You Buy From Us... Because We Make You Too!

Greetings all,

Okay, this is a topic that's been mentioned on here in various threads in the past but I thought I'd bring it up again as it's something that's been on my mind recently and I find it an interesting, albeit quite worrying, concept.

The basic principle is that certain industries out there covertly create problems for us as human beings and then profit from selling us the solutions.

Here are a couple of examples:

Anti-Virus Companies

I think the majority of us on here have heard this one before; that secretly anti-virus companies are actually the ones out there employing hundreds of software engineers to write the viruses we see on the internet today and thus profit by selling us their own anti-virus product's.

I've seen plenty of anti-virus companies promising to have the best protection for the latest *insert name* virus and it does make you wonder if they are the ones creating said virus themselves.

Do you think antivirus software developers create viruses in order to increase the use of their products?

forums.cnet.com...

Could The Antivirus Industry Be Writing The Viruses That Cause Us To Buy Their Products?

www.security-faq... s.com/could-the-antivirus-industry-be-writing-the-viruses-that-cause-us-to-buy-their-products.html

Pharmaceutical Companies

Again, here we have the same concept. Drug companies creating viruses so that they can make money by selling the vacines, I'm sure most of you will have heard this one before. Basically, it's the biological equivalent of the above example...

Conspiracy theories about the H1N1 virus being a man-made, genetically-engineered virus began to emerge very soon after the H1N1 swine flu outbreak began in mid-April 2009.

www.flu-treatments.com...

www.youtube.com...

The NHS

People might think this is a strange one at first but I've mentioned it on here before in the past; basically why does the NHS and the government not ban alcohol and cigarettes if they are that bad for us?

Well, you could argue because they won't take away peoples free will but think about the massive amounts of money they must make from the taxes on each product???

Electrical Appliances

This is one I've only heard recently but the general theory is that electrical goods i.e. TV's, Washing Machines, Microwaves etc are made to last a certain time period thus forcing you to go out and purchase another one.

Most people, in my experience, tend to stick to brands they are familiar with so if theyre Samsung television blows up they are more than like to purchase another Samsung.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not that foolish to believe that electrical items do break/fail in time due to their components or other reasons such as lightning strikes, power surges, accidents etc but it's still an interesting theory.

There you go people, just a quick article to get you thinking about the subject, your comments/opinions/other examples to add are most welcome...

Cheers

How about each and every public utility (electricity, cable, water, gas) that usually have no competition in the market and which extort and gouge us with exorbitant rates that we have little choice but to pay.

These are the ones that get under my skin most often - and to think that much of the infrastructure for these industries was paid for with public funds....

reply to post by Hefficide


Yeah, I suppose that's a good one.

I'd only add that those utilities do require people to install, maintain and repair them. As such employees will need paying, tools will need to be purchased, equipment will need to be hired etc

Hey, I work in Telecommunications

reply to post by Death_Kron


I get what you are saying and wouldn't want these utilities to be free. I wouldn't even want them to be profit restricted. But profit within reason!

For example, locally, here in northern Georgia, I live in a suburb of Atlanta and my monthly water bill is roughly fifty dollars. One of our most recent and big local stories is that people in the downtown Atlanta area, just twenty miles away from where I am, are getting water bills approaching a thousand dollars a month - for a residential home!

Electricity in my area is also something many people are angry about. I live alone and pay roughly $300.00 a month for service. That's nearly half of what I pay monthly for the house itself!

reply to post by Death_Kron


I think there is a lot of truth in each of those areas you mention. Since the H1N1 fiasco is already beat to death in other forums, I will address the Electrical Appliances, and I will extend it to all "consumer" goods.

www.thestoryofstuff.com...

That link is an important video for anyone delving into this discussion. Basically after the two World Wars and the Great Depression, the factories were churning out high quality merchandise faster than the public could consume it. Shutting down the factories wasn't an option, so TPTB at the time and the leading economists devised a plan to keep the economy growing by manufacturing cheaper, less durable goods. The idea was that people would save a little money up front, buy disposable items, and then have to continually repurchase the same items over and over.

We went from Glassware to Plasticware. We went from recycling bottles and jars to throwing out paper and plastic. We went from vehicles made of steel to vehicles made of plastic. There was a lot of improvement in efficiency and convenience, but it came at the high cost of environmental impact and ever-increasing demands for more and more cheaper and cheaper worthless merchandise.

That is the simplistic version, because at the same time, the global market was opening up, the ruse of fuel and energy efficiency was developing, and the entirely "new" industry of recycling was developing. Then along came "green-friendly" merchandise. All of these new technologies and ideas and industries just to return us to exactly the point we started at 100 years ago? But, with the added benefit of profit potential instead of just responsible conservation.

