As part of his campaign to smear Westinghouse's AC standard in favor of his own DC standard, Thomas Edison really did electrocute stray dogs (and an elephant...I swear it's true) to try to demonstrate how dangerous AC was. Ultimately, Westinghouse's alternating current won.

The big winner in the great current wars of the late 19th century: Australia's greatest export, AC/DC.

No, you are wrong.
Simply Put: Exploitation of its workers

Wal-Mart has a proven track record of doing the absolute minimum for it's workers in all cases.
The insurance they offer is a joke. Almost every employee is part time so they don't have to pay benefits. If you miss a shift because you need to work two jobs to get by, they cut your hours down to almost none.

http://www.amazon.ca/How-Walmart-Destroying-America-World/dp/1580086683
http://videosift.com/video/Confessions-of-a-Wal-Mart-Hit-Man
http://videosift.com/video/Mother-of-Dead-Soldier-Sued-by-Wal-Mart-for-Insurance-Money

There is nothing wrong with Capitalism as a model as long as you compensate your workers and reward them fairly for going above and beyond. If the system is designed to squeeze every possible dollar out of the system at the expense of your workers then that system is flawed and exploitative..

>> ^My_design:

Wow, the "free thinkers" lash out.
Not a corporate shill, but work in a corporate environment. Not saying that corporate actions are always right, but you guys only ever want to tear down, and never propose how to fix it. Your own hatred blinds you to reality.
So F_ck Walmart, F_ck Target, F_ck Coke and Pepsi and all the other companies that make "ridiculous" profits at the expense of consumers and employees. Stop buying their crap, form a commune and move to the hills. Consumerism and free market are screwing up the country/planet right? So let's seize corporate profits, block them at every angle and get us back to the good old days, you know before Carnegie, Ford, JP Morgan, and Rockefeller. Hell before Edison while we're at it. Oh wait there has always been corporations doing business in the US. Oh well, enjoy your new life with the Amish.
No options for jobs?
Here's a 160 pages of options just for the 50 miles around Chicago:
http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobResults.aspx?lr=cbcb_ct&siteid=cb_ctnpqsb&use=all&s_rawword
s=Chicago&s_freeloc=Il&s_jobtypes=ALL&uJobsF
oundCount2%3Ajlrd=50&Submit=GO
There are always options. We tend to forget that just 50 years ago people were subsistence farming, living with 3 generations in a household, working 2 jobs, and no health insurance. Hell in some places that is still going on. But now we complain and strike because the manager bullies us and causes unnecessary stress (0:22) If that is really the case, then document it. It is called contributing to a hostile work environment and is covered under the sexual harassment laws in the US.
"Because I'm tired of working at a company where workers get cheated and cheaters get rewarded" What? Umm that would be a class action lawsuit like the ones that hit Walmart in the past.

>> ^My_design:

Wow, the "free thinkers" lash out.
Not a corporate shill, but work in a corporate environment. Not saying that corporate actions are always right, but you guys only ever want to tear down, and never propose how to fix it. Your own hatred blinds you to reality.
So F_ck Walmart, F_ck Target, F_ck Coke and Pepsi and all the other companies that make "ridiculous" profits at the expense of consumers and employees. Stop buying their crap, form a commune and move to the hills. Consumerism and free market are screwing up the country/planet right? So let's seize corporate profits, block them at every angle and get us back to the good old days, you know before Carnegie, Ford, JP Morgan, and Rockefeller. Hell before Edison while we're at it. Oh wait there has always been corporations doing business in the US. Oh well, enjoy your new life with the Amish.
No options for jobs?
Here's a 160 pages of options just for the 50 miles around Chicago:
http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobResults.aspx?lr=cbcb_ct&siteid=cb_ctnpqsb&use=all&s_rawword
s=Chicago&s_freeloc=Il&s_jobtypes=ALL&uJobsF
oundCount2%3Ajlrd=50&Submit=GO
There are always options. We tend to forget that just 50 years ago people were subsistence farming, living with 3 generations in a household, working 2 jobs, and no health insurance. Hell in some places that is still going on. But now we complain and strike because the manager bullies us and causes unnecessary stress (0:22) If that is really the case, then document it. It is called contributing to a hostile work environment and is covered under the sexual harassment laws in the US.
"Because I'm tired of working at a company where workers get cheated and cheaters get rewarded" What? Umm that would be a class action lawsuit like the ones that hit Walmart in the past.


For me it's much simpler. Requires very little thinking through, this hatred for all that Walmmart represents. The worst form of mega-corporate usurping of the individual, of regional infrastructure, local architecture....Walmart has killed the souls of so many small towns and has done it through a systematic cheapening of goods and services. The hydra is self-perpetuating with your help....One of her strongest tentacles is this inbred bitch's legal department working tirelessly to maintain the machine's tactics and contempt for the people who have bought their line and their sub-standard goods from a country that has gone from a fundamentally repressive government with the largest population of any country to one, massive sweatshop PLANETOID of human wage-slaves.

