point being that our lives are not all that bad, especially by historical comparison. We can, and should, fight for what is right when we can. I would never make the claim that this hyper-capitalistic society is flawless. Having worked in an office where people acted like drones, I've seen the bad side of it firsthand. There is always room for improvement, and to that extent I think fighting for things such as better worker rights is admirable, and I would encourage it. But I would also never say that all corporations are inherently detrimental and never beneficial. There are certainly "evil" corporations, but the things that give rise to them—greed, lust for power, etc.—are the same things that created exploitation during the feudal era, in Soviet Russia, under Faciscm, under, essentially, any system of government. Those things will always exist in humanity. If we got rid of corporations altogether I think they would just reemerge in some other form.

Hell, I'm always for the little guy. I come from Lithuania, in over words a country that was "corporately taken over" by Russia... Whithout the little guy the big guy will cease to exist. Large corporations should continue expanding, but not in a way that would destroy small businesses.

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Here lies a great and mighty king,
Whose promise none relies on,
He never said a foolish thing,
Nor ever did a wise one.
of Charles V

I'm also all the way for the little guy. If they're going to take ove though I atleast would like them to let them keep their jobs.