: Most Common Ethnic Background of Americans is German Perhaps Evil Moved To New Continent?Isn't that rather insulting to Germans, not to mention anyone sharing a common ethnic background with them (i.e. the entire Caucasoid strain of humanity...)?
I sometimes wish that people would just accept that _no one_ is intrinsically "better" or "worse" than anyone else. No person, no group of people, no race. I may disagree with some people here to the point of extreme sarcasm and vitriol, but I'd never claim to be superior to them. Why, for smeg's sake, does anyone do this?
: All Major Companies are fairly evil, it seems like. Just buy Ben and
: Jerrys thats the only safe thing. What a Fucked Up Fuckin World
All major companies are, if not evil, profit-motivated. I think what you call "evil" lies in how jealously they safeguard their profits and how hard they compete to make a profit.
Yet "Green" consumerism is frequently as much of a pretence. Ben and Jerry's _may_ have some laudable qualities (like positive social plans, donating profits to charity, etc), but they are still promoting a luxury good to the few who can afford it.
If I remember correctly, it's addressed in Jon Entine's 1994 paper entitled "The Messy Reality of Socially Responsible Business" (which got him a libel lawsuit from The Body Shop!). While I may not agree with Entine's stance, he does have some good points.
The fault (in my opinion) lies with capitalism itself - it is too ingrained into capitalism that profit comes at the expense of competitors. You achieve primacy standing on the shoulders of your fallen competitors. Even "green" capitalists, such as Ben and Jerry's, or The Body Shop, fall victim to this. It's also notable that many of the products produced by such "green" companies are luxury goods, not staples (i.e. basic foods).
Gideon
