Capitalism and monopoly – a means to an endgame?

I’ve always bemoaned behemoths such as Tesco for killing off the local shopping parades where you once could find a butcher, a baker, a greengrocer, a small grocery store and a newsagents.  ‘Capitalism leads to more choice’ I used to hear from Tory voices on TV, ‘better service' and 'competition drives standards up’.  Well, competition when keeping up with the latest techno gadgets certainly keeps them churning out ever more enticing resource-gobbling goodies, but as far as choice and better service goes, I think we’ve all experienced the truth of that.

Where I live, on the edge of a typical urban town, we used to have a newspaper delivery.  That was until Tesco took over the local ‘corner shop’ (itself part of a smaller but nearly as ubiquitous name-changing chain).  Tesco would not be doing newspaper deliveries.  We found a true local corner shop but soon that closed, they could never compete with the low prices Tesco force suppliers to accept.  Luckily, we found our local evening paper had its own delivery team.  All well and good, except Sundays.

Until recently my partner would go to a nearby garage for his Sunday paper.  This has now closed and whilst Tesco, who bought it, redevelop it into another of their ‘corner shops’, we have had to go to another Tesco a small distance away.  Well that’s no big deal really, unless you have an aversion to Tesco - it’s only till the more-local Tesco is up and running after all.  Well, the big deal is this.  Last weekend The Sunday Times bale from the Tesco a small distance away was burnt in an underpass so I had to go to the next nearest shop, another name-change chain.  As expected, everyone else had gone there too, so they were sold out.  I finally found one in the next borough, in a Co-Op.  Now I like Co-Op because it’s a pretty ethical store, but it’s a drive away so ecologically not sensible, but I’m glad I was pushed that way.  Recently I heard a comment attributed to Tesco saying their smaller stores were no dearer than the larger stores.  Well if that’s the case, I wouldn’t want to shop at their larger stores!!  Stopping to get some butter, I found Lurpak Light Spreadable was £2.50 in Tesco, and only £2.15 in Co-Op.  It’s bad enough they kill off all competition in the area so you have to drive 10 minutes just to buy your groceries using petrol you can only find now in a supermarket petrol station, but to have to pay 35p more for a basic food item if you don’t want to drive, some choice.

Harrumph!  I think I got that off my chest now...   … best not start thinking about the abolition of the10p tax band and Tesco using part-time below threshold workers so not paying employers national insurance for them whilst the welfare sector and national health service pick up the pieces once they're unable to work any longer...

A dad walks into a market with his young son.  The kid is holding a 50 pence piece.

Suddenly, the boy starts choking, going blue in the face.

The dad realizes the boy has swallowed the coin and starts panicking and
shouting for help.

After a few seconds the boy convulses violently and coughs up the coin, which the woman deftly catches in her free hand. Releasing the boy, the woman hands the money to the father and walks back to her seat in the coffee bar without saying a word.

"No," the woman replies, "I work for the Inland Revenue"

I read a story in yesterday’s Daily Mirror about a student being charged what appears to be excessive bank charges.  The figures involved were so ludicrous I’m not going to put them here in case there’s more to it, but it led me to wonder how they get away with it, why there isn’t a law against a practice that appears to be nothing short of extortion.  Then I wondered why they do it, and it came to mind, it’s a way of pushing people onto credit, backwards.  They grossly inflate the debt, then set you up with a loan to repay themselves immediately, with the added bonus of a guaranteed income for years to come, possibly topped up with a little questionable added insurance - keeps the shares nice.  And I wondered – why do we let them get away with it, and what came to mind was this.  We have long been aware, or perhaps I should say assumed, governments do ‘mis-dealing’, we come to accept it as part of life, of governments, power corrupts, human nature, born of sin - and in case we think our governments should be better, there is the juxtaposition of rule in less democratic countries.  So we are a nice accepting lot, so much so that these days even business can screw us openly.   Talking of which

 An old lady dies and goes to heaven
She's chatting with St. Peter at the Pearly Gates when all of a sudden she hears the most awful, blood curdling screams.

The old lady looks a little uncomfortable but carries on with the conversation.
Ten minutes later, there are more blood curdling screams.

'You can't go there' says St. Peter.
'You'll be raped and taken advantage of.'
'Maybe so, says the old lady, but I've already got the holes for that.' 

I have recently been involved in a couple of discussions, one, with SeasideMan (see previous post) had me redefine my previous beliefs regarding the existence of God.  The other, a discussion concerning choice at  http://poseidonposeidon.blog.co.uk/2008/04/27/value-of-regret-4099519#comments  helped me define my perceptions so far.  During this time it struck me, obvious though it is  that until one becomes aware of the existence of something, whether by language or by witnessing, one is unable to include it in one’s considerations.  I also noticed things I’d come across in previous years that I may or may not have appreciated at the time, now seemed obvious.  However, my last comments regarding choice were removed from the post as my views differ from the blog-owner’s, so I’ve decided to post them here, in case anyone happens to find anything useful, or has anything to add or discuss.
 

The comments to which I respond are in quotation marks, and if it’s all a bit long 

Matter is sacred, existence holy.

We exist in many different states at many different times

but in whatever state we are, we still are, and with that that we are,

we choose, in a synchronously interconnected multi-dimensional reality,

with which we interact.

Question your thoughts, motives and behaviour.

A man enters a confessional and says to the Irish Priest, "Father, it has been one month since my last confession. I've had sex with Fannie Green every week for the last month."

The altar boy replies, "No Father, I think it’s just the reflection off her shoes."

Couple more from the Llandudno Victorian Weekend

Not the most comfortable of rides by the look of it, no seatbelts or CD player either, not my cup of tea.  Don't these make you appreciate what we have now? 

A drunk staggers into a Catholic Church, enters a confessional booth, sits down, but says nothing.

The Priest coughs a few times to get his attention, but the drunk continues to sit there.

Finally, the Priest pounds three times on the wall.

The drunk mumbles, “Ain't no use knockin, there's no paper on this side either.”

Well I'm back and I've managed to take some pictures and get them onto the computer, thanks to you Usky, yeah, three cheers for Uskers bringing me into the 21st century! *clink* XX. (Hope you're well Usky my friend, will be pestering you tomorrow no doubt! )

After a usual amount of stuff not working and loads of unexpected spontaneous copies which meant I had to delete the file , I have picked a few and will put some more up tomorrow, cos it's fun isn't it!

The first two are of perhaps my favourite little car, ain't she sweet?  These were showing at the Annual Llandudno May Bank Holiday Victorian Fayre.

The second is of a Charabanc, pronounced 'Sharabang', the first time I've ever come across such a thing.  Looks rather odd to me, like a boat on wheels.

Well I have more I'd like to show, but Dr Who's on so I'm off.  Have a good evening folks! XX.

I read it in the tabloids

A Bosnian man whose home has been struck five times by meteorites believes aliens are targeting him.  Scientists at Belgrade University think magnetic fields must be making Radivoje Lajic's house attractive to meteorites - but Lajic, who has reinforced  his roof with steel, is convinced extra-terrestrials are at work.  "The chance of getting hit by a meteorite is so small that getting hit five times must be deliberate," he says.

Yeah, they must really dislike him