tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6766906560812521746.post754589373349110295..comments2024-02-10T02:58:07.102-05:00Comments on Celestial Reflections: Tip of the Greed IcebergLaVaughnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09147322061125012346noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6766906560812521746.post-61046121208708138542010-01-08T20:31:32.050-05:002010-01-08T20:31:32.050-05:00Thanks so much for posting this. It's horrid. ...Thanks so much for posting this. It's horrid. Particularly the food waste. I remember my disgust at learning that many countries have <a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/chock-one-up-for-the-ugly-fruits.php" rel="nofollow">produce standards</a> and disgard "ugly" vegetables. Just giant landfills stuffed with rotting crooked cucumbers and lopsided tomatoes.<br /><br />On the books, I should caveat that it's specifically mass market books. They're printed on low-grade paper stock, and considered as disposable as newspapers. Something else happens with remaindered trade hardcover and paperbacks. I don't know quite what, because it wasn't my area. I just remember discussions of this issue in marketing meetings, when I worked in publishing. <br /><br />I read somewhere, years ago, that Dunkin' Donuts donated unsold donuts to homeless shelters, but I have no idea if they still do that. Not very nutritious, but it's <i>something</i>. <br /><br />The simple truth is that capitalism is based on restricting the flow of goods and services to maximize profit. We could also discuss such lovely business models as planned obsolescence. In Michael Moore's new movie, Capitalism: A Love Story, he asks Catholic priests if capitalism is immoral. They say unambiguously that it is. One could definitely make that argument. As to a world without money, we may be headed there by circumstance anyway, because the current system is simply collapsing.LaVaughnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09147322061125012346noreply@blogger.com