I needed to get it out of my system...............

[pamsback]

Y'know Steve, the whole point of my rant to start with was the greed that makes people basically crazy.........about how greed has taken more than one part of this economy down because CEOS and corporations and yes CITIZENS were not satisfied just to make a comfortable profit...they had to get more and more and more and I was just wondering how much more is ever going to be enough for people like that. Take for instance the king or prince or whatever he is of Saudi Arabia....he's so rich he takes a dump in a solid gold crapper...you reckon it works any better than my old porcelain one does? No it doesn't...and since he has enough that he can use it for a crapper why doesn't he just feed some starvin people or donate it to a hospital or something? Well hell I can answer THAT myself...because he LIKES the thought of somebody knowing he's so rich he has a solid gold crapper lol, the same reason everybody ELSE follows greed...to show off.....which says more about THEM than it does the sad people who DO envy them.....

Envy is the FARTHEST thing from being what it is about. The "if I can't have it nobody can" way of thinking has NO place in my thought process. I don't understand the thought process that is that aquisative and is not satisfied with a nice sized piece of the pie that leaves some pie for the next guy.

I don't covet what anybody has I just wonder what the hell they can do with 900 million dollars that they cant do with ONE! I don't expect you to get it because it looks like we have two different points of view. I do see what you are tryin to say...I just don't roll like that.

But, actually, especially in small towns, you can probably get home-grown items for LESS than Walmart sells them, AND have a higher quality item.  Because... drum roll... those people aren't concerned with making millions on their products (greed)... they just want to help provide for their neighbors, while earning a little bit of money for themselves.

which is what I meant in a nutshell...thanks Tobina...it SHOULD be that way everywhere

[srkruzich]

Actually, that was not a quote by me on Steve's post.  Those were your words.  Please be careful on using quotes so as not to make it look like someone else said something.

I do agree with what you said, however.  When I lived in KC, I saw people my age driving the fanciest cars and living in the biggest houses.  It was hard not to be envious, but I always wondered WHERE/HOW they got their money, or if they were only living on credit card debt.  I basically saved no money when I lived in KC (due to living expense), but I was able to work on paying the only debt I had; school loans.  So I didn't understand how people could afford to have those things!  My envy quickly turned to feelling sorry for them... and the amount of loans/debt they would have to eventually pay off some day.

I also want to clarify my comments from earlier.  I didn't say you didn't work hard to get the materials for your bees, or that you shouldn't be paid fair market value for those products.  My point was that don't let greed make you think you should mark up the prices on your product (this goes for anyone; not pointing at you specifically) just because "you can" and you have no competition.  Of course, business sense would tell you that, too.  Too high of prices = no one will buy your product = you will go out of business.

Also, the reason people pay more for home grown items (beef, eggs, honey, etc) is because of the QUALITY.  If Walmart sold higher quality beef, then people would expect to pay more for it.  But, actually, especially in small towns, you can probably get home-grown items for LESS than Walmart sells them, AND have a higher quality item.  Because... drum roll... those people aren't concerned with making millions on their products (greed)... they just want to help provide for their neighbors, while earning a little bit of money for themselves.

I was remembering today in trion Georgia they have a manufacturer that makes blue denim.  I hauled load after load to millington tennessee to a plant where they make blue jeans. Most folks don't know that that plant makes jeans for wrangler, rustler, and levi as well as the Gap and other businesses.  Now there is no difference in these jeans other than cuts and maybe denim weight.  But you would pay 40+ dollars for a pair of levis and that same pair of jeans made they would sew in a label for the Gap or for wrangler or rustler and box em up and ship em out.  Now the folks making those jeans aren't getting paid anymore for making a pair of levis or a pair of rustler.

Another business i remember was J.Riggins.   They were a company that was owned by a high end retailer and for the life of me i cannot remember who it was.  But anyway, this company would buy clothes and then sell the same exact garment in both the high end store and the low end store, and set differnet prices and sew in different labels into the garments.    They got more in the high end stores selling to the folks that buy designer.  Its not a biggie. They capture both markets.

There will always be people that will buy higher priced products based on brand and they would never go to a low end store to buy the same product at a cheaper price.  Same is said for folks that buy lowend stores. So the company is business smart and caters to both ends, thus gets higher profits.

All the car  companies do the same thing.  For example, Gm has the s10 blazer, or the s15 Jimmy  same vehicle different prices.

Lastly I would not insult peoples intellegence here in the county by selling honey for a out of sight price.   As i mentioned before something like Sourwood honey which you can't get here without importing it from the southeast, sells for 9 dollars a pound or around that even in the area its produced. The reason is the honey flow during that time the trees are in bloom is very short so you do not get a large supply of it and usually most of the sourwood honey produced is sold before its ever bottled.
That drives price up since it is IMO the best tasting honey on the market, and its supply is very limited.  Whereas something like goldenrod honey which is very good is always in large supply when the golden rod comes in. 

One thing that I know is i can take a bottle of the honey you buy in walmart, or at dillons or any grocery store out there, its pasturized, and its what they called blended, AND THEN they mix it with 40% corn syrup.  You can taste the difference immediately. Its about a dollar and a half a pound cheaper but you get what you pay for, and thats corn syrup.

