What is Digg?376 Comments
- davidjcrouch, on 10/10/2007, -9/+128The really sad thing about these government-business partnerships is that capitalism and/or the profit motive always seems to get the blame for these type of arrangements.
Nothing could be further from the truth as it is the illegitimate use of government power via corrupt politicians and rent-seeking business interests that makes these arrangements possible.
None of this would be possible in a purely capitalistic economy where government is relegated to protecting individuals and their property from force and fraud. - bartscott57, on 10/10/2007, -2/+82We need to repeal the sugar tariffs. What reason is there for us to provide welfare to corn growers at the expense of the public (and the "common good")?
- ian87, on 10/10/2007, -0/+59This isn't about whether or not to buy Jones soda. Buy it, it's good.
While you're in the store take a look at every American snack product you enjoy daily. Nearly every cookie and candy
bar, soda and potato chip, and so on and so on has high fructose corn syrup. It's wild how prevalent it is.
Check out Newman's snack products, they don't use corn syrup, are tasty, and Newman gives $ to charity. - skiCO, on 10/10/2007, -0/+53Did anyone else notice that the author is in High School?
- drxavier, on 10/10/2007, -3/+49Now we know why ADM, a company that doesn't market anything directly to consumers, buys all that "image" advertising on the Sunday morning chat shows. ADM's "market" is the decision-makers who appear on these shows and make policy. Plus, it doesn't hurt to pay off the media.
- CurtHowland, on 10/10/2007, -3/+47I just got back from a run to the grocery store. I wish I'd read this article before going. Oh well, Jones will have to wait for my purchase until tomorrow or the day after.
http://www.jonessoda.com/ - Punch405, on 10/10/2007, -2/+40Jones, the only soda that has "Pea" flavor.
/comes with the Thanksgiving pack
//no, really - kaelspencer, on 10/10/2007, -6/+41Agreed. And most people are aware that there is a problem, yet they believe that government would be the solution.
- GRANDPAMUNSTER, on 06/11/2009, -0/+33I try to stay away from anything with high fructose corn syrup listed as one of the first two ingredients.
- MrUnderbridge, on 10/10/2007, -1/+32Wow. With that sort of reasoned analysis and lucid writing, he certainly has no future as a journalist. ;)
- DangerCollie, on 10/10/2007, -0/+31It's more than just ADM. The US sugar industry has an aggressive and well-funded lobby. Always on the offensive, never playing defense is their motto. Several states have significant sugar industry involvement and every interest in protecting that market. The sugar industry and ADM just happen to have similar interests.
The concept of free markets is pretty much a joke these days. If John Q. needs health insurance or assistance getting food it's labeled welfare. If the big three investment firms need low interest loans to cover their losses in the subprime mortgage follies, that's a "reasoned and sensible response" from the fed. It just depends who's asking for the handout. New Orleans languishes, the airlines get a bailout after 9-11. The airlines didn't have the liquidity to stay in business after a disaster interrupted air travel. Their lack of a rainy day fund became the taxpayers problem to solve. Millions of people who took the promise of a pension in exchange for lower pay watched those promises shrink when companies default on their pension obligations and dump them on the federal government.
What just boggles my mind is the religious right aligning their interests with those of big business and the rich to perpetuate the fraud we think of as open markets.
Got apostasy you two-faced hypocrites? - mookiemookie, on 10/10/2007, -1/+30Read "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan and you'll see just how pervasive corn and corn based products are in our society today, and just how scummy ADM and Cargill really are. You can thank the Nixon administration for that.
Oh yeah, and Jones soda is friggin GREAT. - pegleg1971, on 10/10/2007, -2/+29The article is exceptionally well written, especially for a high schooler. Fantastic!
- CurtHowland, on 10/10/2007, -2/+27> What reason is there...
Campaign contributions. - bratpack8, on 10/10/2007, -6/+30Nailed it on the head! Free-markets this is not, yet free-markets and capitalism is what gets blamed. I always try and ask people if Wal-Mart, Coke, McDonald's or Nike can force anyone to buy their product or work for them? Of course this is no, but because of these regulations, tariffs and other forms of protectionism, we lean in their directions because they cost less (most of the time).
- CurtHowland, on 10/10/2007, -8/+30Yep, it's chronic. People call for government to "solve" the problem, yet they never look close enough to notice that government caused the problem in the first place.
It's like blaming the "free market" for inflation. But....government _prints_the_money_. How can that possibly be blamed upon a "free market"? Or how the Federal Reserve is justified by its ability to prevent recessions and depressions, yet the really nasty depressions have only occurred _since_ the Federal Reserved was established.