People have been groomed for accepting quantity over quality, convenience over consciousness.
Apologies for the harsh words, glad to hear you have nothing to do with this particular beast-I fucked Coke, Pepsi, Target, etc. years ago...Don't frequent any chain restaurants or purchase new cars either. Shop at thrift stores for clothing and order consumer goods online through "ma and pa" internet businesses.
From America, in America, but not OF America.

Wow, the "free thinkers" lash out.
Not a corporate shill, but work in a corporate environment. Not saying that corporate actions are always right, but you guys only ever want to tear down, and never propose how to fix it. Your own hatred blinds you to reality.
So F_ck Walmart, F_ck Target, F_ck Coke and Pepsi and all the other companies that make "ridiculous" profits at the expense of consumers and employees. Stop buying their crap, form a commune and move to the hills. Consumerism and free market are screwing up the country/planet right? So let's seize corporate profits, block them at every angle and get us back to the good old days, you know before Carnegie, Ford, JP Morgan, and Rockefeller. Hell before Edison while we're at it. Oh wait there has always been corporations doing business in the US. Oh well, enjoy your new life with the Amish.

No options for jobs?
Here's a 160 pages of options just for the 50 miles around Chicago:
http://www.careerbuilder.com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobResults.aspx?lr=cbcb_ct&siteid=cb_ctnpqsb&use=all&s_rawwords=Chicago&s_freeloc=Il&s_jobtypes=ALL&uJobsF
oundCount2%3Ajlrd=50&Submit=GO
There are always options. We tend to forget that just 50 years ago people were subsistence farming, living with 3 generations in a household, working 2 jobs, and no health insurance. Hell in some places that is still going on. But now we complain and strike because the manager bullies us and causes unnecessary stress (0:22) If that is really the case, then document it. It is called contributing to a hostile work environment and is covered under the sexual harassment laws in the US.

"Because I'm tired of working at a company where workers get cheated and cheaters get rewarded" What? Umm that would be a class action lawsuit like the ones that hit Walmart in the past.

It's like Bad Lip Reading.>> ^mikeydamonster:

Alright, the captions for this are so funny it's ridiculous. Some choice "quotes":
"who uh... praise them significant not mit romney yesterday it was an ohio, who's got a new campaign event, but he can't anymore does it doesn't look good so, they totally genius idea, to instead call it, icestorm relief event well all day on install e_l_(?!) gag. now solo."
"i'd love that okay. so let's figure out a way to be created an opportunistic without looking like, and that's all they did so they it's racist signs around they put away the campaign signs Edison long tables."
I pity any deaf person who can't read lips.

Alright, the captions for this are so funny it's ridiculous. Some choice "quotes":

"who uh... praise them significant not mit romney yesterday it was an ohio, who's got a new campaign event, but he can't anymore does it doesn't look good so, they totally genius idea, to instead call it, icestorm relief event well all day on install e_l_(?!) gag. now solo."

"i'd love that okay. so let's figure out a way to be created an opportunistic without looking like, and that's all they did so they it's racist signs around they put away the campaign signs Edison long tables."

I pity any deaf person who can't read lips.

I think it may be partial nonsense, luck always plays a role in everything, that said I do believe he was a skilled leader and a shrewd businessman, but some people act as if Christ just died again.
It's funny how someone could be an abject failure and also be a pompous gasbag and at the end people will remember you as a pompous gasbag, but if you're successful it's as if people will forget all the gasbaggery and you just become someone who was successful. For me, personally, I don't care if they made dollar or a bajillion dollars during their lives, at the end they were still a pompous gasbag.

>> ^xxovercastxx:

>> ^00Scud00:
What is that supposed to mean exactly? When I hear that he was really good at what he did I'm not sure just what it is that I'm supposed to be getting from that statement, am I supposed to respect him for that? Charles Manson was really good at getting other people to commit murder for him, should he get my respect too? After hearing more about Edison I think that it's a pretty good comparison, they both hired a lot of smart people to work for them and then they both took all the credit for themselves, although it's probably partially our own fault as well, as a society we do love putting people on pedestals.

My only point is that all the arguments that amount to him being in the right place at the right time, as if he had nothing to do with his or Apple's success and just stumbled into a pile of talent and went along for the ride, are nonsense.
Watch something like Triumph of the Nerds and you'll see those supposedly exploited Apple employees praising him for bringing out their best. Was he a pompous gasbag? Yes. Did he have a way of inspiring and driving people to new heights? You bet your fucking ass, he did.
You don't have to respect him but to pretend that being a leader like Jobs isn't a skill... well, if it's not, why aren't you surrounded by geniuses who make you rich?

