[Havoc]

I feel like I need to give you a lesson in REALITY and how it works.

Well, you gave me the propaganda of theory as though it were reality because the public is less offended with textbook theory that real life practice. It isn't even questionable that GM tried to get it deemed illegal to own a car longer than 10 years. My whole family worked for GM till Delphi split from them. They all complained about it from top to bottom. And GM's policy going forward after the attempt failed was to build in obsolescence. Nothing is made to last anymore.. it's all cheaper cheaper cheaper and junk junk junk. The number one consumer complaint is that most of what they buy today is junk - not because it looks or acts shabby; but, because it breaks down or falls apart so readily. Ya'll seem to forget who you're trying to kid - I spent 10 years in sales. I speak from long direct and practical experience.

I complain about it myself. I spent $140 on a nice AT&T cordless phone outfit. Dropped the phone 2 1/2 feet off my desktop onto deep plush shag carpet with 1" pad underneath and it destroyed the phone's lcd. I bought a VCR three years ago for a little more than that to get some nice features - it's dead and has been for a year. I bought a 3 disk dvd changer for around $250 in the same time period. It became a doorstop 6 months ago. Computer tech - I started off with a nice high end HP cdrw package about 4 1/2 years ago. It lasted a year. I replaced it with another high end piece that was dead in the box from Phillips when I got it home. I replaced that the next day and six months later had to do a repeat. In the past 3 years I've been through 4 cdrw drives on two different machines that have both been upgraded. I bought a GE washer dryer pair with my first Trailor. In four years I put three new sets of coils in the dryer and had to replace the transmission on the washer. Both high capacity units and it was just me using them for the majority of that time. I mean, I don't have to go very far to pull endless examples right out of thin air. None of us have to. How many of us here own at least one piece of sawdust furniture with bowing shelves and or destroyed bases from moving them?

I know how the stuff is because I've had to sell it and I've had to sign off on the return of the product as well. Practical personal and business experience.

And I didn't say it was unethical to work for money. I do beg to differ that this is the only motive behind a business. It may be for you; but, when I go to work for someone, I look at their ethic and why they got into it. I also talk to their employees and people who know the business before I get myself involved nowdays. Right now, I'm looking for a non-corporate job if I can find one that isn't taken; because I'm sick to the gills of corporate greed. When I was asked my personal and professional opinion years ago at Walmart by a customer with regard to our computer lines, I was truthful to them and they came back to buy from me, though they didn't buy the Packard bell doorstops we were selling. Management was pretty ripped about that. But I had a clientel in a retail store because people trusted my judgement. And when I left, they left. Walmart wasn't concerned about the truth, they just wanted to sell the junk they put on the shelves. Packard bell went belly up within months after I left Walmart. I like to feel like I had some to do with that in convincing people not to drive themselves mad with that junk; but, they were getting sued to death because they were junk.

That's Reality. I don't know who you think you're shining; but, you perhaps need to reassess.

[discostu]

There's no propoganda in there at all. Just the real world. The primary contribution to society most corporations make is through profits, with profits they hire more people, pay existing employees more, and expand the business. Corporations help society by giving it a vibrant economy.

See your example proves my point. GM exists to make profit, recurring revenue stream is the holy grail of profit, getting people to buy cars more frequently is a path to a recurring revenue stream. But GM must be careful, if they make their cars wearout too quickly they get a reputation for making junk which is bad on sales (reference how Japanese cars keep getting a bigger piece of the pie compared to American cars).

I'm not trying to kid anybody. I'm showing you exactly how and why you are wrong and simply do not understand simple business rules. No kidding here, just cold hard truth that you should be paying attention to instead of railing against.

More examples of what I'm talking about. Businesses existing for profit. One thing you need to ask yourself: why is it so much of the stuff you buy is complete crap? Maybe you need to upscale more, start gunning for quality. There are different sections of each market, one section is the low price low quality area; another is the high price high quality area. I USED to own pressboard furniture like you describe, but I got tired of replacing it constantly, finally paid twice as much for stuff made with real wood and found it lasts at least 4 times as long (and counting).

All of your examples prove my point. Packard Bell went belly-up because Packard Bell sold crappy computers that were poorly put together, used non-standard parts and could only be upgraded with their overpriced non-standard parts. make a bad product, and one that isn't targeted to the bargain crowd, and you go out of business.

The only one shining anybody here is you, and sadly the person you're shining is yourself. You just burned out your keyboard demonstrating my exact point: businesses exist to make money, period, end of sentence. They inject as much quality as they must to fulfill their marketing needs, not one drop more. The ones that don't fulfill their marketing needs go out of business. They don't exist to contribute to society, unless that contribution is profitable. That is reality, and you just proved it in spades.