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Post by impulse on May 24, 2021 12:54:29 GMT -5
It's tricky, too, because it becomes very difficult to find a business without some link to someone or something I disagree with, particularly with big corporations. How far do you logically take that goal?
I try to keep it to how awful the idea is and how in your face they are with it. It's like trying to separate the art from the artist. I try to do so to a reasonable point, but there are limits.
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Post by tartanphantom on May 24, 2021 13:00:15 GMT -5
I don't give a flying fish about a seller's politics-- either Buddy or Chuck or anyone else-- If you're selling and I'm buying, all I care about is the deal you're going to give me, or how bad you're going to gouge me. That may sound quite mercenary, but these are freakin' comics, not WMD's. Who you buy from is your business and nobody else's. Depends. If it's a small-time dealer, then sure. But if Lonestar Comics is contributing to political action campaigns, I don't want my purchases contributing to that. Same reason I won't eat at Chick-Fil-A.
Like I said-- that is entirely your business based your personal choices. I respect that. The only real economic voice you have are your own personal front-end purchases. After your dollars re-enter the general economic pool by way of a transaction, the control of choice is no longer yours. I make similar decisions as well, but they are more often based on personal, economic or service experience than political or principled ideology. In other words, if I have a personal experience of poor service, monopolistic pricing, or a disregard for customer care (e.g. warranties that aren't worth the paper they're printed on), I'll usually take a hard pass on doing business with them.
However, that is of no consequence to yourself. You do what is right for Shaxper, not what someone else thinks you should do.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on May 24, 2021 13:22:57 GMT -5
Depends. If it's a small-time dealer, then sure. But if Lonestar Comics is contributing to political action campaigns, I don't want my purchases contributing to that. Same reason I won't eat at Chick-Fil-A. Like I said-- that is entirely your business based your personal choices. I respect that. The only real economic voice you have are your own personal front-end purchases. After your dollars re-enter the general economic pool by way of a transaction, the control of choice is no longer yours. I make similar decisions as well, but they are more often based on personal, economic or service experience than political or principled ideology. In other words, if I have a personal experience of poor service, monopolistic pricing, or a disregard for customer care (e.g. warranties that aren't worth the paper they're printed on), I'll usually take a hard pass on doing business with them.
However, that is of no consequence to yourself. You do what is right for Shaxper, not what someone else thinks you should do.
Yes, yes. Everyone should do what is right for shaxper... |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on May 24, 2021 13:25:29 GMT -5
It's tricky, too, because it becomes very difficult to find a business without some link to someone or something I disagree with, particularly with big corporations. How far do you logically take that goal? I have no problem making a financial transaction with someone who believes in different things than I do. I think I'd be an ass if I didn't. And if that person is making small financial contributions to politicians and causes I disagree with, they would probably make those same contributions with or without my business. But the bigger guys, kicking bigger amounts of money to their causes of choice are able to do so because of their customers. If I know a dealer or company is making those kinds of contributions, I won't do business with them. So long as money = power in politics, I intend to exercise some level of control over where my power goes. |
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Post by tartanphantom on May 24, 2021 13:27:31 GMT -5
Like I said-- that is entirely your business based your personal choices. I respect that. The only real economic voice you have are your own personal front-end purchases. After your dollars re-enter the general economic pool by way of a transaction, the control of choice is no longer yours. I make similar decisions as well, but they are more often based on personal, economic or service experience than political or principled ideology. In other words, if I have a personal experience of poor service, monopolistic pricing, or a disregard for customer care (e.g. warranties that aren't worth the paper they're printed on), I'll usually take a hard pass on doing business with them.
However, that is of no consequence to yourself. You do what is right for Shaxper, not what someone else thinks you should do.
Yes, yes. Everyone should do what is right for shaxper...
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2021 13:33:32 GMT -5
It's always a tough call deciding what and who to support and who not to in regards to opposing ideologies and beliefs. I no longer go to conventions organized by Jeff Harper for a few reasons, he not only supports causes I disagree with, which would be find, but he went on a couple of social media rants disparaging the opposite view calling any who held them idiots not deserving to be alive and then insulting some of the creators who supported said opposing views, and when those artists pulled out of his shows and several vendors cancelled their tables in a boycott, he tried to delete the social media posts and he whined he was being persecuted because of the views he held and that "they" were trying to cancel him. It's a shame, they were good shows with a lot of good vendors, but if you tell people they're too stupid to live you shouldn't expect them to continue to patronize your business. He can support who he likes, but when he starts insulting his clientele and clients, you've lost my business. But that's my choice and I don't expect any one else to make the same choice based on my personal views.
