Originally posted by walkonby:
take away these companies, and the economy crumbles and you are eating dirt in the street as you loot and commit whatever just to survive.
the government of our country is the worst company i know.
Truer words have never been spoken.
Comcast provides me with an internet service that meets my demands for a reasonable price.
Ticketmaster allows me the convenience of buying tickets from home without having to take an extra trip to the box office or an outlet, thus saving on my personal time, and emissions/gas/wear/tear on my vehicle.
Exxon efficiently provides an extremely valuable source of energy that is extremely complicated and expensive to extract and produce, that has done more to make this world a better place for more people than anything else in the history of mankind, all despite the constant threat from an
ignorant, economically retarded congress who harrasses them for their supposed "unreasonable profits" when their margins are actually average or even below average to other industries.
DeBeers, I could care less about, because I don't wear jewlery besides my wedding ring, but obviously they're meeting a demand for a product that I'm pretty sure many of you either have or want sometime in the future. You may have a case if you present evidence of their support of warlords or wars or military juntas or whatever other atrocities in their mining countries, however.
Best Buy meets a demand for consumer electronics, media and household appliances, and along with their competitors, has brought the market for many of these goods down to a level of affordability for middle class Americans like myself faster than ever before. Just this afternoon, I got a great deal for a new laptop for my father, who is now able to integrate more technology into his farming operation, thus making his business more efficient and organized.
Diebold, despite their election machine gaffes, has done much to make ATM's more available and secure, thus saving us all the time of having to work through "bankers hours" to get to our own money.
eBay/PayPal? Seriously? How many people have launched successful businesses from eBay, using the convenience of PayPal to receive payments? How many people have found valuable deals on eBay, and used PayPay to get to them? How many products and services were allocated more efficiently due to having this interactive and integrated platform with which to do business?
People always talk about the minority of folks who fail to use credit properly, but what about the benefits of the vast majority of us who have utilized available credit to our own advantages, to better our lives, expand or start businesses, etc? Yes, damn you Capital One for making this credit available where it may not have been available before.
People love to beat up on Wal-Mart, it's so evil...but look now, when the economy isn't doing so hot, Wal-Mart is thriving. No company has done more to make a consumer market and a supply chain more efficient, which in turn, passes off more savings to consumers...who in turn, need Wal-Mart more than ever for their cheaper prices when times are tough and all of their money matters. I'd argue that if not for companies like Wal-Mart, we'd be in a much worse position now than we are.
Wellpoint/United Health Care/Blue Cross/Blue Shield - yes, damn these companies for making health insurance more available and affordable for more people, despite the fact that they have to deal with hundreds of different government restrictions and regulations in every state that distort their markets.
I'm not sure I can argue for American Airlines at the momement, but they do have their place in airline history, where they have been a valuable contributer to an evergrowing and everchanging industry.
Microsoft is another one of those companies that has done more to improve our lives in the last two decades than nearly any other corporation, ever. Their products have made us more open, more available, more efficient, and have expanded knowledge and technology to the ends of the earth.
Bank of America and Countrywide are two more corporations that have made more credit and opportunity available for more people. Again, you all love to point out the minority of people who have abused this newly available credit, but what about the vast majority of us who have used it to improve our lives, and our communities?
What have you people done?
