SLS is dead, invest in outside tech. Or for crying out loud start pulling out the crashed ships and donate them to more industries and get some real tech going.
> Be kind. Don't be snarky. Converse curiously; don't cross-examine. Edit out swipes.
> Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A good critical comment teaches us something.
I don't think this is an example of curious, good-faith comment. If you'd like to have a substantive discussion on the practical merits/drawbacks of a program like this, I'd be happy to.
I am not the GP, but I will offer some concerns for a "city operated" grocery service:
1. The incentives for good service and product are not well-defined other than paycheck and goodwill. This must be a very high priority.
2. The city has many responsibilities--some critical to life and civil order--which are of much greater importance than grocery service. Therefore the competition for money and resources is weaker.
3. A large percentage of state and city residents and taxpayers--who are ostensibly the benefactors of the grocery service--may not see any benefit at all from the grocery service because of location, selection, convenience, etc. This immediately creates an antagonistic relationship with a class of people--may leading to legal challenges.
4. Starting a grocery service requires very large investments of capital. Typically, that capital investment has a potential ROI, e.g. a bond. If the goal is to sell groceries at lower prices (and profit margins), this may not be sufficient to satisfy the financing requirements--which can lead to bankruptcy.
I mean I think it's all in that video, but if you want I can lay it out for you:
The grocery store in Cuba shows a REAL life example of what communism does. The eventual failure mode means you will eat the same 15 different possible things at the grocery store. You'll wait in line at said store because the hours are unreliable, and only open for 20 hours a week.
I think what the top poster was saying "And aren't those the things we want to encourage people to eat? Aren't fresh, simple foods the most deserving of subsidy?"
I don't think he quite understands when this mindset extends out to its eventual failure mode.
Why can't we turn people that are in victim/failure mode into thriving business leaders that want to CHANGE the world.
Some people fix a problem with a bucket under a leak in their roof. Some people fix the roof. I want a country filled with people that FIX THE DAMN ROOF!
The mutagenic human quality for self success I believe you are looking for is “the grind.” Everyone wants to clever their way out of the work, and every upstart should try, though we often fool ourselves into putting off the real work when it would be easier to just do “the grind.”
Who could really start calling themselves successful programmers before mastering the grind? Ordinary people are more comfort and convenience prone.
I think you're right - but there will always be a percentage of the population that wants to outperform for extra rewards (I mean that is Capitalism in a nutshell). We want to set up society such that this is possible. If you start with grocery stores, and later add a city subsidized Target, Apple, Walmart, etc... then those special out performers will move out of NYC.
What you want isn’t target or Walmart (okay, maybe Apple), it is their logistics chain. You tap their logistics (supply and demand) and slap your local brand upon it!
I think NY wants to move out to escape the enshitification of global reality. However your right, we need our conveniences!
China would not engage in nuclear escalation in response to the US striking Taiwan, and China does not otherwise possess the ability to strike the US homeland without incurring a nuclear response, so there is no mutually assured destruction with regards to semiconductor industry. In this hypothetical, the US would succeed in striking Taiwan and China would not escalate into nuclear war. But, the US would not strike Taiwan. Taiwan would destroy their own industry before that happened.
then 5 pounds of chips on the way back is worth millions of dollars so it can be flown on a passenger jet or fedex jet that is already going here. or a boat and take up 3% of a container
