So. Let's discuss the state of modern capitalism.

[The Ogrob Returns]

Which is why I don't drink Coke.

I've began looking at contents of what I consume, and if able, I'll buy stuff where I know what everything is on the list. If I'm buying food, I want it to be food, not chemicals.

[Ashnari Doomsong]

Which is why I don't drink Coke.

I've began looking at contents of what I consume, and if able, I'll buy stuff where I know what everything is on the list. If I'm buying food, I want it to be food, not chemicals.

A better reason not to drink coke is IMO that all major coke producers have sold their souls to the devil. I'll give you all this one as a bonus to make you conveniently forget that I skipped a couple of days there.

Coca-Cola is the name and starving Indians is the game. The Coca-Cola Company, being in an industry that lends itself particularly well to the exploitation of poor brown people, excells in this field, routinely fielding such gems as the draining of entire towns' fresh water supply, the dumping of toxic sludge near underground water reservoirs for relatively large regions and the mandatory semi-feudal almost-slave labour. Coca-Cola Company is directly responsible for thousands of deaths, environmental catastrophes and keeping the third world in crushing poverty. This, in addition to marketing a series of highly unhealthy products and bribing healthcare officials from various countries into "advising" them on the health issues - though this is Pepsi, Norway's ex-prime minister and former leader of the WHO Gro Harlem Brundtland is one of these.

It is unnecessary to say that the Coca-Cola Company has an extremely unhealthy business practice, quashing competition and doing its best to maintain its almost-monopoly on soft drinks worldwide by bribing officials and buying senators expensive dinners.

[findel]

All of them - I'm quite sure of that - have their own skeleton in the wardrobe, and sometimes the skelly is sitting right beside your at the dinner table. Nobody will spend any money on ecology just bcs he loves the nature. The driving force is always the profit, or loss of the profit (i.e if environmental fees are too high).

Well said. There are without doubt many companies just good enough at hiding their hideous side. You never really now if they are not crushing people and nature on their money way. And more, even if they are doing their best to stay virtuous, they might deal with others not so virtuous companies, for transportation for example.

I say, the best way to be more or less sure you are doing good is buying second hand, do not encourage production of stuff we barely need. And for the rest, buy locally to small companies.

[Aryel]

Capitalism is awesome, I love to oppress the proletariat... oh, and buy new shit I don't really need every day. wait, what are we talking about?

[VictorK]

This, in addition to marketing a series of highly unhealthy products and bribing healthcare officials from various countries into "advising" them on the health issues - though this is Pepsi, Norway's ex-prime minister and former leader of the WHO Gro Harlem Brundtland is one of these.

Hey, ol' Groby is gonna be on campus this week for our annual Borah Symposium on international conflict, the topic of this year's being the link between conflict and healthcare.

Any dirt I should know about?

[Ashnari Doomsong]

Bruntland? Well, she's been living in France for a while now, and paid her taxes to the French state. When she needed hip surgery, she got it funded by the Norwegian government. Other than that, there's the non-issue about some pensions mojo that she was involved in - don't bring that up if you want real dirt. She's been utterly cleared, so that's basically the only dirt on her except for the whole Pepsi deal, where they pretty much paid her money so they could put her on their labels.

Beyond being very, very arrogant, the woman is formidable and intelligent, if a somewhat conservative social democrat. She was our first(and, given the alternatives, hopefully the only for a while yet) female prime minister and former environmental protection minister.

Until she retired, she held Norwegian political discourse in something of an iron grip for about ten years, only challenged by the conservative Kaare Willoch. If there is more dirt on her, it's difficult to dig up, because she's a very, very respected and talented politician up to an international scale, and I don't even like her very much.

[EricJ]

Ashnari, you've convinced me: for every coke you don't drink, I'm going to have three.

[DarkTyrany22]

Now the stuff that is made from 2 poisonous substances can't be healthy, right?

Yes, there is nothing like that that we consume on a regular basis. Oh wait...

Yeah, you couldn't be more wrong.

[Ashnari Doomsong]

Ashnari, you've convinced me: for every coke you don't drink, I'm going to have three.

Have fun watching your teeth slowly dissolve in the mirror. 'cos there be a lot of coke that I'm not drinking.

[Gondarion]

I've been privy to the Coke narrative before, and I don't doubt it for a second.

However, I have news for you: No matter who you boycott, you will be patronizing all manner of entities doing all manner of nasty things, sooner you learn the better. You can't fix everything, and you might lose your sanity, which is ultimately all that is important.

That being said, Coke is truly deserving of a boycott. Abstain away!

[Ashnari Doomsong]

And now, back from hiatus, we have a Finnish Greed special edition.

Clearly, the infamous and chronic depression from which all finns suffer makes them horrible and evil people, as evidenced not only by Nokia's consistently shady business in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but also in the paper producer UPM Kymmene, and the med-equipment producer Instrumentarium.

You see, UPM Kymmene has a finger or two in the Finnish legislative. It needs this, because its business practice is notorious for dumping horrible toxic shit in vulnerable ponds and pining for the deforestation of huge swathes of tropical rainforest.

Instrumentarium is, of course, involved in dumping faulty equipment to China, causing sick patients to die. No, I'm not kidding; gear that has not been safety-approved in Europe gets dumped to the third world and ends up killing people. That's business ethics for you.