How Does Communism Influence Energy Conservation in Condo Co-ops?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion explores the influence of communism on energy conservation practices within condominium cooperatives, touching on broader themes of self-interest, economic models, and environmental impact. Participants share personal experiences and observations related to energy billing and conservation challenges in shared living spaces.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Exploratory

Main Points Raised

  • One participant, an HVAC engineer, notes that energy costs in condos are often shared equally, leading to a lack of incentive for individuals to conserve energy, as they do not directly bear the costs of waste.
  • Another participant introduces the concept of the "Tragedy of the Commons" to describe the situation where shared resources are overused due to individual self-interest.
  • Some participants express skepticism about the claims made by advocates of communism, particularly regarding the feasibility of achieving environmental sustainability without capitalist structures.
  • There are references to game theory and hypothetical scenarios to illustrate points about cooperation and self-interest in resource management.
  • Several participants discuss perceptions of communism and its historical implementations, questioning the validity of claims that true communism has never been realized.
  • Concerns are raised about the implications of extreme ideological positions, including anarchy and radical communism, and their potential consequences for society and the environment.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of views on the effectiveness of communism in addressing energy conservation and environmental issues. There is no consensus on the validity of the claims made by proponents of communism, and the discussion reflects multiple competing perspectives on the topic.

Contextual Notes

Participants reference various economic theories and historical examples, but the discussion remains open-ended with unresolved questions about the practical implications of different ideological approaches to resource management.

  • #31
brewnog said:
I don't know where you're from and what products you'll be familiar with, but compare (say) a bottle of Fairy Liquid with a bottle of Asda washing up liquid. Shouldn't the Fairy be cheaper due to economies of scale?

Your supermarket will fleece you on bananas and brocolli so that it can be competitive on the goods which you are likely to know the value of (mobile phones, CDs, petrol, etc).

And I am from the US so ... i have no idea what the comparison will be lol. But if you look at the super market example, again, bananas are a fairly unnoticable balance in your budget that don't get much attention. But if you do compare cars or televisions or spas or something, your talking about large-sticker items where people actually care to research and look at what's cheaper. Thats where capitalism actually has a big effect. No one cares if your bananas are $.50 instead of $.40, but you do care if your 52" tv is $5000 compared to $5500.
 
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  • #32
But Pengwuino, this is all stuff you can consider before setting up a business. If you did choose to go "retail store-front" and went bust, that would be because of a poor management decision.

You'd be surprised at the level of ineptitude a good deal of people in management have! As an aside, the only really successful computer retailer around me buys in absolutely massive quantities, and can afford to price its competition out of the water.

Good luck anyway! :smile:
 
  • #33
misskitty said:
Uh-huh. Where are most of these people from? Because I doubt if they have experienced anarchy they would still support it the way that they do.
What an "anarchist" considers "anarchy" doesn't fit the definition - it looks a lot more like communism.
 
  • #34
Pengwuino said:
And I am from the US so ... i have no idea what the comparison will be lol. But if you look at the super market example, again, bananas are a fairly unnoticable balance in your budget that don't get much attention. But if you do compare cars or televisions or spas or something, your talking about large-sticker items where people actually care to research and look at what's cheaper. Thats where capitalism actually has a big effect. No one cares if your bananas are $.50 instead of $.40, but you do care if your 52" tv is $5000 compared to $5500.

Haha, that's exactly what I was talking about. However, consider that your bananas might be $.50 instead of $.05, (rather than the $.50/$.40 you suggested) and then you can appreciate that the only reason people don't notice that they're being charged enormous amounts for their vegetables, is because they genuinely don't know what they cost, or what they're worth.
 
  • #35
I thought you meant management on a day to day scale. If you know your going into a market where all signs point to getting tossed around like a ragdoll.. then yes, that is rather poor management. But then again how many companies do we know that saw a crowded market place and went in guns blazing and ended up being multi-national corporations. The computer businesss had its fair share of companies all competing for the same thing but in the end, the , as we know em now, big names were able to survive and turn into Dell or HP or Gateway. But then again they were all competing for a new market... my markets pretty much taken up... by those same jerks :D.

And yah... the successful american corporations buy in insane quantities. THey'll buy a million copies of windows XP at a time and just price other people out of the water. Problem is they leave themselves vulnerable in some areas that allow small businesses to come in and take away some of their market (what I am doing :D).
 
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  • #36
brewnog said:
Haha, that's exactly what I was talking about. However, consider that your bananas might be $.50 instead of $.05, (rather than the $.50/$.40 you suggested) and then you can appreciate that the only reason people don't notice that they're being charged enormous amounts for their vegetables, is because they genuinely don't know what they cost, or what they're worth.

Well if it meant that , as you said (it was u right... i can't keep up with things), as long as my cell phone doesn't cost $500 (ok so some do... people are nuts) when it can cost $200 or my big ribs cost me $20 when it can cost me $5, ill live with a $.50 bunch of bananas.
 
  • #37
Yeah, it seems like I posted something, and there were already two replies! Anyway, we're both right; there's a lot more competition with the big label goods purely because that's what people actually care about.

Big ribs? They sound awesome! Better than Persil anyway.
 
  • #38
And all this talk about bananas makes me hungry. I swear i walked into a class of mine friday and all i could smell was pudding... and no one was making pudding or anything. And i smelt it in the hallway on both floors. I almost went to the store instead of going home after that
 

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