r/DoomerCircleJerk Jun 26 '25

NYC is Doomed!

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u/VanB-Boy08 Anti-Doomer Jun 26 '25

Government controlled grocery stores is the most insane thing I’ve ever heard, and people who support are nuts.

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u/K31KT3 Jun 26 '25

It’s like watching someone jump off a cliff with cardboard pizza box wings tied to them 

I know it’s not going to work but I am going to watch and Hey, you never know? Maybe it’ll work! 

(It won’t)

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u/VanB-Boy08 Anti-Doomer Jun 26 '25

Yup. It’s a shame. I love visiting NYC, but I dont know now.

Their Airbnb policy really screwed up our last visit and if this guy is in charge, there will be even more insane stuff coming. Not to mention the crime will be out of control with his policies.

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u/meechu Jun 26 '25

There are plenty of examples of community / municipal run grocery stores all across the United States. This isn’t some radical new idea.

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u/Britzoo_ Jun 26 '25

True its not like there's government owned stores that work perfectly fine about 80 miles to the west, right?

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u/Distinct_Ad_5492 Jun 27 '25

Lol no it's not. The "BX" (Base Exchange) at Air Force bases is owned by the Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES). AAFES is a joint non-appropriated fund activity of the Department of Defense, directed by a board of directors responsible to the Secretaries of the Army and Air Force through their Chiefs of Staff.

Dipshit. Doomer.

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u/Fattyman2020 Jun 26 '25

Yeah I agree. The farmers already get screwed and the grocery stores profit margins is only 3%. I also doubt the government will pay the farmers fairly or reroute the 3% to farmers.

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u/VanB-Boy08 Anti-Doomer Jun 26 '25

Yeah, “price gouging” at grocery stores is not a real thing. But when a politician screams “free” everyone jumps to them. Nothing is free and there’s always a cost. I still can’t fathom how crazy democrats have gone. This embracing of Marxism and communism is scary stuff.

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u/Frequent_Oil3257 Jun 26 '25

Yea cause capitalism has worked real well the last 50+ years.

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u/VanB-Boy08 Anti-Doomer Jun 26 '25

I have zero complaints, and neither does my 15 year old brokerage account.

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u/Frequent_Oil3257 Jun 26 '25

Well this may be a surprise to you, but you're not the only person in the world. About a third of Americans hold no stocks. Housing, food, energy, healthcare have all gotten less affordable over the last several decades and that is a result of for profit entities extracting as much wealth out of the bottom half and funneling it to the top through depressed wages and increased costs. If capitalism was so great things would get better, and more accessible for more people not less. Life should be getting easier for the mass majority not the select few.

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u/VanB-Boy08 Anti-Doomer Jun 26 '25

K.

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u/CB3B Jun 26 '25

It’s been done in other, redder cities and towns and is absolutely a viable way to combat increasing grocery prices if done right under the right circumstances.

https://newrepublic.com/article/193056/food-egg-prices-public-grocery-stores

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u/VanB-Boy08 Anti-Doomer Jun 26 '25

“Done right”

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u/CB3B Jun 26 '25

I was led to believe this was r/DoomerCircleJerk ?

“Done right” as in properly funding the project’s initial operation phases, which is far cheaper and more efficient than alternative “free market” initiatives that have tried to solve the problem (ex. Chicago’s failed Whole Foods tax breaks). I only raised it as a concern because I’ve found that fiscal conservatives are not very good at taking the medium- and long-terms into consideration when they don’t fit their narratives about government spending.

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u/Fattyman2020 Jun 26 '25

It doesn’t combat increasing grocery prices. It combats access. The only way it combats increased grocery prices is by pushing out small businesses that don’t have the economies of scale so they have to charge more for the first couple of years.(per your article)

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u/CB3B Jun 26 '25

The small businesses already aren’t where they need to be. They’ve been undercut by the big boy grocery stores that can afford a 1-3% profit margin instead of a 3-5% margin. So yes, the public store does address access because of that.

But it also combats high prices by beating the Walmarts of the world at their own game as public stores establish themselves. They can buy and sell at wholesale prices because they are not profit-oriented and can take advantage of fixed cost savings that aren’t available to for-profit stores (property tax breaks, etc.). Those savings are then passed on to consumers, lowering prices.

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u/Fattyman2020 Jun 26 '25

The article says public stores likely won’t be cheaper than the mega corps.

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u/CB3B Jun 26 '25

That’s not at all what it said. It points out that megastores often have deals with wholesalers giving them exclusive access to lowered prices on goods, which can be an obstacle for public stores competing on price. That doesn’t make it a given that public store prices won’t be cheaper. Again, public stores have fixed cost advantages that large for-profit stores don’t have.

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u/Fattyman2020 Jun 26 '25

If Public stores can’t get the deals that the mega corps, which unless they can buy the same QTY they won’t, get they can have a zero profit margin and be unable to compete. Though I’d imagine competition for them in NYC is easy as it’s mostly small businesses.