It's like trying to argue with the tide. Just too many people pushed along only by what they were force-fed in government-run public school. - manicallday, on 10/10/2007, -1/+22I just found out that my wife was suffering from aspartame poisoning, which was ruining our lives. Although this is a chemical is known to cause numerous amount of symptoms, it was still approved by the FDA. The problem is that the FDA selects only those studies which give favorable reviews for aspartame, which all happen to be corporate funded. The FDA even admitted that the ***** has a possible of 92 side effects from normal consumption. But, they still allow corporations to use the crap in almost everything that they possibly can think of.
So now after 10 years of trying to figure out what was wrong with my wife I was finally able to determine the culprit. The symptoms were just so numerous, that most doctors that she saw were just stumped. I honestly feel that we would have been better off without the FDA involvement because their decision made the other studies that disputed their findings seem unreliable. This is not how this should work.
- sweetrelease, on 10/10/2007, -3/+24Hey there's Political commentary in my fun soda article
- flatspunk, on 10/10/2007, -5/+23Microsoft does well for many reasons. It is primarily argued they do so well because of their Office suite that penetrated the business world so well. But your question is irrelevant. Businesses (whether you like them or not) fail and succeed for a variety of reasons.
As far as "what corporate interestes have done to our system of government" -- I gotta say I think you're blaming the wrong people. Government/politicians are the ones with the power to give away. Yes, some corporations take advantage of it -- but the power is not theirs to begin with. If you limit the power that the government has, then the special benefits/interests would be hurt. But corporations certainly aren't the only special interests who pay politicians to help them out. There are a lot of groups (lawyers, unions, non profits, clubs like the NRA) out there stuffing money in pockets -- but there is no one out there trying to stop them. There are no incentives for the politicians to stop taking the money either.
Yes some corporations have ***** things up, but there's a lot of blame to go around, and they certainly aren't the root cause of the problem. - bremstrong, on 10/10/2007, -0/+17Impressive since it isn't immediately obvious is the implication.
- vulapine, on 10/10/2007, -0/+17Don't forget the benefit to domestic sugar growers. A guarantee that you can undersell your foreign competitors is a sweet deal.
- sportbikepilot, on 10/10/2007, -1/+16Strawberry Lime FTW!
- airiox, on 10/10/2007, -4/+18Sweet, I will have to go and buy the new jones soda and see how it tastes in my adventures today.
Also the underlying point of the article was that corn syrup makes you fat. Nothing could be more direct to the truth than that. There is a reason why the expression "corn fed" exists. Corn is a great product but in excess it will cause you to gain weight, and when it is refined into this syrup form, instead of the benificial muscle gains, you will just add fat. - Dumbledorito, on 10/10/2007, -11/+24Uh, who do you think pulls this crap using the government as a tool? That's right: Business interests. So-called "government regulation" is a shout in a hurricane compared to what corporate interests have done to our system of government and laws. Not to mention that a whole lot of "business good, government bad" types have this utopian delusion that large amounts of money AREN'T used to manipulate the so-called "free market."
Seriously, if the free market worked the way Libertarians claim it does, why is Microsoft doing so well? - herro, on 10/10/2007, -0/+13i was GIVEN a pack of that crap and i didn't drink it.
'mashed potatoes and butter', 'jolly fruitcake', 'turkey and gravy', 'green bean casserole', and 'cranberry sauce'?
is there really a market for this? besides families trying to emulate fear factor at the dinner table, i mean.
i must say though, i am a big fan of apple and the root beer. the mints are rather enjoyable, too. - asokoloski, on 10/10/2007, -5/+17Slavery was ended because people started to realize it was wrong. Plenty of government owners had slaves, so it wasn't like the government was any more noble than public opinion at the time. In fact, even after slavery was abolished things like Jim Crow laws prevented private businesses from serving blacks the same way as whites. Say what you want about free markets, but when people are looking for green the color of your skin usually doesn't matter.
Nothing prevented the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, neither market nor government. But you have to ask, what raised the standard of living so much that people could afford to stop sending their kids to work in dangerous conditions? Remember, people chose to work even in unsafe factories (and still do today, in poorer countries) because starving on a farm is worse.
Coal mines will never be safe, but as long as the market provides much safer alternatives for work, coal miners will get paid a premium because they are risking their lives. And why don't you ask yourself, who keeps roads safe? Why do so many people die in car accidents if the government is in charge of road safety?
If you're talking about drug testing by the FDA, we could do better without it. Between approving dangerous drugs, driving up the cost of medicine, and keeping dying people from trying experimental treatment, they kill more people than they save.
Markets provide government-type services *when there is not already a government monopoly*. Ask yourself -- why aren't there inexpensive private schools, or more consumer certification agencies, or more private police forces? When you look at computers, it's obvious the market can provide some amazingly complicated services in an ever-less-expensive way. The problem is, government has already taken away any chance of profiting in certain markets, because they give goods away for "free".
