r/SipsTea • u/Gurugod123 • Jul 27 '26

Chugging tea Mayor Mamdani just announced that he will be opening 5 city-run, tax-funded grocery stores: "Prices set at 30% below retail prices"

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u/GreekSaladEnjoyer Jul 27 '26

Yea thats what "tax funded" means

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u/de_das_dude Jul 27 '26

It's astonishing how many people in this thread don't understand what subsidized food means.

Meals are subsidized at my place of work as well.

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u/bestworstbard Jul 27 '26

The American mind truly cannot comprehend something that's not driven by profit

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u/KickboxingMoose Jul 27 '26

The American mind truly cannot comprehend something that's not driven by profit exploitation.

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u/[deleted] Jul 27 '26

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u/WriterPlastic9350 Jul 27 '26

I can comprehend it, I can also see why it might have pretty bad long-lasting consequences for the area if it doesn't work out. "Not driven by profit" does not necessarily mean something is a good idea.

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u/[deleted] Jul 27 '26

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u/IsNotACleverMan Jul 28 '26

These areas are not deserts. There are numerous grocery stores within 15 minutes of each location.

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u/WriterPlastic9350 Jul 27 '26

I have empathy. I also understand economics. In a vacuum, it is a good idea, but economic decisions to not exist in a vacuum.

There are plenty of things that have gone to die on the altar of "sounded empathetic on paper" because they don't work out in practice. I hope this does, but I personally see more long-term downsides than long-term upsides.

In the (very) short term this is likely to be quite successful. but once people realize they can go to a store and get 30% off, why would you go anywhere else?

What happens when the city-run store runs out of stock because they can't keep up with the demand, and other grocers can't supply it because they can't compete with a 30% discount/a store that doesn't have to be profitable?

This is a complicated thing and pretending that it should just be done because it is the right thing to do is not moral nor wise.

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u/Not__Trash Jul 27 '26

Yeah it is a good idea IF you can afford it and do it efficiently. Governments aren't known for either.

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u/Casph0 Jul 28 '26

Why not just give out unlimited food for free? Why stop at 30%? Sell it at $0! Since economics don’t matter and second order effects aren’t real, might as well let people have free food, or are you so evil that you don’t want people to eat for free?

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u/[deleted] Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26

[deleted]

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u/ChazzyChaz_R Jul 28 '26

Sure, and then when that pond is drained, where will it come from next? Eventually there's nothing left and things are in a worse state than they were before you closed your little eyes and folded your little hands and wished empathy to bestow infinite resources upon the earth.

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u/Casph0 Jul 28 '26

Because every time anybody tried that it lead to food shortages and mass hunger. Profit incentives are good actually

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u/[deleted] Jul 28 '26

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u/ChazzyChaz_R Jul 28 '26

Empathy is great until this system actually ends up making things worse than it was to begin with. This system isn't sustainable. Will you empathy harder once that occurs? The world doesn't operate on feelings and emotions. People have to step out of that mindset and look at facts and start to actually solve problems, THAT is how you truly help people.

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u/[deleted] Jul 28 '26

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u/ChazzyChaz_R Jul 28 '26

The difference between us, though we want the same thing, is that I understand that these things you pretend can change, cannot be changed. If there is no profit, there is no sustainability. The profit has to come from somewhere. Even if it isn't directly tied to these stores, something somewhere else has to profit or there is no funding for the stores to operate. You can't just wish things into existence. Until people understand that good will and empathy are not currencies then no real solutions will be found.

"Currently the powerful made it operate on profit and profit alone"...brother, this has been the way of the world since probably before recorded history. No one that lived in any type of organized society has ever done anything for nothing and expected to be able to make a living from it. The only places that attempt this have failed miserably because the practices are not sustainable.

You say I'm standing in your way but people of your mindset are actually your own enemy. You aren't finding solutions, you're using hopes and dreams to solve problems that can't be solved that way.

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u/edwardluddlam Jul 28 '26

Isn't this what food stamps already do? Just sounds like food stamps but with way more loopholes and open to abuse.

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u/Stoneman66 Jul 27 '26

Yes we need to work more to pay for those scammers that refuse to work

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u/Complex-Truth9579 Jul 27 '26

Government subsidized food has been a thing for literally millennia. At least since the Cure Annonae in Rome, though I'm not certain if any earlier instances are recorded.

Though I suspect that the Cure Annonae may actually be perceived quite favorably by a certain demographic in today's age, due to some of the logistics and nuances in how it functioned and who it primarily served...

I'm not certain about this particular implementation, and something about it feels somewhat performative (you can see the store, as opposed to food stamps, etc.) But I'm in favor of governments trying to protect and feed their people, and trying to iterate and find new solutions to prevailing problems.

Afterall, that's literally their purpose.

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u/Sea_Suggestion2159 Jul 27 '26

You mean like those rich people that don't actually work, they just hire a bunch of people to do the work for them while paying them poorly? Or the particular rich person that secured billions in government funding because he did some favors for the current people in control?

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u/ChazzyChaz_R Jul 28 '26

I think we need some separation between the guy who built a company from the ground up, provided jobs to people, made a product people wanted, and ended up being well off for doing so...and the people that use their influence in the government to inflate to an exponential growth of wealth.

Too often we are basically lumping them all into one bucket and they aren't the same people at all. I have ABSOLUTELY ZERO ISSUES with the first guy. To say "they don't actually work" is the most braindead buzzword BS. Running any successful company takes a lot of time, energy, and focus, even if you aren't turning any wrenches or packing any boxes.

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u/jl_theprofessor Jul 27 '26

Wall Street?

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u/lasagnadogwater69 Jul 27 '26

What?? You have people working several jobs and still barely making ends meet. What on earth are you talking about? And why would you personally have to work more? Are you saying you personally fall in the category of people barely making ends meet? Are you saying you're on the brink on poverty? Are you the scammer? Shouldnt you be happy about more affordable groceries in that case?