tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753985.post4937564414905728204..comments2023-12-03T02:23:12.272-06:00Comments on BeggarsCanBeChoosers.com: Steve Jobs Represented Much Of What's Wrong With The U.S. Economy TodayMarc McDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17105754072842852126noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753985.post-56722646498931323082012-01-22T18:23:19.316-06:002012-01-22T18:23:19.316-06:00Wow - spot on. Why this isn't at the top of to...Wow - spot on. Why this isn't at the top of todo list at congress is a complete mystery. <br /><br />Also it's funny how it's a 'free' market until Joe Average tries to use it to say buy meds from Canada. Oh that's not safe as if Canada was some third world country stamping out pills in the backroom.<br /><br />How are they going to keep the proles in line when they can't eat?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753985.post-14490909516104013362011-12-20T00:06:33.864-06:002011-12-20T00:06:33.864-06:00Hi Suzan, Thanks for your kind words.
re:
>>...Hi Suzan, Thanks for your kind words.<br />re:<br />>>Hope you don't mind my<br />>>extensively quoting you at my<br />>>place.<br /><br />Any time! I appreciate it.Marc McDonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17105754072842852126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753985.post-43287214937822262802011-12-19T22:34:28.621-06:002011-12-19T22:34:28.621-06:00And its not even bulletproof, of course, wageslave...And its not even bulletproof, of course, wageslave!<br /><br />Thanks, Marc.<br /><br />Great collection of facts on Jobslite and Crapple.<br /><br />Hope you don't mind my extensively quoting you at my place.<br /><br />Love ya,<br /><br />SCirzehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07070125217972397204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753985.post-1489162253448305422011-10-29T10:19:49.075-05:002011-10-29T10:19:49.075-05:00Anytime Marc. Loved your radio appearance that go...Anytime Marc. Loved your radio appearance that got on Youtube BTW. Nice job pointing out that Apple builds NOTHING in this country as well. Microspooge is just as guilty. They build all their hardware in Japan, China, and India, along half their programming being done in Mumbai. I think they keep a few token Americans working in Seattle to convince the public and Labor Dept. that they still employ American labor somewhere. Same deal with Crapple. I'm really hoping for a Linux Renaissance. Just wish I had time to learn that OS. Open-source, constantly-improving, FREE software seems oh so much better than corporate-baked crap like Windows; Mac OS may be more bulletproof, but it still costs a fortune...<br /><br /> -WageslaveZ-Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753985.post-12193655047335982112011-10-29T05:13:18.511-05:002011-10-29T05:13:18.511-05:00Hi Jack, thanks for your comment and kind words.
(...Hi Jack, thanks for your comment and kind words.<br />(Readers, be sure to check out Jack's wonderful blog, <a href="http://jackjodell53.wordpress.com" rel="nofollow">The Saturday Afternoon Post</a>).Marc McDonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17105754072842852126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753985.post-32607485794485830412011-10-29T05:09:30.727-05:002011-10-29T05:09:30.727-05:00Hi WageslaveZ, thanks, as always for your comment....Hi WageslaveZ, thanks, as always for your comment. You always make some very good perceptive points.<br />BTW, if you're ever interested in writing a piece for this blog, let me know, I'd be happy to run your piece.<br /><br />re:<br />>>I'm seriously fed-up with all<br />>>these jagoff billionaire dorks<br /><br />And don't forget Bezos, who started Amazon after his parents gave him $375,000.<br /><br />re:<br />>>BTW, Steve Jobs was a deadbeat<br />>>dad who denied his first<br />>>daughter who wasn't born into<br />>>his second perfect yuppy family.<br /><br />Great point that I wish the second commenter on this article would read. ("Anonymous" called me an idiot for calling Jobs greedy and narcissistic). You can't get much more narcissistic and greedy than being a dead-beat dad.Marc McDonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17105754072842852126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753985.post-20616874840785330712011-10-27T10:22:10.189-05:002011-10-27T10:22:10.189-05:00Marc,
