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Grocery industry says soup kitchen option is unfair competition
Author Dave Anderson
Date 09/09/22/08:01
Hit Count 778

skepticalob.blogspot.com
Grocery industry says soup kitchen option is unfair competition

OFFICIALS OF the American grocery industry have announced that they
are preparing a two pronged attack against soup kitchens for the poor.
They plan an advertising campaign to alert the public of the dangers
of soup kitchens, and a lobbying effort in Congress.

A spokesman for the grocery industry, I. M. Greedy, declares:

"Americans are compassionate people and on the face of it, a soup
kitchen is a compassionate attempt to help the poor. Dig a little
deeper, though, and you'll find that the soup kitchen option is both
unfair competition and will hurt all Americans."

The grocery industry is concerned, first and foremost, that the soup
kitchen option represents unfair competition. As Greedy explains:

"We have to make a profit, but soup kitchens do not. Therefore they
can charge less for their soup.

Let's be honest here. When poor people are given a choice between
buying their soup in the grocery store or heading to the soup kitchen,
they'll pick the soup kitchen every time. The only way we could make
the grocery store more attractive is to lower the price of soup and
that is unfair."

Greedy emphasizes that they are not the only ones who will be harmed.
Though the government insists that the soup kitchen option will be
just one among many options for obtaining soup (citing the continuing
availability of soup in grocery stores, restaurants and food courts,
the industry is convinced it is only a matter of time before everyone
is forced to get their soup in soup kitchens.

According to Greedy:

"Sure, they say that you will still be able to choose where to get
your soup. That's what they want you to believe. The reality is that
it is only a matter of time before the government bans soup in grocery
stores, restaurants and other places, forcing everyone who wants soup
to get it from a soup kitchen."

The grocery industry believes that the worst thing about the soup
kitchen option, from the point of view of the general public, is that
it takes away choice. Rather than selecting any soup from the grocery
store shelves, consumers who select the soup kitchen option will be
restricted to eating only the soup available that day.

Greedy says:

"Americans are not going to tolerate any situation in which they are
deprived of choice. You go to a soup kitchen, and can you choose your
favorite soup, the one that you have loved for years? No, you cannot.
At the soup kitchen you are forced to accept whatever they are
offering. Suppose it's chicken soup and you don't like chicken soup?
Too bad."

The grocery industry also plans an extensive lobbying effort on
Capitol Hill. They have already contributed millions to the
re-election campaigns of several Senators and Congressmen. One of
those Congressmen has introduced legislation to ban soup kitchens.

Greedy explains:

"We in the grocery industry are gratified that several Senators and
Congressmen already understand what it is at stake here. That's not
enough, though. We want to meet with even more Senators and
Congressmen to impress upon them the unfairness of the soup plan
option. American is a great nation because it won't countenance
socialism. And what are soup kitchens but a socialist attempt to
benefit the poor at the expense of the rich? Real Americans refuse to
accept schemes that redistribute money from those, like grocers, who
work for a living, to the undeserving poor."

Mr. Greedy is optimistic about the eventual outcome.

"Once Americans understand what is at stake here: government forcing
people to get their soup through soup kitchens; government restricting
people's choice of soup; government stifling honest American
competition; they will reject the soup kitchen option."

Mr. Greedy is modest:

"I don't think that Americans will ever realize that the grocery
industry, through a successful advertising and lobbying effort, will
have protected them from the harms that would occur if the soup
kitchen option were allowed. That's okay. We in the grocery industry
are content to let people believe that they thought of opposing the
soup kitchen option instead of being incited to do so by a relentless
barrage of fear mongering."

Mr. Greedy smiles:

"We don't need the public to thank us. Banning the soup kitchen option
will be thanks enough."

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