local vs national business

["Shahab Mesbah" <moscadmin@moscow.com>]

my dearest friends,

i think the main problem is that we consider purely monetary reasons for
living our lives. as mentioned earlier my business has contributed to many
projects in our region and has been a strong supporter of our community but
the impact of local versus national business is far more sinister than that.

businesses like ours provide higher paying jobs and beyond that more
satisfying jobs. these jobs require knowledge, skill, education, and talent
but they also attract the more stable person to the community. i do not want
to put anyone down but a career in stocking the shelves at the local
Wal-Mart is not exactly a dream of every parent for their children. these
national businesses come in and wipe out local businesses by undercutting
prices. these companies can afford to have a store that looses money for a
couple of years. most small local business never stand a chance. and what do
we get for that as a community? we get brainwashed that saving a couple of
bucks or in many cases couple of pennies justifies the insane practice of
buying the cheapest stuff.

the funny thing is that these same people complain about not being able to
get any support! i have experienced (daily) people who buy computer products
from cheap places and then expect our firm to support them... for free!!

we as a community and as individuals have to decide if we want to have
service and support or we want the cheapest price. after doing so we have to
live with the consequences. as long as we are too dense to understand the
foundation of our great society has been quality, reliability, and service
we will continue to slide down the slippery slope of mediocrity. we as a
community and a nation have to return to a life of service and dedication to
our fellow men (gender neutral!).

as long as we only see ourselves and do not consider the gravity of
everything we do the lure of materialism will dictate business in our world.
as long as we do not respect the intellectual property of our fellow men we
are doomed to devaluate intelligence in our society as a worthless
possession.

your brother in arms,

shahab...


----- Original Message -----
From: Ken Medlin <dev-plan@moscow.com>
To: Peggy Adams <adams@pcei.org>; Moscow Vision 2020 <vision2020@moscow.com>
Sent: Thursday, September 02, 1999 12:03 AM
Subject: Re: no personal checks, please


> The heated dialogue on the issue may well miss the gut facts related to
> the net profits coming from economies of scale a la Wal-Mart, Staples,
> MacDonalds et al., versus the home-town enterprises which must operate on
> quite different economic terms. Still, it seems quite clear that the net
> takes by the corporates far exceed per capita (resident) those earned by
> the 'mom and pop' enterprises on Main Street, etc. And it's nonsensical
> to believe that the big profits stay here, beyond the low-wage receipts
> of local employees. They flow out to corporate headquarters and the stock
> holders who, like theWaltons, become millionaires and billionaires --
> their $ never comes back to Latah Co. There should be a competnent person
> in the UI Bus. School who's up on his/her homework about these economic
> relationships, and what the respective benefits are under one regimen or
> another. But from a social perspective, the community support that flows
> from locally owned businesses probably exceeds that from distantly owned
> firms. One would have to compare Safeway's community participation, for
> ex., with that of Rosauer's or the Moscow Coop. Who contributes what and
> to whom? How much do we value this social factor?  But as for pure
> economics -- is there a bus. prof. in the audience to enlighten us?
> Please do!
>
> ------------------------
> William K. Medlin
> Dev-plan associates
> 930 Kenneth Street
> Moscow ID 83843
> 208/892-0148
> dev-plan@moscow.com
>