Thank you for this brilliant and comprehensi...Marc,<br />Thank you for this brilliant and comprehensive posting of that which is specifically wrong with the American interpretation and implementation of capitalism. We do NOT have to become a third world nation with our wage rates, and it is only the laziness and greed and short-sightedness of our uppermost 1% who are to blame for this most undesirable and unnecessary trend!<br />This post should be required reading in every business classroom in the nation!Jack Jodellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12465017098355576489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753985.post-90918126161532264452011-10-25T13:26:02.602-05:002011-10-25T13:26:02.602-05:00Seriously @#$% Steve Jobs. He was Nero wrapped in...Seriously @#$% Steve Jobs. He was Nero wrapped in P.T. Barnum, wrapped in Narcissus. He basically did the same thing Bill "Robber Baron Dorkwad" Gates did, steal an operating system from Xerox in 1981, tweak it, and build a series of computers to run it. However, unlike Microsoft, Jobs forced his technoserfs to make a more reliable product, which fetched a better price, which he accomplished with a luxury brand marketing campaign. I'm seriously fed-up with all these jagoff billionaire dorks like Jobs, Gates, Phuckerberg, etc. that claimed they changed the world, when all they did was drop out of college and build a business with their ultra-yuppy parents' money by exploiting a niche market, and claiming, "I was poor, I came from nothing, waahhh..." And we're supposed to worship these self-indulgent neo-Vanderbilt sociopaths? BTW, Steve Jobs was a deadbeat dad who denied his first daughter who wasn't born into his second perfect yuppy family.<br /><br /> -WageslaveZ-Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753985.post-36558130482406601622011-10-23T22:43:52.290-05:002011-10-23T22:43:52.290-05:00Jobs went to Xerox Parc years ago and saw what was...Jobs went to Xerox Parc years ago and saw what was going on there - graphic interface screens, mice, laser printers, ethernet etc. Xerox did nothing with this incredible technology, but Jobs was smart enough to realize it's potential. The Woz was the engineer, of course.<br />And, btw, Switzerland is one of the highest cost-of-living countries in the EU. Minimum wage there is 20 CHF per hour (about $21), yet their economy is thriving!garryejhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06505581757537346357noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753985.post-91113348098941200002011-10-23T18:27:49.524-05:002011-10-23T18:27:49.524-05:00Hi, Anonymous, thanks for your comment.
re: Krugm...Hi, Anonymous, thanks for your comment.<br /><br />re: Krugman<br /><br />He maybe a genius on some issues. But (like most U.S. economic commentators), he is utterly clueless on all matters Japan (and Continental Europe, too, for that matter).<br /><br />re:<br />(Japan) suffering from disastrous economic decisions are a "myth". <br /><br />I don't think Krugman knows what he's talking about as far as anything to do with Japan. Like the entire rest of the U.S. corporate MSM, he's bought into this ridiculous notion that Japan is an economic "basket case." But the "evidence" he offers to bolster this claim simply doesn't hold up to scrutiny.Marc McDonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17105754072842852126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753985.post-67908190961731702262011-10-23T18:18:55.969-05:002011-10-23T18:18:55.969-05:00Hi, Mootsa Gootsa, thanks for your comment.
re:
&...Hi, Mootsa Gootsa, thanks for your comment.<br /><br />re:<br />>>"Maybe we can't compete is<br />>>because of government<br />>>regulations and the<br />>>>high cost of pentions for those<br />>>not working any more."<br /><br />You're just regurgitating the same nonsense that I tried to counter in this article. I've heard this same crap endlessly repeated from everyone from Rush Limbaugh to the corporate mainstream media. And it simply doesn't hold up to scrutiny.<br /><br />For a start, if you take a look at the economies of places from Japan to Germany to China, they are ALL vastly more heavily regulated than businesses are in the U.S.<br /><br />Take the recent BP oil spill disaster in the Gulf. If BP had simply been following regulations that are in place in places like Europe, the spill would never have happened.<br /><br />Oh, and on the subject of pensions supposedly crippling U.S. business. I don't know if you're aware of this or not, but the vast majority of U.S. workers don't even get pensions these days, outside of the 1 percent who're lucky enough to be civilian government employees. And even the few U.S. workers who do get pensions are increasingly getting screwed out of them, as corporations continue to raid and steal from pension funds.<br /><br />By contrast the pension system in Europe still covers most workers and it is very generous.Marc McDonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17105754072842852126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753985.post-43945979680252567392011-10-23T18:06:20.691-05:002011-10-23T18:06:20.691-05:00Hi, Parakletos, thanks for your comment.
