West Seattle Blog...

WSB Forum » Open Discussion

1. dhg
   Member Profile

   

   Since we're all discussing national issues such as Tea-Bagging, I thought I'd throw one of my big concerns: the loss or diminishment of Northwest businesses. I think the feds handed Washington Mutual to east coast Chase Bank on a silver platter. Safeco is gone. There's a rumor that one major coffee chain is poised to be purchased by Yum Foods. Each time we lose a major local business, we lose jobs, we lose community re-investments, we lose contributions to the arts and non-profits. When I create a list of business that have been sold or moved from the Northwest in the past 30 years, it is long and alarming.
   I also think that the infamous lawsuit against Microsoft for being a monopoly was really just a power grab. Microsoft is far from being a monopoly. You can buy a Mac, you can Linux or even Sun. The problem was not that Microsoft was a monopoly, the problem was that it was a multi-billion dollar company that was not paying politicians. The east coast saw the wealth and made their move to get some. Microsoft has learned that it needs lobbyists and it needs to pay politicians or more lawsuits would follow. It is bald corruption and it costs us plenty.

   Posted 3 years ago #         

2. JoB
   Member Profile

   dhg...

   i have to disagree about microsoft.. if they didn't practice monopolistic practices, they certainly verged on them...

   but yes, they do have their lobbyists now which makes me like them less...

   just as like costco less after finding out they were actively lobbying against allowing unions to organize publicly at workplaces...

   aside from that, i share your concerns about NW companies...

   Posted 3 years ago #         

3. homedk
   Member Profile

   I also don’t agree with the original comments about Microsoft. For many years it seemed like the politicians & the media looked the other way at Microsoft’s behavior, even when calling out other companies for the same thing. Two examples are with regard to layoffs & with regard to the outsourcing of jobs.

   Microsoft is acknowledging layoffs this year & the impression most people have is that these are the first layoffs they have had. That isn’t the case. As well, Microsoft has done their part to ship many jobs overseas.

   Posted 3 years ago #         

4. EmmyJane
   Member Profile

   

   I disagree about Microsoft, but share your opinions on the rest. Its sad to see it all go. Weyerhauser is downsizing significantly also (becoming a REIT???)

   I'm a product of the WaMu "sale" (hahahahaha) and let me just tell everyone how hard it is to find a job right now. Sad times but I hope we all learn to scale back a bit from it. We've all been "entitled" to a lot of luxuries and have gotten used to a lifestyle that's just not sustainable. Back to reality.

   Posted 3 years ago #         

RSS feed for this topic

Reply

You must log in to post.