Don't bite the hand that feeds you...

[syjos]

My thoughts exactly. This gimme society expects it to be handed to them, then complains when it does not. If you don't like $20 an hour pay, don't work there. But if you accept a job, do it to the best of your ability while you look for better.

I never complained about a job. If I did not like the job or company, I found other work.

I have had over 50 jobs and businesses. The longest continuous employment was 6 years and the shortest, one day.

I am fortunate that my wife was always employed and we did not have children.

 

[BandB]

I never complained about a job. If I did not like the job or company, I found other work.

I have had over 50 jobs and businesses. The longest continuous employment was 6 years and the shortest, one day.

I am fortunate that my wife was always employed and we did not have children.

I never had but one post-graduation employer, although ownership changed but I led the sale effort so was good with that. My wife only had one post-graduation employer.

Summer jobs I made the most of one and I loved another. I think part of what worked for me was that both my parents owned businesses and I'd worked in my father's office starting with very menial work when I was 12.

I think those who have it toughest are those in their first job. They come in with unreasonable expectations and a distorted view of what things are like. This is especially true in professional roles. It's a place I think our high schools and our colleges do a poor job of preparing kids. They haven't even been taught what employers expect or require. For that reason, we spend a lot of time and money training all new employees, whether they've previously worked or not. We want our expectations to be clear. We also interview in detail and thoroughly with multiple interviewers for each candidate. We try to make sure we cover the pros and cons, places where we're less stringent than others, but places where our level of tolerance is far less than some.

As to complaining about the employer, today it's on social media. All our employees are told very clearly that if they complain or post disparagingly about their employer, their boss, or any other employees, that is cause for disciplinary action up to and including termination. We are not going to tolerate infighting and, if they're unhappy, then they should go elsewhere. Social media is the source of a tremendous amount of workplace issues.

 

[Bacchus]

I've been thinking about the boat industry and market issues as I look at boats - it is interesting to see (as far I can tell) that there is no "Apple or Google" in the boat market - a maker of boats that controls the market like Apple. As of today, Apple has about 48% of the market for cell phones - that's pretty good share, and well deserved I might add. Once a company controls 60-70% of the market for a product, however, monopolistic tendencies or behaviors can some into play. I am not sure I know of a boat maker that controls anything close to 10% of the market for any class of boat including trawlers. Is there a trawler maker that has large market share??

Not in the trawler portion (but trawler mkt has to be a VERY small portion of the boat market) but in general I would think Brunswick comes closest.
Brunswick share with all the brands has to be significant but I haven't seen the data. It's certainly different than Apple / cell phones in that the various boat brands are different designs (100+? Brunswick, 1,000's of designs for boats in total?) and don't enjoy the same economies of scale.
The industry is also very different... cell phones maybe 6 key players - boats 100's? And you aren't limited to 2 boat "operating systems" with one open and the other closed / single supplier!

 

[FF]

"The problem with a democracy, is we get the government we deserve."

Some claim we have the best Gov. money can buy.

A monopoly I am glad to see slowly die is NASA .

Free enterprise is lowering launch costs , eventually by a factor of 100.

 

[menzies]

"The problem with a democracy, is we get the government we deserve."

Some claim we have the best Gov. money can buy.

A monopoly I am glad to see slowly die is NASA .

Free enterprise is lowering launch costs , eventually by a factor of 100.

I thought the cost of launches was rocketing?

 

[FF]

"I thought the cost of launches was rocketing?"


In this case its finally rocketing DOWN.

 

[localboy]

My thoughts exactly. This gimme society expects it to be handed to them, then complains when it does not. If you don't like $20 an hour pay, don't work there. But if you accept a job, do it to the best of your ability while you look for better.

Hence the last election results in the home city of Amazon.

 

[hollywood8118]

Its interesting that a company comes along and does something really well and makes a profit and then they become labeled "Evil" because of that success. Then they refine the company to cut costs and they suddenly become a " monopoly ". They provide decent working conditions and pay for unskilled laborers that may have no life skills to offer but they show up and put stuff in boxes. Should they make more than $ 20.00 for that?. Keep in mind that a lot of what Amazon does is provide a place where the consumer can find goods that a small business owner sells that Amazon may or may not store and take care of handling.. cutting storage/handling costs for the small business owner. Amazons latest foray into shipping through "local" small shipping company's appears to be a further refinement in cost effective shipping. It also takes a bite out of the big 3 shipping company's that no one here has mentioned so far.

