So the other day I was out with a friend, and as we drove past a BP gas station, it occurred to me: I feel really bad for BP store managers and employees. British Petroleum has earned quite a bit of ire for itself, and as oft happens in such cases, a number of people are now boycotting them and refusing to buy BP fuel. For obvious reasons, this sucks for BP employees. It's easy to label the big ugly corporation as this evil entity for fucking up (if that offends you, see my previous post) our environment and taking so long to do something about it, but what some people seem to overlook is that not every single person associated with BP is a greedy, negligent bastard (well, any more than humans in general normally are). A lot of BP employees, good honest people just trying to earn a living, are quite possibly going to end up losing their jobs over something that is no fault of their own, but they share the blame for.
Of course, I'm not trying to talk anyone out of boycotting BP, not that I expect I could even if I wanted to. It's just something to think about.
If you got oil problems, I feel bad for you son. I got 99 problems but a spill ain't one.
Showing posts with label big business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label big business. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
for_profit = true;
I am consistently amazed by how grown adults utterly fail to understand the workings of the business world. Why do people demonize for profit corporations for doing, well, exactly what they were made to do?
A common trend on the forums of video games (though I'm sure it's prevalent in other industries too) is "omg, [big corporation here] just wants money!" This is often a last resort when the arguing party has run out of viable arguments, an attempt to gain some imagined moral high ground by casting the big bad evil corporation in a negative light for only caring about dollar signs but . . . that's why corporations exist. Do you really expect to get products for free? I suppose some unhappiness when a price is raised is understandable, but it's unavoidable. As the cost of living rises, wages must go up and as wages go up, development costs go up which in turn leads to increased prices. It's just how math works.
Now, I'm not saying that all big corporations are pristine paragons of virtue. Sure, stuff like the Enron debacle happens, but that's not what I'm talking about here. I'm talking solely about big companies that offer a product or service for which they charge a reasonable fee, not crooks with their hands our wallets when we're not looking.
What's even more ridiculous is when these complaints are roused by a new product. The inspiration for this post, though by no means unique or the only case of this happening, came from a Facebook comment thread following an announcement by SOE that they would be selling wall posters with art from some of their games. Amid the "Oh neat, I'll probably buy one" comments, there were a handful of "Great, Sony just trying to get more money!" as if this was some horrible thing. I can understand some of the frustration at a product's cost going up, or its features being cut to reduce costs, but what cause do we have to complain about a company offering an entirely separate product? If you don't like it, you certainly don't need to buy it.
Of course, this is mostly rhetorical, as we already know the answers: people have obnoxious senses of entitlement and thing they should get everything they want for free and hating big corporations is "trendy." Also ranting on a blog is therapeutic.
A common trend on the forums of video games (though I'm sure it's prevalent in other industries too) is "omg, [big corporation here] just wants money!" This is often a last resort when the arguing party has run out of viable arguments, an attempt to gain some imagined moral high ground by casting the big bad evil corporation in a negative light for only caring about dollar signs but . . . that's why corporations exist. Do you really expect to get products for free? I suppose some unhappiness when a price is raised is understandable, but it's unavoidable. As the cost of living rises, wages must go up and as wages go up, development costs go up which in turn leads to increased prices. It's just how math works.
Now, I'm not saying that all big corporations are pristine paragons of virtue. Sure, stuff like the Enron debacle happens, but that's not what I'm talking about here. I'm talking solely about big companies that offer a product or service for which they charge a reasonable fee, not crooks with their hands our wallets when we're not looking.
What's even more ridiculous is when these complaints are roused by a new product. The inspiration for this post, though by no means unique or the only case of this happening, came from a Facebook comment thread following an announcement by SOE that they would be selling wall posters with art from some of their games. Amid the "Oh neat, I'll probably buy one" comments, there were a handful of "Great, Sony just trying to get more money!" as if this was some horrible thing. I can understand some of the frustration at a product's cost going up, or its features being cut to reduce costs, but what cause do we have to complain about a company offering an entirely separate product? If you don't like it, you certainly don't need to buy it.
Of course, this is mostly rhetorical, as we already know the answers: people have obnoxious senses of entitlement and thing they should get everything they want for free and hating big corporations is "trendy." Also ranting on a blog is therapeutic.
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