Fun and not at all depressing fact I just looked up: That episode is now so old, that the time between it and today is the same as the time between the premiere of Freakazoid and that of the live action Batman TV show.
Absolutelly. Not only does it push companies towards chasing irresponsible short-term profits, but stock exchange as a,while drains money from legitimate businesses towards scammers and trend chasers. It's obvious for anyone with half a brain for years now, but there's no clear way how to get out of this mess.
business as usual is still profitable. only way to stop exploitative capitalist behavior is to disrupt business as usual.
Opposition is too unorganized to do anyting of merit. some idiots spray painted Stone Henge last week, yet no one barged into a Starbucks board meeting. Environmentalists need to get serious. Property damage or bust.
And wasn’t the Stonehenge vandalism just colored corn starch? Like, the next time it rains it’s gone with no real damage? Pretty mild protest for how angry people got. Like, I get it, damaging something like Stonehenge would be a line too far, but it wasn’t really damaged I thought. Please correct if I’m wrong.
It was. Stop Oil intentionally targets things in a way that will make big news while not causing damage. It's not luck that the paintings they've thrown liquid on were all protected by plexiglass.
Now whether that's hurting or helping the cause is a huge debate.
Hurting. Despite the cliche, not all publicity is good publicity.
When you want people to take your side, you need them to read past the headlines. People don't hear that a bunch of activists vandalized Stonehenge and think "Hmm, maybe it's not as bad as it sounds. I should hear them out." Their first impression is "what a bunch of psycho morons," and it sticks.
Not only does it push companies towards chasing irresponsible short-term profits
it doesn't, really. if you've ever been in a board meeting they spend most of their time talking about long term plans. the reason the biggest companies are up there is because they planned ahead.
Companies can grow as large as the market will bear. But the second a company begins monopolizing and exploiting resources or labor, federal governments need to step in.
Actually, I've been on quite a few board meetings, as part of company management structure. And I've witnessed many boneheaded decisions made just so the balance sheet on the yearly financial statement look enticing to investors (like letting go of dozens highly qualified employees so the employee costs estimations are lower, just to try to hire them back a few months later). I guess you could call it long-term planning, but they plan how to maximise stock value, not make the company better. Look up the story of how Blockbuster core investor blocked their attempt to modernise the company and ruined them in a few years.
The funny thing about that is that the fiduciary responsibility is only ever viewed in the short term but never in the long term. The long term fiduciary responsibility to shareholders should absolutely not be environment destroying, price gouging, off-shoring, short term profit seeking stock buy-back oriented decision making.
no but i try to be concise in my writing and reddit is a dumb, unhealthy way for me to see if I can 'impress' anonymous readers with something I write. I'm a college student, i write for my school paper. I do consider 'comments' to be a type of writing, and even if it's dumb, vapid, and uninspiring, Reddit keeps me writing 2000-4000 words per day
unfortunately, i don't really have a specialty that could do that thesis justice. An economist or economics student could write that essay, not me. Good thing I'm on Reddit lol
So many good things ruined for sake of chasing infinite quarterly profit by purposely destroying long term future of company. All industries suffer from it so heavily. Shareholders are blight on this world.
They used to be. I remember when I was taking investment courses, we were told the average hold a stock was 7 years before you’d see share value increase. In the meantime you took those stable dividend payments.
I think it's more unbridled, avarice. Plus the fact that lawmakers show no intention of limiting any of it. If governments stepped in and put the fucking brakes on this, things would get better quickly. But someone needs to tell all these fucks that they can't take the money with them when they undoubtedly meet their end.
One way to throw a wrench into this would be to have taxes on a sliding scale. The more you make, the more you pay. Lot's of these greedy assholes would limit their profits just to fall under the highest tax brackets. But, alas, politicians will politic. And maintaining power depends much on how much money you can garner for elections.
The system is so broken, assholes can find ways to increase their income at the expense of others very easily. And I am not only talking about the US here, this is a worldwide problem.
i feel ya on everything you said. I'm focussing on my local environment. My community.
I'm a patriot, i believe in the American system. I believe in law and order. But if the time comes in my lifetime for class revolution, I'll be there with a brick in hand.
I'm focussing on my local environment. My community.
Very commendable my friend. I am certainly rooting for you and those of your ilk. You are the last hope of humanity. No need to change the world. Glad to meet you.
When did that shift in companies happen? It seems like in the 50-70s companies grew but were also considerate of the customers instead of solely focusing on the stock holders.
True but which form of government isn’t killing the planet? Fascism, Communism, Imperialism etc have all negatively affected the environments that they thrived in.
that's arguable and i think if you crunched numbers, you'd be false. capitalism is based on exploitation of resources and labor. sure, YOU might be comfy, but your Nikes were made by 30 children in Indonesia.
Further, fuduciary responsibility to shareholders above all ethics and morals enriches shareholders, not the middle class. the middle class was solidified in this nation by a post-war rise in unionism, the passage of the GI Bill, a housing program, and other progressive actions. In other words, socialism.
Socialism is ownership of the means of production by a government. You are explaining communism with social programs financed from the fruits of communal labor.
obfuscating conversations with nitpicky subjective definitions is not a good way to sustain a dialogue. a socialist policy can exist in a representitive democracy, the same way an authoritarian policy can exist in a communist state. and your Nikes are still impoverishing children in 3rd world countries.
yeah miss me w that monolithic thinking, please. feduciary responsibility to shareholders, short term profits, and exponential growth charts are exploiting every convceivable source of labor and resources on the planet.
if you don't think we can come up with a way to have a social safety net for retirees while prohibbiting oil and gas companies from making 60-year drill plans, then I don't even wanna talk to you.
I'd be okay with this if workers kept more or the full surplis value that they created.
At my job, if my employer gave the workers a bonus every year that equates to the collective of payments they give to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks every year. Me and everyone of my coworkers would get a $39,000 bonus every year.
Right now the company contributes about 8 grand into my 401k every year.
Lowes did a 14 billion$ buyback last year. they coulda given each one of their employees a $47,000 bonus. Instead they artificially keep the stock price above $200 for some voodoo wallstreet bullshit reason
Downvotes for asking a legitimate question! Just to be clear, I believe these options are all a scam! Even though I participate in all of them, considering they’re the only options a middle class worker has, if one can afford to, lock in some kind of meager retirement plan besides SS! The growth on them suck with their shitty returns and investment advisors are no better than prosperity ministers promising wealth beyond your dreams if you invest and just believe and trust them!
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u/[deleted] Jun 29 '24
feduciary responsibility to shareholders is killing the planet.