Wal-Mart and more

[David Hobby]

Dan M wrote:
...
> With respect to the first question..as folks may, or may not, have noticed,
> after posting here over a thousand times, my posts have dropped to near
> zero.  I think it is fair to say that I am strongly opinionated.  I enjoy
> passionate arguments about what's true, what's best, and what's
> possible..and enjoy an opponent that gives as good as he/she gets.  This is
> one of the reasons Gautam and I still go at it on instant messaging..we both
> are very interested in determining what is right/best and will be willing to
> change our minds in the presence of a persuasive argument..

Dan--

I certainly enjoy your posts, and appreciate that you
put in time to research them.  (And you tend to argue
fairly, which I can't say of everyone.)

> I get that feeling here, in this thread.  I've seen it before with others.
> It's been talked about here, and I am privy to the critical juncture in at
> least one instance. I can still vividly recall telling Gautam to explain his
> uncomfortable feelings, as a non-Christian, with the use of certain
> variations of Christian arguments to counter his views.  I assured him that
> if he honestly expressed how he was feeling, it would start a worthwhile
> dialog.  I was very embarrassed when, instead of a response that indicated
> any sensitivity to his religious sensibilities, he was simply told he was
> full of it. 

I must have missed that.  I'm personally not impressed by
a religion-based argument, but I don't think it's fair to
criticize someone's feelings.

> Second, I've seen posts based on hours of work by me trying to find the
> answer dismissed by a single story.  I don't think that's a valid
> technique.

It's not.  And just because people stop posting in a thread,
that does not mean they agree.  Again, not everyone argues
fairly.  But maybe we should put more work into calling
people on it when they do post bad arguments.

> The third question is the basic question about Wal-Mart.  From long
> experience here, I think that all we'll do is go around in circles if we
> don't address at least the second point...and will probably have problems if
> we don't at least touch on ways to agree to disagree on the first point.

The main problem I see is that Wal-Mart has a big share of
the market, and is prepared to use that fact to its advantage.
Sometimes, that does benefit the consumer.  I'm certainly glad
to buy some things at Sam's Club for not too much more than their
cost of production!

...
> think that I'm not the only one who's had them.  But, I realize that I'm not
> posting much now because I'd rather fade away to just the occasional post of
> interest than spend time going in the same old circles.  

I'd guess that the problem is the "same old circles".  There are
a few (not to be named) topics where we certainly went around in
circles years ago.  I'm happy they haven't returned.  So new
topics might help...

					---David