"Michel Boucher" > wrote in message
...
> So you have effectively argued that only profit controls the
> production of food? That's plain silly.

Sure would be, IF that were actually what I'd said. I guess
it's just too bad that it's not, huh?


> Actually, no, it doesn't. The market is nothing but manipulative
> humans making decisions, it isn't a separate and distinct entity nor
> is it managed by an invisible hand. Some human decide to ship
> potatoes without consulting the consumers, but only the ones that can
> stay longest on the shelf.

And if those sell, they continue to restock that shelf with the same
thing; if they don't, it doesn't matter HOW long they'll last - no one
will re-order that product, because they don't sell. Supermarket
shelf space is far too precious a commodity, profit margins in that
business being what they are, to waste on good which do not sell.
No one said it was "managed by an invisible hand," so I fail to see the
point of that remark. You claim that the market is run by "manipulative
humans making decision"; I claim that, over the long term, the market
is primarily shaped by a combination of factors, including a very large
contribution called "what WILL sell" (with another factor being "what
can be produced/distributed/stocked at a cost which permits meeting
the market expectation of price"). But let me ask a follow-up question
- who do you think SHOULD decide what is offered in a given
market, and how?

> They don't ask consumers: "Would you
> rather have potatoes that taste better?" They even lie. They say
> their potatoes taste best, to influence the purchasing choices.
> Consumers (those who are so inclined) vote between McCain's and Ore-
> Ida but not between varieties of potatoes because they aren't
> informed of that. In fact, the more they know the more it worries
> the capitalist because truly informed consumers are dangerous to his
> profit margin.

So your argument is basically that the majority of people who make
up the population of "consumers" in a given market are essentially
sheep, incapable of making a correct decision on their own because
they've been fed misinformation (and are too ignorant/lazy/stupid to
know the difference)?


> In reality, most people don't vote with their money knowing all the
> facts, they vote for a limited slate, knowing only what the leading
> producers want them to know. If you haven't figured this out yet, I
> suggest you catch up on your reading.

See above. It must be very frustrating for you, being one of the
apparently insignificantly tiny minority who possess The
Truth.

Bob M.