: Whaoa!! I find it hard to believe that working in a fast food joint :sets the stage for such a drastic fate. Y'know, we all have jobs of :some sort to do. Money may not be everything, but if I'm to have a :roof over my head and decent transportation, then I need a billfold of :green.There a tons of career choices that don't impact society and the environment to nearly the degree that working at McDonald's for just a few short weeks does. Sure, chances are that if it isn't you it'll just be someone else, but that's some serious guilt that I wouldn't want hanging over my shoulders.
:As for those living in poverty, am I supposed to just give up
:living my life to feel bad for them? Am I supposed to fork over every :dollar I earn? The poor will always be living with us. That's a fact :of life, and it's not my fault or anyone else's.
No, you should not give up living your life to "feel bad" for people who are less fortunate for you. But making everyday choices that do not so negatively impact the poor in both other countries and our own is, at least as far as I'm concerned, far better than the traditional middle finger of "I have the cash and you don't". It is this very mentality that got us to where we are now, and it is likely this mentality that will be the end of us. And, believe it or not, it IS your fault. And mine, and anyone else who has ever thrown money into the corporate machine so that they could destroy more rainforests, buy up more land in third world countries, slaughter more animals, etc.
: It amazes me that the McD employees who whine and bitch about their :jobs and the "goddam customers" [and some of 'em who bragged about :spiking food and stealing from stock] are pittied and hailed as heroes
Not by me, pal. Anyone who has ever worked at a fast food joint of any kind has my pity, but I'd never call them a hero. If they want to defecate in a McNasty sandwich, that's thier business, but I think it's repulsive and certainly wouldn't condone it.
:yet the ones who are positive about their store and have a good :outlook on life are slammed as sycophants, brainwashed idiots, :co-conspirators, and partners-in-crime.
Aren't they? Aren't you? Isn't anyone who looks at the world through rose colored glasses? Most people either refuse to admit how screwed up things are, or they acknowledge that things "could be better" but don't care enough to try and do anything about it which is probably worse than living in denial. At least you admit that things are a little messed up, but you refuse to see the bigger picture.
: In summary, people of the "working class" are much more impacted by :crackhouse operators, gang members who rob them of their hard-earned :money and terrorize them, and other menace lowlifes than by :McDonald's, Bill Gates, or any other multinational firm. I'm not
Absolutely, in DAY TO DAY LIFE. Living where I do, I am far more impacted by meth houses exploding and the threat of being robbed than I am by multinational corporations. In part because they spend a whole bunch of money to make sure that we aren't negatively impacted in any way, and that we keep a nice, clean perception of them and their companies. But it doesn't change the fact that behind the scenes, where it might not affect you today, things are awry. Are you so shortsighted that you can't see where humanity will be in twenty five years? Fifty years? A century? I give us a maximum of thirty years before our civilization collapses if we don't take action very soon. Am I a chicken little extremist? Quite possibly, I really don't know. But I do know that our planet simply DOES NOT have the resources to continue on the path we're on now. We will self destruct. Maybe not in thirty years. Maybe not in a hundred years. But it will happen. And even if you aren't around to see it, your grandchildren or great granchildren or whatever will have to suffer and die out in the name of 20th Century American Convenience.
:denying that Microsoft, McD's, and the rest of the corporate world are :far from perfect, but there are much worse people out there. Finally,
Who? Will crack dealers lead to the extinction of the human race? Is crack such a valuable world resource that if we run out, we'll all die?
:this planet is a survivor!! A survivor of many wars,including 2 world :wars, floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, etc, etc. Just like a :'66 Plymouth Valiant's Slant Six, this Earth takes a licking and keeps :on ticking!! I hardly think that a burger chain will be the last :straw!!
You're right, the Earth is a pretty hardy beast. But WE aren't. We are very frail creatures. We need food to survive. We can't eat dirt, we can only subsist on the remains of once-living organisms and water. Destroying the resources that provide us these essential-to-life ingredients just so we can snatch a greaseball burger at every streetcorner in the country is pathetic. And it's not just McDonald's by any means, although I feel that McDonald's is probably one of the worst of the guilty parties. I will answer your questions one at a time, assuming that they aren't intended as insults (though I suspect they are).
: P.S. Are you REALLY better than I am?
I don't think better is the appropriate word, although your descendents would probably disagree as they wither away and die due to your negligence.
:Than the McD employee who started this thread?
Anyone who would lower themselves to slaving in the grease pits for minimal pay has my sympathy, as well as my complete lack of respect. I wouldn't say I was better than them, but I would certainly say that I was more aware of my surroundings.
:Do you really know it all?
What do you mean by "all"? I'm evidently far better informed than you are, but to say I know it all would insinuate that I'm some manner of diety. Which, for all you know, could be true. Sadly it isn't. If I were a god, I'd use my Magic-Blast-O-Kill rays to destroy most, if not all, multinational corporations.
:Is the rest of us stupid?
I don't think you are stupid by any means. You seem like an articulate and intelligent person. However, even the most intelligent people in the world can be mis/uninformed. I do what I can to inform these people. A vast majority of the time they shake their heads and replace their rose colored glasses, pretending they didn't hear a thing I said. I get the impression that most of the time people hear what I'm saying, but feel powerless to do anything and thus pretend nothing is wrong. This is not an acceptable solution to the problem, but it is certainly the easy one which explains why it is the one Americans tend to choose.
:That seems to be the unwritten word in your post.
I'm sorry you feel that way. I am very, very glad that I am no longer uninformed on these matters as I was only recently and in my jubilence I may tend to get slightly aggressive. Until just a few short weeks ago, I ate lots of double quarter pounder with cheese value meals (number four, isn't it?), super sized. I had no idea of the atrocities commited by McDonald's and other multinationals. Learning of them at first, I didn't want to believe. Slowly, though, I realized the catastrophic consequences that are inevitable. I'm a pretty damn open-minded person, all things considered, and I didn't want to believe what I read. I can only imagine how the majority of sheep mentality Americans react, and I imagine that it's very similar to the way you have. Downplay it, pretend it's no big deal, slough off the responsibility and run out for a McRib. But if I can get the ear of just ONE person who felt differently before... just ONE person to realize how today's "convenience" becomes tomorrows death warrant, then I will feel as though I have succeeded.
Meanie
