Why are small businesses considered morally superior to large corporations?

[presence]

So, you're protesting tax breaks?

Quit feeling entitled to others money and get a job.

I'm just fine. Everything I make is performance based executive pay. Worst case scenario I can McResource!

[mad cow]

That depends on the sort of business. It doesn't just take "success" to become a mega-corporation. It takes being able to scale and replicate the model across a variety of franchises, which isn't easy to do with some kinds of foods.

Incidentally, I don't think anyone is going to argue that KFC is better now than it was a few dozen years ago.

I have to agree with you there.I much prefer Bojangles,Church's or Popeye's which incidentally all also started out as Mom & Pop operations.

[heavenlyboy34]

The left wing strain of the Ron Paul forum rears its ugly head! What about the economies of scale of large businesses? Accumulation of capital? You think mom and pop stores can make the computer you're using? The car you're driving? The food you're eating? The HD TV you're watching? Yes, some large companies are in bed with govt but that's strictly the fault of govt. If the govt offers special favors and you don't take advantage of them you'll be at a competive disadvantage. Besides, the "advantages" of being a large corporation are way overrated. If you're a big company you've got a bullseye on your head. Look at the tax rates and discrimination lawsuits. If you look at all the corporate taxes paid to govt vs the profits the owners get to keep, it's like than 9 to 1.

Any of you guys old enough to remember when we didn't have Lowes or Home Depot? The local hardware store hours were M thru F 8-5, Sat from 10-2 if you're lucky and closed on Sunday. It sucked royally if you had a day job, when you were off they were closed. Then came Home Depot and Lowes, lower prices and better hours. What was the mom and pop's reaction? Anti trust lawsuits against the big companies.

I rather like the "leftys". They keep the "righty" nut-jobs more or less in check.

[pessimist]

I wanna start a moderately successful small business, only to be bought out by some soul crushing, monopolistic, psychopathic mega-corporation for hundreds of millions. It's every little guys dream.

[NorthCarolinaLiberty]

It's your thread, so I'll throw in my comments.

What about the economies of scale of large businesses?

Economies of scale can be a tradeoff.

You think mom and pop stores... can make...the food you're eating?

Food is one area where local joints or the small guy can easily eclipse big biz. I buy raw cheese from an Amish guy in Indiana. We talk on the phone and he tells me about his operation. His product reflects that. Best value for the money I've ever had.
I buy beef from my neighbor. I observe his cows from my window. I can observe them when they walk right up to me at the property fence. I see exactly what they eat and how they behave. If you buy a whole cow, then his beef is far, far cheaper than anything in the store. I also eat the beef raw, but really would not do that with anything from the store.
We go to several local u-pick orchards. You can't beat the quality and price of the apples. We buy raw milk from a local Amish guy. Can't do that in the store.

If you're a big company you've got a bullseye on your head. Look at the...discrimination lawsuits.

I totally agree, but that is true of any entity. People, in general, will go after the people with the bucks. Families especially.

Then came Home Depot and Lowes, lower prices and better hours.

The big misconception is that any of these mega stores have lower prices. Volume does not always translate into a better buy. I once bought a box of nails at a local hardware store for $17. The exact same box sold at Lowe's for $25. I buy my lawnmower oil and filters at the local lawn mower dealer. Much cheaper than Lowes.
You also have to look at quality. Walmart is not lower than other stores, at least for the items I buy. If they are lower, then they have lower quality. The avocados from Peru are nowhere near the quality of Mexico, or even California. There was a big run on the Altafo mangos two years ago. Everybody had them on sale. Food Lion and Walmart had them for the same price, but the Food Lion mangos weighed 3-4 ounces more than the Walmart mangos.

The tradeoff (for me) on large stores is that I much prefer their return policy. Aldi just changed their policy. There is now no time limit for returns. It's 90 days for Lowes. Also, the big chains will usually not question your return. A mom and pop is more likely to decline, at least in my experience.

Consumer shopping is about seeking the best value, wherever that might be.

[Carlybee]

You won't find any because nobody in their right mind would start a large business without incorporating. It's a product of our legal system and tax codes/regulations that businesses can't be big without becoming incorporated anymore.

And if you don't incorporate you can be held personally liable if your company gets sued.

[fr33]

Corporations get special privileges from the government and the individuals running them aren't responsible for the actions of the corporation thanks to limitation of liability. As a result corporations often do very bad things.

As a small business owner, I'd be a damned fool to not incorporate. Corporations are the boogie man to people that never strive to become their own boss.

[fr33]

You do not have to be a McDonalds or WalMart to become a corporation.

[kylejack]

As a small business owner, I'd be a damned fool to not incorporate. Corporations are the boogie man to people that never strive to become their own boss.

I didn't say all corporations are wicked. But as a general rule they tend to be more amoral because the owners aren't exposed to personal liability for the actions of the corporation.

[John F Kennedy III]

I would go to McDonalds. Much more reliable.

I <3 big business.

I'd say less chance of food poisoning than a random local place but worse quality food.

[Rothbardian Girl]

So, you're protesting tax breaks?

Quit feeling entitled to others money and get a job.

Tax breaks aren't anti-market by themselves, but firms that receive them benefit from state coercion directed against other firms - to that end, they really do have the state to thank for their success instead of the market.

Principled people generally consider corporations to be worse because a truly free market with genuine competition would rip apart the modus operandi of many current corporations. Competition pushes salaries upward and prices downward, and firms competing in such a market would have no guarantee of permanency, meaning they would be under constant pressure to innovate and satisfy the ever-changing preferences of consumers. Given all of this, it is no surprise that many features of the regulatory state were emphatically lobbied for by corporations (for a good history of this occurring during the Gilded Age, I recommend Gabriel Kolko's The Triumph of Conservatism.

As for some larger corporations like the ubiquitous example of Walmart - I feel as though people sometimes overlook the fact that one of the main reasons consumers get to enjoy Walmart's "cheap" prices is because they have already subsidized Walmart's transaction costs through their tax funding of highways. Walmart's costs of shipping are socialized in this way, which is yet another advantage they enjoy over the mom-and-pop competitor.

Of course people will often give lousy reasons for opposing corporations, and these arguments annoy me as well, but there are perfectly legitimate, anti-statist reasons to despise corporate power. Libertarianism doesn't need to imply apologism for big business.

[euphemia]

Local businesses are not immune from corruption. I've known some local businesses to be very much in bed with local and state government. They have the power to get laws made or changed, or have officials look the other way when there are abuses of health and safety standards. There is no recourse for a customer, because once you get to the top, you are at the top. At McDonalds, for example, there is always someone higher up who can address the situation.

If dollars have ethics, the buyer should do his homework and make sure the business is on the up and up.