When Greed Goes Bad, And The Reality Of Business
Posted by bmac on May 21, 2008
I just don’t understand this kind of greed. This asshole had made a ton of money from legitimate businesses, and still just had to fuck people over to make more, including his stupid boy bands. This is the kind of guy that makes people loathe the rich. Kinda like Martha Stewart. She was obscenely wealthy, yet she just had to break the law to scoop up a measly (to her) couple hundred thou.
I guess somehow, complete Megalomania just takes over these people. No amount of money will ever be enough, they just have to bulldoze through as many people as humanly possible to prove they’re top dog, at any price.
This is why people get so infuriated at anyone that makes a dollar from something they have to buy, like gas. Assholes like Lou Perlman and Martha Stewart, make the public think everyone is trying to fuck them.
Big Oil makes what, 7% profit? Not much considering all their costs, and all the things they do that don’t generate money, like exploration. What do you think Exxon’s annual insurance bill is? They have “record profits” because gas has never been $4.00 a gallon before, but they have record costs to go with those record profits, no one seems to ever mention that, people just think they’re getting fucked while CEO’s are barbecuing Yangtzee River Dolphins on their solid gold yachts cackling hysterically.
Same with the Airline industry. People love to bitch about that. I heard somewhere, that every one cent increase in jet fuel, costs an airline about 25 million dollars that they don’t get back without raising prices. Not sure how true that is, but it makes sense when you consider one single 747 takes about 60,000 gallons to fill, and multiply that with an entire fleet, and hundreds of flights every day, and you start to get the picture how hard it is to make a buck without pissing people off that have no idea how much it costs to run a business like that.
Not to mention the fact that they put giant fucking pieces of metal in the air everyday with a near perfect safety record to get your ass to any number of destinations on planet Earth within a matter of hours, yet somehow, they must be gouging you.
I got the same attitude from people when I owned and operated my own small business up until last February. They all thought I was rich, because I owned a business, and why can’t they get a discount. I sold moving boxes people. You could get 20 for 40 bucks, and people thought I was ripping them off, I mean, it’s just a box. Two dollars for a box?
It never even occurred to them that this stupid box had to be manufactured, shipped, bought by a distributor, bought by me, and transported again to my business, where I had to pay rent, and pay insurance, and about 800 other bills, to get this stupid box in their hand for two bucks, that is somehow greedily overpriced to fuck them out of two dollars while I laugh hysterically at them as I step into my Bently.
It’s like that Dennis Miller bit. People think they’re getting royally screwed paying four dollars for a gallon of gas that will transport them 10-40 miles, (or two dollars for a box) and not even blink at paying $4 for 8oz. of fucking coffee at Starbucks.
I think I lost the main focus of this post in my rambling, but I think you get a point of some kind.
Update: Nevermind that last sentence. Changing the title of a post can really bring a point home.
A Fine Line Between Stupid And Clever 
pajama momma said
Yangtzee River Dolphin tastes like chicken
bmac said
It’s also a bloggers best friend cause it makes you look smart while simultaneously sounding funny.
MCPO Airdale said
Hell, I pay $12 for a haircut! I guess it improves aerodynamics while driving with the top down though.
pajama momma said
makes you look smart while simultaneously sounding funny
You are correct.
Nigel said
It never even occurred to them that this stupid box had to be manufactured, shipped, bought by a distributor, bought by me, and transported again to my business, where I had to pay rent, and pay insurance, and about 800 other bills, to get this stupid box in their hand for two bucks, that is somehow greedily overpriced to fuck them out of two dollars while I laugh hysterically at them as I step into my Bently.
Hey bmac you greedy bastard, can I get some free ad space here?
I get your point about the airlines, but the problem with them is that their service is so shit-poor that us consumers already feel like a big rod has been shoved up our collective poopers. I could deal with a little extra cost on my baggage if they weren’t so damn prone to losing it. I could deal with a little extra expense on my ticket to cover the gas if they could take off and land on time.
bmac said
I understand frustration with poor service, especially if you travel a lot, but just think about what they do accomplish Nigel.