But you know if thats what sue bee honey and other companies want to do then thats fine by me.  I don't care.  I know that if i produce the top quality honey that i can produce, never water it down, and mark it up a dollar and a half more than the grocery stores, folks will be more than happy to pay for the quality. 

And if i make 50 million dollars doing it then thats fine by me too.   i probably wouldn't spend 50 million but i sure could have one heck of a party for folks when i die, and then leave my children and grandchildren with enough money to provide a top notch education for them to prepare themselves for their future.   And being the way i am, i would be helping folks that need help too.  No government taxation required.  
On top of that if  i was making 50 million dollars at it, i would be employing a heck of a lot of people too and that would mean a heck of a lot of money for the surrounding area! 

[srkruzich]

I don't covet what anybody has I just wonder what the hell they can do with 900 million dollars that they cant do with ONE! I don't expect you to get it because it looks like we have two different points of view. I do see what you are tryin to say...I just don't roll like that.

Uhmm  You can buy an election with 900 mil and not with 1 million.
No i wasn't saying that about you, i was saying that is what is wrong with the country.  The politics of envy has taken over. 

[pamsback]

I don't covet what anybody has I just wonder what the hell they can do with 900 million dollars that they cant do with ONE! I don't expect you to get it because it looks like we have two different points of view. I do see what you are tryin to say...I just don't roll like that.

Uhmm  You can buy an election with 900 mil and not with 1 million.
No i wasn't saying that about you, i was saying that is what is wrong with the country.  The politics of envy has taken over. 

Lol, you BETTER NOT! I totally agree with the last part tho.
What you said about honey is true too...I grew up on raw wild honey Dad would find when he was loggin and storebought just AIN'T the same. There are a lot of places to buy good honey down here tho, a lot of people have hives. I wish you luck in your venture

[greatguns]

Really, I get my eggs from a 70 old year woman that just gives them away because she can't use that many.  She has the chickens so she has something to do.  I in turn make her treats with recipes she finds and thinks sounds good.  I also share the eggs with others and I don't charge either.

As far as cleaning up stuff for the material you want, I was taught that you cleaned up as you went when you take the the material you want.  Not leaving it for someone else to do.

[pamsback]

Really, I get my eggs from a 70 old year woman that just gives them away because she can't use that many.  She has the chickens so she has something to do.  I in turn make her treats with recipes she finds and thinks sounds good.  I also share the eggs with others and I don't charge either.

As far as cleaning up stuff for the material you want, I was taught that you cleaned up as you went when you take the the material you want.  Not leaving it for someone else to do.

Yknow I have found that it tends to freak people out when you just give em stuff or give em a ride without chargin them. I asked the lady at the feed mill if she could use some tomatoes and stuff this mornin and she wanted to know what I was sellin em for...she looked surprised as hell when I said she could just have em if she wanted em cause they were snowin me under! Unloaded some okra too  It just saved me from havin to do somethin with it or lettin it go to waste when I already got all I need for now, that's how I look at it anyway.

[Tobina+1]

Again, not disagreeing with you, Steve.  Like you stated in an earlier post, people want expensive things just to prove (or make it look) like they can... same goes for your jeans example.  (Although in the first part of your example I would have to say that different brands of jeans fit differently, too, and that is why most people buy by brand.)

Please read my post again, I didn't specifically say you were going to price-gouge people... I was using that as an example of people who DO... or big businesses that DO.  You basically said the exact same thing that I did about beef.  We're arguing in circles.

I do agree with Pam, though, once you get past all the ranting (wink, Pam, you know I enjoy that about you).  Basically, she's asking that why can't people be happy/pleased/comfortable with making enough money to get them by (and support family and friends).  Like you said, Steve; you can live on what you make.  It's greed that makes people buy beyond their means, or price-gouge others just so they can get the fancy car or jet.  Hey, if someone has a product that makes them lots of money, GREAT!  You can't fault them for having a good idea (just kick yourself for not coming up with it first)!  They had to blood, sweat, and tears to make it work, so they should reap what they sow.  But it's greed that makes them sell an inferior product at a higher price "just because they can", or slitting someone else's throat to get there.  

[pamsback]

Rant? WHo me? Nuh-uh  LOL

[greatguns]

Oh but it is such a good feeling to give something to someone without wanting something in return.  I love doing that.  On the other hand, I'm not very high on professional bums.

[dnalexander]

Let's see by my rough calculations Steve and Pam have been ranting for around 31 hours less a few hours of sleep. Actually I found this discussion very fascinating. I think they both made some very good points. I also, found that in many instances I could agree with both of them when they were arguing different sides of a seemingly opposing view due to the general nature of their examples. Basically it just reaffirms my belief that very few things are black and white just varying shades of gray. So are you guys done ranting or should we wait for the next two folks to get in the ring. I really enjoyed this thread and I hope Pam and Steve take that as a compliment, as that is what I intend it to be. Thanks Steve and Pam.

David