[LINK] I'm going to throw something out there...

[Craig Sanders]

On Tue, Feb 17, 2004 at 06:17:54PM +1100, Deus Ex Machina wrote:
> > US CEO's are *obscenely* overpaid.  ours are just *outrageously*
> > overpaid...
> 
> relative to? 

relative to almost everything - including:

need,  
worth,
value,
utility,
benefit to society.

> you are *obscenely* overpaid relative to the average chinese.

yes.

> the reality is that governement run style "community services" are
> catastrophically innefficient and squander tax payers money in general. 

do you ever have an original thought?  one that doesn't come straight out of
the economic rationalism propaganda handbook?

many government run services are run very efficiently.  some could not be run
any more efficiently than they already are.

also, from the user's/consumer's point-of-view, profit is an unneccessary and
undesirable inefficiency.  profit inherently means that they are paying more
than what the service costs to provide and maintain.


> banking is not a natural right like freedom or self determination last I
> looked :) 

true, it's not a right.  it is, however, almost mandatory these days (try
asking to be paid in cash at work and see how far you get), so when the system
makes a bank account a mandatory requirement for functioning in society, then
the system had better ensure that bank accounts are available to and affordable
by everyone, not just the rich. 

> I am sorry but your argument is never going to find traction with Canberra

finally you've said something we can all agree on.

> > > > 6. Why are so many industries allowed to rip the hell out of their
> > > > piece-workers ... and make such inordinate markups when the product
> > > > finally hits the retail end of the supply chain?
> > > 
> > > perhaps you can give a solid example. I am not aware of any industry
> > > where there is competition and this happens.
> > 
> > if you open your eyes, you will find that there is a lot that you are not
> > aware of.
> > 
> > BTW, try the clothing industry for starters.  then move on to any other
> > industry you care to think of.
> 
> perhaps you would care to divulge some real figures that show that enormous
> margins are being generated by an industry, because there are plenty of
> investors looking for a good return.

please don't change the subject.  nobody mentioned anything about margins or
investment.

what was mentioned was unscrupulous practices like ripping off piece-workers
aka "outsource workers".  the procedure is quite simple - sack all your
employees (or don't hire any in the first place), force them all to become
"independant contractors", pay them so little per finished garment that they
have to work like a slave just to make enough to survive.  if they don't
survive, there's plenty more where they came from.

not everyone has a comfy geek job that pays them a lot of money to sit on their
arse and play with computers all day.  most people don't even enjoy their work,
they have to do stuff that they either don't like or can't stand....boring,
soul-destroying work just to pay the bills.

craig