[TAG] Issue #106

[Benjamin A. Okopnik]

On Mon, Sep 20, 2004 at 06:39:39PM +0100, Thomas Adam wrote:
> On Mon, Sep 20, 2004 at 10:24:44AM -0700, Mike Orr wrote:
> 
> > Then I caught up with my friend and he told me the store was owned by
> > Wal-Mart.  I was immediately crushed at buying from there, due to their
> > tradition of skimping on workers' pay, being hostile to unions, etc.  
> 
> Really? How is it they can be so creul?

Money talks - and when money says to the mayor of Buttwipe, Nebraska "we
want an exclusion/exception/easement on the following local laws, or
we'll take this store and its 2,000 jobs elsewhere", money gets its way.
Conversely, "Governor, we're planning on giving $500,000 to your
favorite charity. Sure, it's a tax write-off for us, but we still get to
decide _which_ charity! By the way, you _were_ going to vote our way on
the upcoming bond moratorium, yes?" is even more effective; a stable of
tame politicians, particularly at the higher levels, can do wonders for
a large business.

Oh, and the above examples are fairly crude ones. It would still happen
exactly the same way, but the wording would be such that it could never
be construed as bribery or coercion - despite the fact that it is.


* Ben Okopnik * okopnik.freeshell.org * Editor-in-Chief, Linux Gazette *
-*- See the Linux Gazette in its new home: <http://linuxgazette.net> -*-