The situation was aggravated when banks got involved with easy credit. People all of a sudden were buying cheaper less durable merchandise on payment plans, and in many cases the merchandise was broken or obsolete before it was even paid off! They were then forced to buy the replacement item on credit, and the debt crisis began to balloon.

The only solution that I see is a total failure of the system and a return to the common sense approach that people had before the Economists and Federal Government got involved and shifted our consumer habits.

Watch the The Story of Stuff video. It is a good start.

reply to post by Hefficide


Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the prices charged for such services are reasonable, they are absolutely scandalous!

$300.00 dollars a month for electricity is ridiculous, I live in a flat here in the UK and pay roughly about £50 for electricity and about the same for water each month.

Out of interest, how much do you pay for your internet/broadband package if you don't midn me asking?

reply to post by getreadyalready


Excellent post my friend and it highlights the points I was trying to make in my rather quickly thrown together article much better and in greater detail.

I'll be sure to check out the video you have posted

Originally posted by Death_Kron
reply to post by Hefficide

 

Out of interest, how much do you pay for your internet/broadband package if you don't midn me asking?

I pay $19.99 a month (plus taxes and the like) for 100 Mbps DSL - that includes WiFi access.

Originally posted by Hefficide

Originally posted by Death_Kron
reply to post by Hefficide

 

Out of interest, how much do you pay for your internet/broadband package if you don't midn me asking?

I pay $19.99 a month (plus taxes and the like) for 100 Mbps DSL - that includes WiFi access.

That's not too bad I suppose, I feel for you with your electricity bill though

reply to post by Death_Kron


I pay $99.99 for the 'triple-play.' Home Phone, Internet, and Cable. By the time they add licensing and taxes and fees, I actually pay about $140 for the 3 services.

On top of that I pay about $180 for cell phone with unlimited data, internet, texting, and roaming for my wife and I.

Electric is about $280 per month in the summer and $200 in the winter. I have a big house with a pool though, so I don't consider the bill to be extreme.

I also pay about $1000 per year for Propane that runs my heater for 3 months. That bill is outrageous and I plan to use more wood-heat this year.

We have a well and a septic tank, so I don't pay for water or sewer. If I was in the city limits, I would pay an additional $100 per month or so for water/sewer/storm drainage.

Recently they added a $60 yearly bill for my fire service, because my little local volunteer fire department borrows equipment from the city department.

I pay about $1500 per year in real estate tax, plus another $500 or so in personal property tax and vehicle licenses.

I pay about 15% in income tax, 7% in social security tax, 3% in medicare tax, 7.5% sales tax, and then there is the cost of all the required insurances that are mandated. They amount to about another $3000 per year.

Lets see how that adds up. I make $31,000 per year. I pay 25% pff the top in taxes. That leaves $23,250. Then about $6200 goes to mandated insurance, taxes, and fees. So that leaves $17,000. then $1000 per year for heating leaves $16,000. Take away electric and I have $13,000 left.

With $13,000 left of my income, I have about $1000 per month to pay for house payment, car payment, cable, cell phones, internet, groceries, clothes, drycleaning, school supplies, gasoline, medical expenses, dog food, and any fun I might want to have. It is impossible to do with a family of 4. I work a second job, I do odd jobs on the side, I rent out a room to a college student, I cut my own wood to limit gas, I parked my truck and I ride a motorcycle to save gas and insurance, I shop at the Goodwill store, I cut my own hair, and the hair of my two boys. Life is ROUGH! But, we get by!

reply to post by getreadyalready


Christ mate! Now, I really do feel sorry for you.

Here's me complaining about the cost of living in the UK, when if it's that bad in the states I honestly have nothing to moan about.

I'd buy you a beer or three but I can't afford the plane ticket

reply to post by Death_Kron


LOL!

Yes, the bills are absolutely ridiculous! I have a pretty nice house, a hybrid Toyota Camry, and 2 smart phones, so a lot of the bills are of my own making. We love the house, and we bought it cheap and fixed it up, so we are planning on keeping it forever. The Toyota is history the first chance I get. I have an old Ford truck that is paid for, and a motorcycle that is paid for, so those are staying. I have been revamping my fireplace to try and make it more efficient at heating the house. Hopefully this will save some propane cost this year. I am planning on slowly converting to 100% solar over the next 1 to 2 years to eliminate my electric bill. It will still cost me probably $200 per month to buy the stuff, but it is inflation proof, so 15 years from now, I'll still be paying off my loan for the solar power at $200 per month, but others will be paying $500 - $600 at inflated utility prices!

Still, a couple of years ago I made the decision to quit my corporate job and go to work for the state government. My income dropped by about 60%!! Now, we struggle with some bills, but I have evenings, weekends, and holidays with my kids and wife, we have friends and family over at the house every weekend, we enjoy the simpler things, and we spend more time outside, or doing free stuff. We have learned a lot about the local parks and events. It has been a wonderful experience and I advise everyone to follow suit! Quit working so hard, just work enough to get by, and spend the rest of your time enjoying the free stuff.....especially family and friends!