You're blaming the market for problems caused by lack of technology. Sure, governments have the ability to intervene and "make things better", although if you'll notice this is usually *after* the accident has already happened -- hindsight is 20-20. But government is ruled by another type of market, the political market -- where people buy and sell power. And with a political market, you end up with BS like corn subsidies, that hurt taxpayers not just when they are taxed, but also by making unhealthy foods cheaper than healthy ones. - ZenFountain, on 10/10/2007, -1/+13I love Jones soda, it's the only soda I drink actually. I am liberal as all hell but I LOVE small companies and entrepreneurship in America. It's what will save America and that is what annoys me so much about people thinking Ron Paul is the only answer to fix our corrupt system that stifles real competition and new business. Buy local produce at farmers markets, buy unique products made by these companies that cater to the consumer, do everything you can to support small American business! Why would you want to drink three awful cans of Pepsi when you can have one really good bottle of Jones soda? Quality > quantity, ***** the consume everything at the lowest price culture.
- seandaly, on 10/10/2007, -4/+15Now, this is why we need Ron Paul as President. He would stop this by bitchslapping them with the Constitution and the beating them over the head with Lady Liberty! Oh, wait... I just realized this wasn't another Ron Paul article. :) I should really start reading these first.
Serious note, Jones Soda kicks ass! I love that this company has the sack to put cane sugar back into soda. HFCS is a plague that needs to be dealt with. We all want sugar and I doubt anyone here wants to support 1 company that holds a 80% stake in sweetener. - KirbyMeister, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11>>p0s3r
this isn't 4chan
you're a fag for calling people fags on digg - Ysaric, on 10/10/2007, -5/+15Ugh. When you give government the power over something, it is going to attract money and special interests, whether officially or under the table. Less government is preferable. It's analogous to federalism. Having a strong central government is "great" for you, as long as it reflects your politics. Suddenly it's a lot less great when a rival political party gains power and uses the full weight of the federal government to adopt policies you disagree with. You say the solution is "good government", but that is so subjective as to be nearly meaningless.
- vulapine, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9Um. I guess I missed the "underlying point". The article seemed to be about Sugar tasting better, but the American public is denied tasty sugar because of the corn lobby.
I thought that the only mention of HFCS making you 'fat' was when the article states: "Though there has been a controversy over a link between high fructose corn syrup and obesity, van Stolk is a CEO who has little interest in babysitting his clients."
The only other mention of weight I noticed was "metric tons" and the word fat is nowhere on the page.
Maybe I read a different article.
Oh, and corn syrup and high fructos corn syrup are vastly different from one another. - Linh, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9jones soda rocks. our local grocer though seems to have limited the selection to just the cream soda :(
- seandaly, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9Speak for yourself... Have you ever done a side-by-side test of Coca Cola, one having sugar and the other HFCS? It's a WORLD of difference!!! I've done this with a passover bottle of Coke and a plain old 16 ounce from 7-11.
Let us not forget how Coke pulled the wool over our eyes while shifting to HFCS by introducing "New Coke". Coke prior to "New Coke" was sugar sweetened, "New Coke" was sweetened with HFCS. The completely stopped making / selling the original formula when the released "New Coke". When the brought Coke Classic back, it was no longer sugar, it was HFCS sweetened. Scammed! - drxavier, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9Yes, and he writes like someone who is much older.
- curomo, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9No it didn't, representative democracy got us here. Political structure != economic structure.
- davidjcrouch, on 10/10/2007, -2/+10Excellent observation.
- billtvshow, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8Juts don't get the holiday pack. Unless you have a strong stomach, you'll find yourself doubled over the ceramic. Anyone who's tried it knows what I'm talking about.
- smaki, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9I've been reading articles written by Raskin from f.ex. lewrockwell.com and I only recently noticed that he is indeed a high school student. Which is mind-boggling, because of the generally very high standard of writing and knowledge he portrays.
- sgglynn, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8Had my first jones about 6 years ago, when the only local place to find it was a Sheetz gas station. Since then, i've always grabbed a Jones when the choice was there, and will continue to do so.
- Ysaric, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7Sure, the corn industry will be happy to allow the repeal of sugar tariffs . . . once they have legislation guaranteeing massive government-subsidized ethanol production.
- TheSpore, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7We are not exactly in a free market. In a truly free market there would be no such thing as copyrights or patents, just whoever makes the best product gets the most money. If Microsoft or Netscape or Apple did something well, everyone else would essentially copy it and we'd have real competition again. Doesn't mean they would go out of business, but it would mean they wouldn't be able to charge an arm and a leg for their products because their competitors could make compatible products easily. None of this "I have to buy Windows because one critical program only runs on Windows, and only Microsoft is allowed to make Window's-compatible software."
