Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="vantexan" data-source="post: 3511918" data-attributes="member: 24302"><p>I lived for a year in Salida, Colorado, which sits on the Upper Arkansas River, the biggest whitewater rafting river in the country.&nbsp; They never lack for workers at dozens of rafting companies.&nbsp; Why?&nbsp; Because the people who do it are like ski bums who work ski resorts every winter.&nbsp; They&#039;re in love with the sport, the atmosphere, the camaraderie.&nbsp; You boil everything down to dollars and cents but a lot of times there&#039;s much more to it.&nbsp; Someone put up the capital, risked their money, to make it possible for a limited time every year for others to enjoy a fun sport.&nbsp; Take the safety equipment out of it, take the vans who transport rafters to and from, take away the big, stable rafts, and you are left with people risking their necks for some quick thrills.&nbsp; Rag on capitalism all you want, but your way ultimately leads to the kind of equality where most of us have nothing much, just sit around existing.&nbsp; It&#039;s the drive to profit that gives us choices.&nbsp; It&#039;s not always fair but I&#039;d rather walk into a supermarket full of choices than line up in hopes of scoring a piece of a cheese shipment rumored to have just come in.&nbsp; I&#039;m in a former Soviet Republic where, a local told me yesterday, they didn&#039;t have anything 20 years ago.&nbsp; Now there are nice cars everywhere, stores and restaurants, malls full of western merchandise.&nbsp; And they are a happy people.&nbsp; But salaries are very low.&nbsp; Come over here and rant and rave about how they&#039;re being exploited.&nbsp; They&#039;d laugh at you.</p></blockquote><p></p>

[QUOTE="vantexan, post: 3511918, member: 24302"] I lived for a year in Salida, Colorado, which sits on the Upper Arkansas River, the biggest whitewater rafting river in the country. They never lack for workers at dozens of rafting companies. Why? Because the people who do it are like ski bums who work ski resorts every winter. They're in love with the sport, the atmosphere, the camaraderie. You boil everything down to dollars and cents but a lot of times there's much more to it. Someone put up the capital, risked their money, to make it possible for a limited time every year for others to enjoy a fun sport. Take the safety equipment out of it, take the vans who transport rafters to and from, take away the big, stable rafts, and you are left with people risking their necks for some quick thrills. Rag on capitalism all you want, but your way ultimately leads to the kind of equality where most of us have nothing much, just sit around existing. It's the drive to profit that gives us choices. It's not always fair but I'd rather walk into a supermarket full of choices than line up in hopes of scoring a piece of a cheese shipment rumored to have just come in. I'm in a former Soviet Republic where, a local told me yesterday, they didn't have anything 20 years ago. Now there are nice cars everywhere, stores and restaurants, malls full of western merchandise. And they are a happy people. But salaries are very low. Come over here and rant and rave about how they're being exploited. They'd laugh at you. [/QUOTE]

Verification