Originally posted by getreadyalready
reply to post by Death_Kron

 

LOL!

Yes, the bills are absolutely ridiculous! I have a pretty nice house, a hybrid Toyota Camry, and 2 smart phones, so a lot of the bills are of my own making. We love the house, and we bought it cheap and fixed it up, so we are planning on keeping it forever. The Toyota is history the first chance I get. I have an old Ford truck that is paid for, and a motorcycle that is paid for, so those are staying. I have been revamping my fireplace to try and make it more efficient at heating the house. Hopefully this will save some propane cost this year. I am planning on slowly converting to 100% solar over the next 1 to 2 years to eliminate my electric bill. It will still cost me probably $200 per month to buy the stuff, but it is inflation proof, so 15 years from now, I'll still be paying off my loan for the solar power at $200 per month, but others will be paying $500 - $600 at inflated utility prices!

Still, a couple of years ago I made the decision to quit my corporate job and go to work for the state government. My income dropped by about 60%!! Now, we struggle with some bills, but I have evenings, weekends, and holidays with my kids and wife, we have friends and family over at the house every weekend, we enjoy the simpler things, and we spend more time outside, or doing free stuff. We have learned a lot about the local parks and events. It has been a wonderful experience and I advise everyone to follow suit! Quit working so hard, just work enough to get by, and spend the rest of your time enjoying the free stuff.....especially family and friends!

I applaud you my friend and the bottom part of your post reminded me so much of the thread that was posted on here a couple of days ago about the fishing village and tourist, I'll find the link but I'm sure you've already read the thread.

As you say, money isn't everything and people should definitely spend more time with their loved ones and friends, life is too short.

Well done

I remember as a kid when our refrigerator gave out. The repairman said it was not worth fixing it, cheaper to buy a new one. He was surprised that it was 13 years old and even said they usually only last about ten years, they are made that way. I asked, "What about that fridge from Grandpa's house?" This was one from the fifties, or even older, with a round top and a big latch handle, the kind kids weren't supposed to play in and get locked inside, and it was still running. In fact it is still running to this day! Over fifty years old at least. Newer fridges are made to just give out after a while. There is really no reason to make them this shoddily, there is barely even a cost savings, just the guarantee of future business for the manufacturer.

Everything else is made the same way these days. My car, for example, ran without a hiccup until it turned 100,000 and then suddenly problems started cropping up. Whaddaya know?

You can find antiques that still work perfectly, yet most modern stuff is junk that is just tossed once it gets old. Yup, they don't make em like they used to!

reply to post by CaptChaos


Good example there, it just goes to show that the saying "they don't make em like the used to" is actually very true!

reply to post by CaptChaos


double post

As a veteran computer technician, 24 years experience, I have seen my fair share of computer viruses.
I have seen all sorts, from the easy to remove, to the down near impossible to even FIND.
The tricks and methods of some of the infections require such a deep and profound knowledge of the inner workings of the operating system to where it has made me wonder the same thing.
I wonder...why would someone who has this degree of knowledge and skill, create such a manner of elegant bull# that no one will really appreciate. Why wouldn't they use that skill to write something they could actually SELL and support instead of trying to scam/steal from people?
There is no virus protection that will protect you from everything out there, regardless of what the claims are. Anyone who claims a 100% protection is lying. As far as Windows goes, that is.
Mac on the other hand, the expensive prodigy of Apple, has very few viruses that I know of.
Linux, the free grandfather of Mac, has even fewer. Sure there are all types of exploits in every operating system, but the Microsoft has the lions share of them.

The majority of the infections that I see are caused by porn sites, myspace, or downloading music/torrents.
People have brought in an infected computer along with a brand new copy of some new antivirus they bought whining that it didn't detect it. Hardly any of them detect the majority of what will infect your PC. Usually by the time the virus definitions DO detect whatever has infected your PC, there have been dozens of NEW ones circulating that WON'T be detected.

Thing is, IF there are people hired by AV companies to write viruses, they are mostly overseas. This can be seen in the spelling and grammer of the text used in the virus, if it's not a "stealth" one.

Since moving from the UK to the US (GA) I am shocked at the price of TV and mobile phone bills.

UK TV full package (Sky) 50 pounds - plus broadband is free!
US TV full package (Directtv) over $160

UK Cell phone unlimited (Orange) 60 pounds
US Cell phone unlimited (AT&T) over $120

And the whole using free minutes to receive a call is ridiculous.

One additional thing i have noticed is that my electricity rates go up in the summer and gas rates go up in the winter - noticeably.

hmmm