As an industry, they pull off minor miracles on a daily basis. All those planes in the air, just about none of them ever crashing, maintaining those planes that each have about 40 billion crucial parts, etc, for what I would consider a fairly reasonable price, and their costs have been skyrocketing.
Plus they have to deal with cranky travelers like you all day!:)
All things considered, pretty amazing really. I think we all just take them for granted at this point.
Free ad space? How bout two bucks?
Nigel said
Two Bucks?!?! You freakin’ Shylock…you want my first-born as well?
American Airlines is about to go under…you watch. The $15 surcharge for a checked bag may have been the stupidest PR move in airline history…
Southwest Airlines, although they aren’t perfect, should be the model that the airline industry should try to follow.
MCPO Airdale said
I look smart while simultaneously sounding funny but that’s only because I wear reading glasses while speaking with a pronounced lisp.
bmac said
Two Bucks?!?! You freakin’ Shylock…you want my first-born as well?
HaHaHa! Unfortunately, you’re not far off the mark there buddy. You’d be SHOCKED to find out how much people freak over two bucks.
I hear a lot of bad shit about Southwest from friends of mine who travel a lot, but I don’t know.
The $15 thing I think is American trying to not lose their ass, because their fuel prices are killin’ em. The money’s gotta come from somewhere if not higher ticket prices.
bmac said
What about Jet Blue?
Everybody seems to love them.
bmac said
You crack me up MCPO
pajama momma said
ok so weird. On my flight to San Diego I took Northwest airlines, not even free peanuts anymore. You do, however get a free drink.
The way home, it was Continental and Express Jet. I got a free meal, on both legs of the flight.
I like Jetblue. Flew them red-eye from San Diego last year. Got a little sleep mask, towlettes and mint and of course soda and some sort of snack. even a little TV on the back of each seat and they were the cheapest flight available.
bmac said
There you go. Someone there just said Jet Blue is good. 🙂
Towlettes? Dayum!
MCPO Airdale said
Do you know who fixes those airliners? Guys with an A & P license who couldn’t make E-5 in the service.
eddiebear said
I deal with trucks, inventory, distribution, and all that sort of shit associated with steel. Steel is going through the roof, which, combined with $5/gal diesel in parts of the US, means I have to pay damn near $3.00/mile to get a trucker to even think about taking a load for us. And guess what all these rising costs mean to our prices? And guess what our customers are accusing us of doing? And it’s not as though we are gouging them. Some buyers with these fancy degrees just don’t “get it’, and it pisses me off.
bmac said
I feel your pain Eddie. The default position people take is that you’re gouging them.
The one thing I can say I learned in owning a business for three years, is that people only care about price, not service or quality, but when they actually get what they paid for, ie; shitty quality and service, they’re fucking outraged. But at the end of the day, they’ll always go to the lowest price, even if it means more hassle, or costs them more in the long run. They think they’re savvy shoppers that way. They’ll jump over a dollar to get to a nickel all day long.
I think this is why Wal-Mart kills all their competition, because even though they sell shit product, it’s cheap, and that’s all people really care about. That pair of sneakers will only last a month and hurt my feet, but shit, they were 20 bucks.
It makes no sense, people are fucking retarded man.
Old Iron said
I totally support you on the Big Oil thing. Apparently 5 CEOs representing the 5 major players in the industry went before congress recently and continued to repeat that as oil is a publicly traded commodity they do not control the price of tha material as it is sold to the public, and that the current increase in cost was a) fabricated and b) would go to help fund research and exploration during the time that the PRICES GO BACK DOWN, which they will.
Rosetta said
Good post, bmac.
After that excellent rant, you’ll be disappointed to know that this is my favorite line:
I think I lost the main focus of this post in my rambling, but I think you get a point of some kind.
Haha!
