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[+] -35 points 6 months ago* (61 children)
  • [–] 33 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    Because profit-motivated grocery stores can't afford to service these areas, but people still need to be able to eat.

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  • [–] 8 points 6 months ago

    Thing that raises red-flags for me is that it's going to be a contracted model, instead of being run directly by the city.

    I don't live in the USA, I'm just tired of outsourced government.

    Overall, still seems positive though, just nitpicking.

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  • [–] 56 points 6 months ago (46 children)

    So that working class people will have a place where they can afford to buy groceries at

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  • [+] -42 points 6 months ago (45 children)
  • [–] 20 points 6 months ago (9 children)

    Imagine how much 'profits' is absorbed by shareholders that could've went back to the public.

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  • [–] 15 points 6 months ago (5 children)

    If you're thinking that means government run grocery stores are unrealistic keep in mind that they already exist for the military. They're called commissaries and they sell groceries for significantly cheaper prices than private grocery stores, but they are open only to service-members and their families. We are perfectly capable of providing robust social services, but the state wants to keep it exclusive so they have an incentive for people living in poverty to join the military.

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  • [–] 10 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    This video by More Perfect Union talks about them at length. If I remember right, it is literally required by law to be cheaper overall (25% savings across the board) with a default pricing of cost plus 1% and a variable pricing model where common staples like eggs and milk are sold at a loss and it's made up for on more niche items. They're tax-subsidized through the military, and it's an incredibly tiny portion of the budget. Some locations operate at a loss but they're not allowed to close any stores so that's why they need the subsidies.

    So in short, yes, government run shops are cheaper because they're tax-subsidized, and are not required to profit or even break even. Personally I don't see any problem with government operating grocery stores at a loss to provide the working class with affordable groceries and having the rich foot the bill. In fact, I'd say that's the whole point.

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  • [–] 57 points 6 months ago (24 children)

    Don’t be dense. Food is already subsidized in multiple ways, but those subsidies go into corporate profit margins. This store offers the benefits of subsidy to the common person.

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  • [–] 40 points 6 months ago (4 children)

    Don’t change the subject. You didn’t ask for details. You said “so subsidized food?”, which is pointing out the obvious. Seems like you’re here to continue arguing instead of just googling the answer, so I’ll fetch the info for you and anyone else who might be curious:

    Mayor Zohran Mamdani said during a press conference on Tuesday that New York City’s planned city-run grocery stores would not be traditional municipally staffed supermarkets. Instead, the city would own the land, cover major overhead costs and bring in a private operator to sell staple foods at discounted prices, starting with a Manhattan site near La Marqueta in East Harlem.

    …

    “The city will subsidize a core set of staples,” he said. “A private operator will run the store, but they answer to the standards that the city will set.” Those standards, he said, would mean lower prices on basics like bread and eggs.

    Source: AMNY.com.

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  • [–] 15 points 6 months ago* (2 children)

    I, for one, learned something from this response. Thank you for posting it. You've saved maybe dozens of people from having to search themselves.

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  • [–] 6 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    Oh god the terror of searching for information myself

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  • [–] 5 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

    SEO spam makes searching hit or miss. I might search for a policy description and get clickbait opinion pieces. It's a hassle that I'm happy to avoid if someone else does it for me, especially for something that I care only vaguely about.

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  • [–] 9 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    You really can't be bothered to spend 30 seconds googling something?

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  • if they hadn't asked the question, we wouldn't have this discussion and i wouldn't have bothered to even learn something about this topic. so i learned about the project in more detail than if it had only been mentioned in a headline and i forgot to search for it myself.

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  • [–] 14 points 6 months ago (12 children)

    If you're looking for specifics, you could have short circuited this whole thread by typing your original comment into a search engine, instead of posting it in a discussion forum

    https://www.amny.com/news/how-mamdanis-city-run-grocery-plan-would-work/

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  • [–] 17 points 6 months ago (4 children)

    If you really just wanted information, you wouldn't be so confrontational right now.

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  • I think people aren't hurling abuses at you for just asking a question. It's more that your original comment "Why does he want a city run grocery store?" sounds like you didn't even spend 1 second to think about the question yourself.

    why would anybody want a city run grocery store? what could possibly be the reason? is it maybe sothat the city can better control what the grocery store does? such as setting food prices? on a politics platform that specifically promised cheaper cost of living for the people? hmmm ...

    if you had just guessed some response to your own question and then asked for confirmation, i guess people would respond more empathically, as you would have shown that you even thought about this topic for 10 seconds yourself.

    this way, it takes you 2 seconds to write the question and other people 5 minutes to write a well-balanced answer, which is just mean and unfair to them.

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  • [–] 4 points 6 months ago

    People are hurling "abuse" at you because you're acting like a giant fucking asshole in a public space.

    If I were you, I'd feel lucky that you're safely online and acting like this within arm's reach of people.

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  • [–] 13 points 6 months ago (4 children)

    You did not want a discussion. You wanted someone to spoon feed you information.

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  • [–] 21 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    No, it's run at cost, but what's so wrong about subsidizing food at the consumer level? We already do it for the owners of megafarms.

    Do you live every day in terror of poor people being able to eat?

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  • [–] 30 points 6 months ago (3 children)

    The only two nations in the entire world that voted in the UN against a resolution to recognise food as a human right were... the USA and Isreal.

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  • [–] 9 points 6 months ago

    I assume it is low or no profit and therefore apart from paying salaries is aimed at getting essential needs to people for as cheap as possible. Being non/low profit and to keep prices low it will likely need support from taxes. So your taxes, instead of going to things like Elon's failed hyperloop will go to something like cheaper affordable essentials. You yourself might not benefit from it that much if you are economicalpy ok but the city will and as a result you will be living in a better city.

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  • [–] 6 points 6 months ago (7 children)

    i personally think that social housing and public transport are more important than a city-run grocery store because especially housing is something that lots of people pay painful amounts of money to, but city-run grocery stores are certainly an interesting concept that could help people to lower their cost of living. which i think is better than giving the money to billionaires.

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  • [+] -1 points 6 months ago (6 children)
  • [–] 11 points 6 months ago*

    The NY major should just force everyone to make a living wage!

    ...

    I think a city run grocery store, social housing, and public transport are all far more in reach of a major's influence than regulations which forces the economy to pay people a living wage.

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  • [–] 5 points 6 months ago* (4 children)

    Why do you want a living wage?

    Making a decomotized cashless anarchist society is the actual solution.

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  • [–] 5 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    Says the guy who is all over the thread shitting on the very idea that the poors should be allowed to eat.

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