To be fair, our economy does have some self-correcting mechanisms, but I've become convinced that we would be MUCH better off if businesses weren't afraid of getting sued over "intellectual property." - GabrielS, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8D. Wayne Andreas introduced Ronald Reagan to Mikhail Gorbechav. This was prior to Gorbechav ascending to Premier of the Soviet Union.
Former MI6 agent Jack Philby created the union of tribes in the Arabian desert that later became known as the House of Saud.
There are countless examples of captains of industry and rogue former spooks that have altered the course of history to their own benefit. - joe573, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7Dugg because A) Jones Soda is awesome(really, you should try it) and B) the Mises Institute is located in Auburn, AL.....War Eagle!
- Liair2, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8It's become a long running joke product with the company. It also happens to sell pretty well.
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6i don't care about the politics here, i just want real soda cheap. here (texas) we can get mexican coke which is made with sugar instead of corn syrup and it tastes hella better than regular. but a 12 ounce bottle costs 1.40 at the store. i buy the ***** anyway when i can, i'm more satisfied from that than a 20 ounce of regular coke. really though i'd prefer to be able to buy at the regular price.
actually mexican coke tastes so much better than domestic coke that i think they could change the product and make more money because the soda would sell better than their "original formula". - KirbyMeister, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6They already do. ;)
- shiftless, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7HFCS sodas have been eliminated from my home. I've been lucky enough to get a zillion Pure Cane sugar soda flavors for years. Look local, and you might find something nice.
http://www.nhsoda.com/20478_2387.asp - cmcagle, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Regarding slavery and the free market:
Adam Smith, the father of market economics, argued consistently that slavery ought to be abolished, not just on moral grounds, but also on economic grounds. This makes sense considering that Smith was both a moral philosopher and an economist. Adam Smith was heavily influenced by the Physiocrats, a group of French economists who coined the term "Laissez-Faire," and also argued against slavery. This was in an age where industrial capitalism was still an emerging phenomenon, and most of Europe and America were still very agrarian and mercantile. In other words, they were arguing against slavery at a time when slave labor was an accepted fact of life, and considered absolutely necessary to economic well-being. Smith's economic argument was basically that slaves had no positive incentive to work more efficiently, and that the economy as a whole would benefit more from having labor motivated by positive incentives (i.e. wages) than negative incentives (i.e. a Field Master's whip). Smith also pointed out that by only giving laborers the real goods necessary for basic subsistence, the economy lost a very large market for products and services. Adam Smith was good friends with Thomas Jefferson, and often tried to persuade Jefferson to give up his slaves. Unfortunately, this never happened, but Smith's arguments went on to inspire the abolitionist movement of the mid-19th century, which was led by the (relatively) capitalistic, industrial North.
The next time you feel compelled to spout cynical implications, such as the apathy toward or endorsement of slavery by the free market, you might want to actually just go read a book. If you can't be bothered to do that, wikipedia is also a nice resource. - MiDri, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7I would say from the sell of vomit harry potter jelly beans, that YES there is a market for green bean casserole soda...
- stevenb337, on 10/10/2007, -3/+8No, this is corn farmers forcing us to subsidize their livelihoods. Ayn Rand would have been completely against the restriction of trade. to quote from Reardon's tribunal from Atlas shrugged:
"But you have admitted that you have broken our regulations controlling the sale of your metal."
"I do not recognize your right to control the sale of my metal."
When you put artificial controls like ceilings or floors on markets, the ability of the market to find the proper equilibrium is taken away. And if you look at it on a larger scale, this affects more than just what sweetens your soda. Government subsidies for corn produced ethanol are now affecting the cost of corn-based sweeteners, so the junk food we eat is getting more expensive. It also atrifically affects the cost of Maize, the biggest staple food in Mexico (and other countries I'm sure). Now that the costs are going up across the board, the corn companies will tell you that it is just market forces determining the price. That would be true if the market hadn't been rigged in the first place.
The sugar controls also prevent us from importing sugar to convert to ethanol, a much cheaper prospect. Brazil is much more energy independent than us due to this fact. Even if it does not allow American energy independence, per se, it at least diversifies our energy portfolio, and we would not be held hostage by OPEC countries and a Russia that is suffering from megalomania thanks to its natural resource reserves.
So if you deflate the souffle of artificial controls on the import of sugar, and the subsidies for corn-based ethanol (a double-whammy), corn would sink back down to the most efficient price that the market will bear, Mexicans can eat again, gas would be cheaper, and your soda would taste better. -
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