I personally find it outrageous that the booger-eating retards in Congress haul *cue Theme from Halloween* “BIG OIL” CEOs to a committee hearing to brow beat them about the price of oil and their corporate profits.
Profit margin is what makes a company “rich”, not dollar profit. Their are hundreds of companies that have higher profit margins than oil companies.
If I was on that panel, my entire testimony would have consisted of the following:
“Thank you for the opportunity to address this committee today. Let me suggest that if you want to get to the bottom of higher oil and gas prices, you don’t need to have business executives sitting in front of you, you need a fucking high school junior that got a “C” in introductory economics.
Had you summoned such a person, they would have made the following 5 points:
1. When you produce more of something, keeping demand constant, its price goes down.
2. When you produce less of something, keeping demand constant, its price goes up.
3. You want oil cheaper, drill for more oil.
4. You want gas cheaper, build more refineries.
5. If want to impose a “windfall profits” tax on the companies that produce what you need more of, you’re all fucking dolts.
Thank you and fuck off.
Thank you and fuck off.
pajama momma said
I think this is why Wal-Mart kills all their competition, because even though they sell shit product, it’s cheap, and that’s all people really care about. That pair of sneakers will only last a month and hurt my feet, but shit, they were 20 bucks.
However, Pampers Premium diapers, brand name formula (youngest has acid reflux and still cannot eat normal foods well), food, milk, coffee, soda, paper goods, school supplies and clothes that my kids will grow out of in 6 weeks anyways are incredibly cheaper at Wal-Mart and make it worth my while to shop there.
Rosetta said
I would like to revise and extend the following remark:
If you want to impose a “windfall profits” tax on the companies that produce what you need more of, you’re all fucking dolts.
bmac said
“Windfall Profits.”
It’s like say you sell ummmm I don’t know, a dildo replica of Ron Jeremy. You cost is $5, cause Ron’s easy, and you sell it for $10.
All of a sudden, Ron goes on Surreal Life, and thinks he’s a legit celebrity, and now he wants $200 for each didlo. Now, you have to sell his stupid dildo for $400, to keep the same profit margin.
Is that a “Windfall”?
You’d show “record profits”, but your cost has gone up 40 times what it was.
I guess my point is, Ron Jeremy sucks.
And PJ, Yeah, Wal Mart is good for that kind of stuff.
Rosetta said
That’s the worst analogy I’ve ever heard.
bmac said
Don’t you mean, “worst analagy you’ve ever read?
Yeah, I know it sucks, it’s early here.
doubleplusundead said
Two dollars for a box?
Yeah, I mean, Dennis Hof sells box for what, a couple hundred an hour?
bmac said
Ha! I totally get that DPUD!
“The Ranch” is like 40 minutes from here.
Rosetta said
I was wondering who was going to pick that low-hanging fruit…
doubleplusundead said
Hey, no one else was…
Rosetta said
Good job, DPUD.
Here you go.
goesdownbitter said
Hmmmmmmmmm. I have an idea! Let’s make profits illegal and that way all that excess cash can be scooped up by the IRS and used to fund more pork!
Just think, a few years ago ENRON was all the rage and now, that was small potatoes. The real money is made in hedge funds and commodity exchanges. Besides a billion gets awfully lonely all by itself, it needs more billions to keep warm.
Actually Big Oil is making money but only because the above commodity markets keep bidding up the contracts. If you ask Big Gasoline though, they are losing money because every barrel of crude they buy costs more by the minute and refining to gasoline costs everyone more than it’s worth at the pump. The refiner loses, the wholesaler loses and the gas station owner loses. The consumer wins because if gas tracked in lockstep with crude oil, gas would be closer to $7.00 a gallon in the U.S. It’s near $11.00 a gallon in England.
For all you consumers out there, don’t blame the person selling gas, milk, coffee or cardboard boxes. They’re not the greedy ones. Look to Washington for that mindset.
goesdownbitter said
http://goesdownbitter.wordpress.com/
Don’t know why my address isn’t there. Not that I’m bitter or anything.