>> ^00Scud00:

>> ^xxovercastxx:
dark comedy
Steve Jobs knew how to get the most out of people. He knew how to inspire people. He knew how to manage and utilize people for maximum benefit. He knew when to steal an idea and how to make it work. He was not an inventor; he was a cunning and ruthless business leader and people love and hate him for it.
Anyone who says Steve Jobs was "just" anything is a fool. You may hate what he did, but he was damn good at it.

What is that supposed to mean exactly? When I hear that he was really good at what he did I'm not sure just what it is that I'm supposed to be getting from that statement, am I supposed to respect him for that? Charles Manson was really good at getting other people to commit murder for him, should he get my respect too? After hearing more about Edison I think that it's a pretty good comparison, they both hired a lot of smart people to work for them and then they both took all the credit for themselves, although it's probably partially our own fault as well, as a society we do love putting people on pedestals.


My only point is that all the arguments that amount to him being in the right place at the right time, as if he had nothing to do with his or Apple's success and just stumbled into a pile of talent and went along for the ride, are nonsense.

Watch something like Triumph of the Nerds and you'll see those supposedly exploited Apple employees praising him for bringing out their best. Was he a pompous gasbag? Yes. Did he have a way of inspiring and driving people to new heights? You bet your fucking ass, he did.

You don't have to respect him but to pretend that being a leader like Jobs isn't a skill... well, if it's not, why aren't you surrounded by geniuses who make you rich?

Would you like some milk with your oatmeal?
>> ^LiquidDrift:

He IS a modern Edison.
Edison was an asshole, he rounded up animals and publicly electrocuted them to show that the competing alternating current that Tesla was promoting was dangerous compared to direct-current that he was promoting. Among other douchy things he did.

>> ^xxovercastxx:

dark comedy
Steve Jobs knew how to get the most out of people. He knew how to inspire people. He knew how to manage and utilize people for maximum benefit. He knew when to steal an idea and how to make it work. He was not an inventor; he was a cunning and ruthless business leader and people love and hate him for it.
Anyone who says Steve Jobs was "just" anything is a fool. You may hate what he did, but he was damn good at it.

What is that supposed to mean exactly? When I hear that he was really good at what he did I'm not sure just what it is that I'm supposed to be getting from that statement, am I supposed to respect him for that? Charles Manson was really good at getting other people to commit murder for him, should he get my respect too? After hearing more about Edison I think that it's a pretty good comparison, they both hired a lot of smart people to work for them and then they both took all the credit for themselves, although it's probably partially our own fault as well, as a society we do love putting people on pedestals.

He IS a modern Edison.

Edison was an asshole, he rounded up animals and publicly electrocuted them to show that the competing alternating current that Tesla was promoting was dangerous compared to direct-current that he was promoting. Among other douchy things he did.

Steve Jobs the modern day Edison...!

P.S. I have an Iphone...

Sorry, I just saw your post today!

Ron Popeil. Invented the Pocket Fisherman.


In reply to this comment by dag:
Just as a thought experiment - can you name one who was well thought of as an all-around nice guy? Edison was an asshole. I've heard that Da Vinci was a real prick.>> ^quantumushroom:

But do geniuses need to be assholes?
No. No they don't.

Ron Popeil. Invented the Pocket Fisherman.

>> ^dag:

Just as a thought experiment - can you name one who was well thought of as an all-around nice guy? Edison was an asshole. I've heard that Da Vinci was a real prick.>> ^quantumushroom:
But do geniuses need to be assholes?
No. No they don't.

you're probably right... i made a longer list initially and realized it was entirely composed of writers. i couldn't decide if it's because those are the people i've paid the most attention to in my life or if its because the nature of success is so incredibly different for a writer than a ceo. >> ^dag:

Maybe it's only the inventors. Da Vinci, Edison and Jobs fit that bill. Deep thinkers and pure artists are pretty different. >> ^peggedbea:
I'm pretty sure kurt vonnegut was at least reasonably kind. He wrote so many books about the value of human kindness.
crispin glover is also unabashedly sensitive and kind and contains all the charm of someone who is not at all charming until they're speaking about something they love. i guess you could argue that he is not a genius, but then i would just tell you to attend a viewing for one of his insane art house films and stick around for the three hour Q&A he'll host when it's finished. genius.
oh i bet neil degrasse tyson is only slightly prickish, and only in the kindest most charming of ways.
>> ^dag:
Just as a thought experiment - can you name one who was well thought of as an all-around nice guy? Edison was an asshole. I've heard that Da Vinci was a real prick.>> ^quantumushroom:
But do geniuses need to be assholes?
No. No they don't.