The way some talk about Amazon you could almost imagine Bezos sitting in a evil villains lair.
I shop the evil empire when it makes sense .. but I also live out in the boondocks and have to drive to spend $ 50 for a frigging pair of Levis ( who ever it was that said they cost $30 bucks has not bought a pair in a while )
That being said I'm off to shop for cyber Monday deals!
HOLLYWOOD

 

[menzies]

That being said I'm off to shop for cyber Monday deals!
HOLLYWOOD

Now there's a paradox!!

 

[cbouch]

Really!!

How about bringing all your political and social justice conversations to some other forum. There is enough of this stuff on fox and cnn..I come here for information and conversation on boats and how best to maintain them and use them.

 

[stubones99]

What the market will bear really isn't a good way to look at drugs though. In the US, drug manufacturers are allowed to set their own prices which they are not elsewhere. Even in Canada prices are regulated. Even the law setting up Medicare drug coverage prohibits Medicare from negotiating rates.

Also, we grant extended monopolies by first having patents that run 20 years. Then they often run longer as the pharmaceuticals make a slight tweak in the non medication part of it. On top of that, we then have the "pay for delay" settlements they make with generic manufacturers followed by slow approval of generics and for limited generics for a period of time.

There is no free market on drugs. Well, not on legal drugs at least.

I'm on a treatment that costs my insurance company $88,000 a year. Is it worth it? To me, Yes, but if I didn't have insurance, I'd go to England for a few weeks twice a year for my infusions at a cost about $6,000, including airfare, hotels, food and medical expenses...

I'd be back in a wheelchair or at least a walker without the treatments.

You do what you have to do...

 

[stubones99]

Regarding Amazon's pay rates, I think it ties Walmart, but from people have told me who work for Amazon, they say they are herded by the computer which watches everything down to the second, or perhaps millisecond. All they say is if you don't want to do what we want you to do, how we want you to do it, we'll get someone who will.

Walmart is reported to tell you how to file for public assistance/welfare when you first get hired by Walmart. Too big to feed your employees? Is our welfare system needed to offset the savings that Walmart offers its shoppers?

 

[SteveK]

How about bringing all your political and social justice conversations to some other forum. There is enough of this stuff on fox and cnn..I come here for information and conversation on boats and how best to maintain them and use them.

I see you do not have an avatar.

 

[lil toot]

really

Has this forum reduced to a political rant! come on lets not take our eye off the ball.

 

[menzies]

Has this forum reduced to a political rant! come on lets not take our eye off the ball.

Can you point out the political rants on this thread?

 

[SteveK]

What the market will bear really isn't a good way to look at drugs though. In the US, drug manufacturers are allowed to set their own prices which they are not elsewhere. Even in Canada prices are regulated. Even the law setting up Medicare drug coverage prohibits Medicare from negotiating rates.

Also, we grant extended monopolies by first having patents that run 20 years. Then they often run longer as the pharmaceuticals make a slight tweak in the non medication part of it. On top of that, we then have the "pay for delay" settlements they make with generic manufacturers followed by slow approval of generics and for limited generics for a period of time.

There is no free market on drugs. Well, not on legal drugs at least.

True (bolded) and Trudy (our PM) is actually proposing universal health care where we will not have to pay for drugs and it will be then bulk purchased at a reduced rate.
I understand there is a proposed bill in the USA collecting dust that Trump proposed to cut down cost of drugs.

 

[Bigsfish]

First a disclaimer, I own a share or two of stock In Amazon and many pharmaceuticals.

I don’t understand the problem we seem to have with a company being successful in a free enterprise system, one thing I don’t want is bigger government controlling the people (me). The government has more waste than private enterprise. At one time some people complained about Home Depot because they were tough competitors for the neighborhood hardware store, some people even complained about the large supermarket as it was tough for the small meat, butcher on the block to compete. Unfortunately progress means those who can’t compete will be pushed to the side like Studabaker.

 

[menzies]

Unfortunately progress means those who can’t compete will be pushed to the side like Studabaker.

WHAT!!!! They don't make Studabakers any more?!!!!

 

[stiggy]

All I will say is Amazon's success is very cancerous and is putting countless small businesses out of business. Yes it's the free market and yes i support that to a point. Our family was directly affected by their practices and so no one with our last name or associated with us will certainly ever give them a dime but i guess until you are directly affected they are just the most convenient, side effect be damned. Similar to cigarettes or the like that are known to cause cancer.
They are able to operate on microscopic margins that no one independently can compete with due largely to AWS. They will plateau however and how they mature as a business will be a real test. Disrupters are great until they destroy the industry they live in.

Time will tell...