-M
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Post by majestic on May 24, 2021 13:37:01 GMT -5
"based on personal, economic or service experience than political or principled ideology"
Same here. For me life is too short to waste time "worrying" about whether or not someone I do business with has the same beliefs as me. If they provide good service that I like then that's OK with me.
If I didn't live this way I would be in jail because I wouldn't pay taxes since I disagree with the way the government spends my tax dollars.
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Post by tartanphantom on May 24, 2021 13:40:36 GMT -5
It's always a tough call deciding what and who to support and who not to in regards to opposing ideologies and beliefs. I no longer go to conventions organized by Jeff Harper for a few reasons, he not only supports causes I disagree with, which would be find, but he went on a couple of social media rants disparaging the opposite view calling any who held them idiots not deserving to be alive and then insulting some of the creators who supported said opposing views, and when those artists pulled out of his shows and several vendors cancelled their tables in a boycott, he tried to delete the social media posts and he whined he was being persecuted because of the views he held and that "they" were trying to cancel him. It's a shame, they were good shows with a lot of good vendors, but if you tell people they're too stupid to live you shouldn't expect them to continue to patronize your business. He can support who he likes, but when he starts insulting his clientele and clients, you've lost my business. But that's my choice and I don't expect any one else to make the same choice based on my personal views. -M
Anyone who purposely insults, berates or otherwise belittles their own clientele, whether directly or obliquely (backhanded), doesn't know or care much for the sustainability of their own business. As a result, they are fully due whatever economic consequences they experience from such actions.
Unfortunately, people of all ideologies, creeds and nations continue to do this. It's not isolated to one group or another. A-Holes seem to infiltrate every tribe known to man. The problems arise when we punish an entire group based on the actions of certain outliers. But then again, that has been a social dilemma since the dawn of "civilization", and I don't expect that it will ever change.
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on May 24, 2021 14:22:32 GMT -5
I always think that if you're running a business -- especially a small business -- it is the savvy thing to do to appear to be completely politically neutral (and neutral on any other divisive subject in society too).
Myself, I'm a self-employed musician and I also run multiple open mic nights, so I'm always wanting to attract the maximum number of people to my shows/events. For that reason, I never post anything political on my FB page and I will never get drawn into political discussions while I'm working. People can get awfully funny about politics and I would hate to think that something I said would make even one person think twice before attending one of my events.
To be honest, I sort of wrestled with this for a while, but I don't think keeping quiet is necessarily "selling out". I'm plenty outspoken on a whole host of subjects with my friends, but ultimately, I'm running a business and I need to act professionally when I'm working.
EDIT: That said, I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't care what my politics are one way of the other, but you never can tell. I err on the side of caution.
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Post by impulse on May 24, 2021 15:29:07 GMT -5
I always think that if you're running a business -- especially a small business -- it is the savvy thing to do to appear to be completely politically neutral (and neutral on any other divisive subject in society too).
I'm running a business and I need to act professionally when I'm working. Words of wisdom. I absolutely conduct myself differently at work than with my friends, for example, and even differently depending on who I am talking to at work. Too many people feel entitled to be their unfiltered true self at all times regardless of context. Yeah, there is a balance somewhere. On the one hand, I don't need to make sure everyone I buy anything from 100% agrees with everything I say or do. On the other hand, I can understand why someone would have a hard time buying ham sandwiches from, say, John's Ham Sandwich shop when John is a well-known and vocal supporter of the "I hate impulse club" and donates a lot of money to them. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on May 24, 2021 19:33:38 GMT -5
Wow, I never had any idea that would be a three page discussion! I rarely worry about things like that (I did, in fact, recently buy from Lone Star), but Chick-fil-a is an exception. I also don't think I'll ever buy a My Pillow again either (even though they are pretty good pillows).
Most business people are smart enough to not mix business and politics, because, as MJ said 'Republicans buy sneakers too', and if they do, I'm happy to let them do their thing. Doing otherwise MAY make you slightly more appealing to your chosen side, but why would you limit your market by 1/2 (more or less).