re:
>...Hi, Parakletos, thanks for your comment.<br /><br />re:<br />>>We excel at producing hi-tech<br />>>weaponry.<br /><br />Actually, we don't.<br /><br />Yes, the defense industry has managed to roll out some impressive high-tech hardware over the years.<br /><br />But there are two big problems. One is that, due to systematic corruption, these projects have been horribly over-priced. The U.S. taxpayer has been gouged to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars.<br /><br />The second (and even more serious problem) is that, if one takes a look "under the hood" of these weapons systems, invariably all the really high-tech enabling components are outsourced from the likes of Japan.<br /><br />Take the Patriot Missile, which captured all kinds of glowing headlines in the U.S. media in the first Gulf War.<br /><br />The high-tech guidance systems that made the Patriot possible were sourced from Japan.<br /><br />I would suspect that EVERY major high-tech U.S. weapons system has similarly outsourced key components from Japan and other nations. But since the extent of such outsourcing would no doubt shock the U.S. public were it widely publicized, the average U.S. defense contractor is like to do the same thing Jobs did at Apple: keep their mouths shut, rake in the profits, and outsource everything.Marc McDonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17105754072842852126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753985.post-40351289402874760462011-10-23T15:44:15.795-05:002011-10-23T15:44:15.795-05:00Steven Hill doesn't succeed in showing that Ja...Steven Hill doesn't succeed in showing that Japan didn't suffer all of the things that people like Krugman claim it did, only that it has lower unemployment and better health care than our country. <br /><br />In other words, in the ways you're claiming that Germany and other countries have more egalitarian and more humane systems than ours, that's true of Japan also. It doesn't mean that the claims Krugman made about them operating far below capacity and in general suffering from disastrous economic decisions are a "myth". <br /><br />They had universal health care before and they still do now, they would have it in either way.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753985.post-32284098690266177152011-10-23T12:31:30.895-05:002011-10-23T12:31:30.895-05:00Maybe we can't compete is because of governmen...Maybe we can't compete is because of government regulations and the high cost of pentions for those not working any more.Mootsa Gootsahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00204948749407081546noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753985.post-63760413408364705842011-10-23T12:07:49.723-05:002011-10-23T12:07:49.723-05:00Jobs' annual salary has been $1 since 1998.
...Jobs' annual salary has been $1 since 1998.<br /><br />As is customary, Jobs got no bonus or perks during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 25, 2010. Apple said it reimbursed Jobs $248,000 for company travel on his personal jet, a $90 million Gulfstream V he received as a bonus in 1999. This is well above the $4,000 Apple reimbursed its CEO in 2009, when Jobs was on medical leave for nearly six months.<br /><br />Jobs, however, holds 5.5 million of Apple's shares, which gained about 60 percent in value during the fiscal year and have continued to rise since. Apple's shares closed at $333.73 on Thursday, bringing the value of Jobs' personal holdings to $1.84 billion.<br /><br />The company's net income jumped 70 percent in fiscal 2010 to $14 billion, on revenue of $65.2 billion, an increase of 52 percent from a year earlier thanks to strong demand for its personal gadgets and Mac computers.<br /><br />Jobs, 55, has not sold any shares since he rejoined the company in 1997 following a 12-year hiatus. He has not been awarded any new equity since 2003 and is currently its largest individual shareholder. <br /><br />I submit that calling Jobs a narcissistic, greedy, modern-day Robber Baron is bullshit.<br /><br />Apple's policies may not reflect what would be best for U.S. manufacturing, but that is simply survival in a cutthroat business. <br /><br />I also submit that end an otherwise insightful article with such a stupid statement makes Mr. McDonald something of an idiot.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753985.post-7476534835955736182011-10-23T09:02:13.274-05:002011-10-23T09:02:13.274-05:00We excel at producing hi-tech weaponry. Why? Don...We excel at producing hi-tech weaponry. Why? Don't fool yourself into thinking it is because we have the smartest workers. Most of that production line is automated, and they don't need you to be smart to run it. <br /><br />The weaponry isn't subject to the same 'free market' religious mantra. If the people who invented the newest of the new weapons want to pay less on labor to build them -- too damn bad! They must get special permission, since it is a matter of national interest. <br /><br />The US Constitution does provide for patent protection. But it does not specify a period of time, nor does it say that all types of products get the same lengths of patents.Parakletoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16194057029978093182noreply@blogger.com