 

[Bigsfish]

menzies. Also Packard and Stuz. Competition forces many to the side.

stiggy sorry for your family having a difficult time with Amazon. So the question is as a consumer who do we purchase goods from. I personally don’t shop at Home Depot and prefer the local Ace hardware store but I do purchase some goods from Amazon as it is convenient.

 

[Mark W]

"The problem with a democracy, is we get the government we deserve."

Some claim we have the best Gov. money can buy.

A monopoly I am glad to see slowly die is NASA .

Free enterprise is lowering launch costs , eventually by a factor of 100.

I also would like to commend the forum in the maturity in which this topic has been discussed.

And to add that the comments re higher pricing in the US might not be universally accurate. Most of the rest of the world pay substantially more for US product than internal customers do, even where tariffs and logistics aren't applicable.

Also, re NASA and it's diminishing monopoly, look at Rocket Lab, see if you can figure out why an entity comprising 100% New Zealand generated IP is now a registered US company....

 

[syjos]

How about bringing all your political and social justice conversations to some other forum. There is enough of this stuff on fox and cnn..I come here for information and conversation on boats and how best to maintain them and use them.

Nobody is forcing you to open the post or thread.

If you are not happy with the conversation, do not open. Or read. Simple as that.

This thread did not start out discussing trawlers. The PO started a conversation about Amazon. You chose to open the thread even though it was not discussing what you are interested in - "I come here for information and conversation on boats and how best to maintain them and use them."

Last I saw, freedom of speech was still on the books in the USA.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Harbor Chat: "Friendly, professional, informal exchange of "NON-boating" topics. Political comments, government policy, weaponry, religious and social issue discussions are off-limits in this forum."


There have been a couple of vague political references but nothing too contentious IMO. Chill Mr. cb.

 

[syjos]

I was in the video store business in the 80's.

We opened the first store in a town that had 4 mom and pop video stores. Each store stocked one copy of each movie and charged a membership fee to join and rent movies.

We opened the first store with 6 to 10 copies of hit movies instead of one. We also did not charge a membership fee. My four video store competitors went out of business within two months.

By 1990, I had several stores in various communities. I read an article in a trade magazine about Wayne Huizenga, owner of Waste Management the largest garbage company in the US, announce that he was starting a Video Store chain using the excess money Waste Management had.

Huizengas Blockbuster Video stores stocked 50 to 150 copies of hit movies instead of my 6 to 10 copies. They had $1 movie rentals for the first 3 months after a store opening to drive competition away. They hired movie stars to officiate grand openings.

I followed the Blockbuster store openings around the US and sold my stores before the first Blockbuster opened in my state.

Blockbuster survived for a decade or so until Netflix introduced video home delivery and Redbox came out with a DVD rental machine.

Blockbuster, the monopoly, is now gone. Without government intervention.

Same will happen to Amazon eventually when something new comes along.

Jeff Bezos himself has stated that Amazon is not forever. He cited Sears, Kmart, Macys and others who dominated their businesses for a long time, that are now on the decline.

 

[lil toot]

Can you point out the political rants on this thread?

Sorry, I just get tried of people who take the opportunity because they have a large number of people listening. What does any of this have to do with boats?? I signed on to talk about and listen to others that enjoy boating. Not about Wal-Mart or Amazon.

 

[Bigsfish]

Ive never understood how a member can complain about a thread on this forum. If you don’t like the subject don’t read it. I probably read about 10% or less of the content here.

Just my SSO.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. lt. I quoted the purpose of Harbor Chat directly from the description of such on the home page of TF in my post above (#53). Think about sitting around on a dock or someone's boat and talking to them. Yes, some of the conversation will be about boats but it could easily stray to what someone's favorite Crock Pot recipe is, how they miss their boat pet, the cost of widow blinds, the stock market, grand kids, ex wives, current wives, future wives or old wive's (tales), ice cream, sludge pumps, spindle flanges, how granny lost her uppers...anything.

 

[lil toot]

I'm going boating, that's my last word

 

[Bigsfish]

Senor RT. Please not ex-wives, I don’t need to be reminded of all the money they took from me.

 

[EngNate]

Greetings,
Harbor Chat: "Friendly, professional, informal exchange of "NON-boating" topics. Political comments, government policy, weaponry, religious and social issue discussions are off-limits in this forum."


There have been a couple of vague political references but nothing too contentious IMO. Chill Mr. cb.

Ditto, this is one of the most intelligent, orderly discussions I've come across in a while, for the most part.

There is no limit to the number of threads that can be in this forum, and the discussion of one topic doesn't in any way diminish a person's ability to find a discussion he or she would like to read and contribute to, if one is so inclined.