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Post by tartanphantom on May 24, 2021 19:43:24 GMT -5
Wow, I never had any idea that would be a three page discussion! I'm just thankful that it hasn't turned into a vitriolic partisan dumpster fire-- I think that speaks to the level-headed reason and and open-minded ability of most members to discuss while respecting differences of opinion. Most business people are smart enough to not mix business and politics, because, as MJ said 'Republicans buy sneakers too', and if they do, I'm happy to let them do their thing. Doing otherwise MAY make you slightly more appealing to your chosen side, but why would you limit your market by 1/2 (more or less). This applies to every single business venture that truly wants to succeed, regardless of the political leanings (left, middle, right) of proprietor, president or CEO. If you're not trying to reach ALL possible customers, then it probably means that social brownie points are more important than sales... not a very good strategy for a business that's supposed to make money-- and you're probably better off operating as some type of non-profit entity. And, there's nothing at all wrong with that; if it's your real goal.
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The Captain
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Post by The Captain on May 24, 2021 20:24:25 GMT -5
THREE RIVERS COMICON REPORT:
As mentioned a few pages ago before things got somewhat political, yet everyone managed to keep things civil, I took my two daughters to the stripped-down, outdoors Three Rivers Comicon on Saturday. This show is usually a much bigger affair, but with the pandemic not quite over yet, the host store, New Dimension Comics, elected to hold the show outside in the parking lot of the large open-air mall where one of their stores is located.
We headed out right around 11:30 on Saturday morning to get there when the "doors" opened at noon, and we couldn't have had a better day for it. Yeah, it was a little on the warm side, with some humidity, but there was some breeze throughout the afternoon and it didn't rain, so that's a win for Pittsburgh in May.
We elected to walk the entire length of the show first to get a lay of the land and see what we might be interested in checking out further (and spending money on), which took about 30 minutes or so while sort of poking our heads into all of the various tents and booths that were set up. From the outset, it was apparent that this show was light on comics and heavier on toys and pop culture stuff, as well as a good number of crafts dealers and local artists, but no real industry names like previous shows (one guy, whose name escapes me, had done some work for Marvel in the late 80s/early 90s on books like Nick Fury and MCP, but he was about it).
I posted my comics purchases over in the usual place, and I will say that my prediction that my daughters would spend more money that I did was completely wrong. They each got a Perler-bead magnet from one of the craft booths (my younger one got one that looked like Snow White, because of her obsession with the TV show Once Upon A Time, while my older one got the Water Tribe symbol from Avatar: The Last Airbender). From one of the local artists, my older daughter got a Kylo Ren print, and they both picked up some Lego Mini-Figures from a dealer that had THOUSANDS of them in all different styles.
Highlights:
1. There was a guy cosplaying as Winter Soldier (it was pretty good), and my older daughter kept trying to get the younger one to go up to him and ask him "how much for the arm" (ala Rocket in Infinity War). She wouldn't, so my older daughter texted the younger one's best friend (who lives in the Bahamas now) about it, and all she sent to my younger one was a text that said "Man up and do it!" She didn't.
2. My younger one saw her first Furry in person, to which she stated rather matter of factly: "I'm scarred".
3. The both of them were also a little traumatized by a...Rubenesque...woman in some kind of bumblebee costume that had approximately 75% of her rear end hanging out, as well as a Black Widow in movie costume who was roughly three Scarlet Johanssons, and a pirate girl in leather pants with quite ample booty. While they appreciated that these women were comfortable enough to go out in public like that, they were also a little bit "yeah, but should they" about it.
4. They learned that if both of them go to a show with me, they can hang out together and check out other booths while I scour my way through the comic boxes. I think I may have my new partners in crime for these kinds of things.
It was a great time and we are looking forward to our next opportunity to do one of these, hopefully later this year and indoors at a larger event.
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Post by majestic on May 24, 2021 20:34:50 GMT -5
Enjoy this time in your life Richard. It will go by so fast. I remember the same experiences with my daughters.
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Post by majestic on May 24, 2021 20:39:47 GMT -5
I don't think companies should take a political position. My workplace discouraged it for years but new leadership has embraced it. And it ticks off some of the clients. I refuse to take a stance at work even if I agree with it. It's not the place for it. Like someone said you chance alienating half of those you need business from to survive.
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