Ravenwood - 09/18/02 01:24 PM
I am the first to admit that I am a full service man, and that I like to be pampered. With a few exceptions, I am willing to pay extra for good service. I have a laundry service. I pay to have my car washed. Back when I had a lawn, I would pay to have a kid mow it for me. I often use full service gas stations, and always try to stay in a full service hotel. I shop in full service stores, while avoiding discount places like Wal-mart. Electronics and media like DVDs and CDs are about the only things I try to find at a discount. With them, I typically use Internet channels rather than go to the store.
Call me lazy, or call me crazy, but I prefer to have good service, and I'm willing to pay a little bit extra for it. It doesn't make me snobby or arrogant. Instead, I'm actually helping the economy, and celebrating what capitalism is really all about. I don't change my oil or wash my car, not because I don't know how, but because I would rather pay someone to do it for me. They not only do a better job than I would, but the price they charge is less than what my time and effort are worth. That is really what capitalism is all about.
For example, think about the way prehistoric people used to live. A really long time ago, people produced everything they needed by themselves. If you needed food, you planted vegetables and then went hunting. You built your own house, with tools you had made yourself. It didn't take people very long to figure out that specialization and bartering were much more efficient. One person could concentrate on hunting while another concentrated on farming. They realized that by trading meat for vegetables, they could both be happy, and the overall productivity increased. That is, these two people could produce more by specializing in their roles and trading their goods, than if they each tried to farm and hunt independently. Throw in a bunch more people, and competition among the roles makes productivity rise even more. These are the basics of capitalism.
Lately, I've seen a lot of people fending for themselves. If you've visited a fast food restaurant, you've probably poured your own soft drink and cleaned your own table. Self service is creeping into other areas too. Stores now let you check and bag your own groceries, while banks rely largely on automated tellers. Warehouse stores like Sam's Club and Costco are becoming more popular.
When an economy sags, people have less money to spend. Throw in high taxes, and you really have a problem. Price competition has made margins razor thin, and many people are willing to trade service for price. As profitability declines, unemployment increases, and the situation gets worse. It is in this manner that economies, and productivity, will shrink or grow. With expanding government, and left wing attacks on capitalism, productivity shrinks even more. And here I am, a full service man stuck in a self service world.
Category: Essays
Comments (4) top link me
In Oregon and New Jersey self-service gasoline stations have been banned. While the poliferation of self-service to all areas can be annoying (I hate seating myself and then waiting to pick up my order at restaurants) the only worse alternative seems to be creeping government involvement.
Posted by: Owen Courrèges at September 18, 2002 1:53 PMYeah, I'm not suggesting we pass laws against it. I'm merely pointing out that the popular trend is moving one way, and I'm moving the other way.
Government expansion and higher taxes only increase the trend, as people have less disposable income.
Posted by: Ravenwood at September 18, 2002 2:33 PMI hear you about the service thing -- here in the UK you have to bag your groceries yourself everywhere and DAMN is it a pain in the ass. I actually have a bit more respect for the bag boys (girls) at American supermarkets now who can not only pack the bags reasonably well, but do it quick enough to keep the line moving. When I get to the checkout here, I always wanna turn around to the person behind me and say, "Um, you may wanna choose another line, it's gonna take me a while to bag up my bread and OJ."
BUT
All that aside, Is there a SINGLE bad thing in the world that liberals aren't responsible for in your book? I mean, sure, capitalism is great in theory as was socialism. But both need(ed) to be balanced with ideas / politics from the opposing side to be vaild and more important, reasonably equitable. Socialism doesn't have enough of a carrot for people to achieve and prosper while Capitalism doesn't have enough of a stick for people who abuse the system. In addition, the people on the bottom always end up getting hosed in the Capitalist system. At the end of the day, how about some "compassionate Capitalism"?
And also, by the way your theory is total bollocks... Capitalism is all about throughput (level of production and speed of production combined). You think McDonalds is making you pour your own drink in order to keep their prices down so more people will eat there? BS They're doing it to reduce their labour costs which at the end of the day affects their bottom line. If anything, McDonalds and Sam's Club are the PINNACLES of American capitalism. To equate your having to pour your own drink with high taxes is just AB-surb (say that with a Ross Perot accent and it's more effective.) :)
P.S. Didn't self-service gas stations in Jersey get banned after Joe Perry from Aerosmith got burned in a gas station fire and lobbied the state senate to ban them?
Posted by: lazywhinerkid at September 18, 2002 4:15 PMI hate to say this here, having an ever so slight liberal outlook, I still have to agree with Ravenwood. I would rather pay a little more for good service. This makes my life much easier, and keeps my wife from whining that I'm not doing enough. That aside, I must add that even though I am a government employee, I absolutely refuse to vote for any more tax increases whatsoever. My paltry little state check keeps getting smaller and smaller (even though they keep telling me I get a raise every year) and suddenly our local taxmiester says I live in a mansion of some sorts, even though I can empty my coffee pot in my toilet in less than three steps ;)
Posted by: tazteck at September 18, 2002 10:11 PM(c) Ravenwood and Associates, 1990 - 2014
