Sun-Times columnist proudly berates little girls for givin lemonade away for free

[wndycty]

This is absolutely what is wrong with this country. People like Terry Savage

There is no 'free' lemonade
In giving drink away, girls ignore rules of economics -- and sum up what's wrong with U.S.

July 5, 2010
BY TERRY SAVAGE Sun-Times Columnist
-snip-
The three young girls -- under the watchful eye of a nanny, sitting on the grass with them -- explained that they had regular lemonade, raspberry lemonade, and small chocolate candy bars.

Then my brother asked how much each item cost.

"Oh, no," they replied in unison, "they're all free!"

I sat in the back seat in shock. Free? My brother questioned them again: "But you have to charge something? What should I pay for a lemonade? I'm really thirsty!"

His fiancee smiled and commented, "Isn't that cute. They have the spirit of giving."

That really set me off, as my regular readers can imagine.

"No!" I exclaimed from the back seat. "That's not the spirit of giving. You can only really give when you give something you own. They're giving away their parents' things -- the lemonade, cups, candy. It's not theirs to give."

I pushed the button to roll down the window and stuck my head out to set them straight.

"You must charge something for the lemonade," I explained. "That's the whole point of a lemonade stand. You figure out your costs -- how much the lemonade costs, and the cups -- and then you charge a little more than what it costs you, so you can make money. Then you can buy more stuff, and make more lemonade, and sell it and make more money."

I was confident I had explained it clearly. Until my brother, breaking the tension, ordered a raspberry lemonade. As they handed it to him, he again asked: "So how much is it?"

And the girls once again replied: "It's free!" And the nanny looked on contentedly.

No wonder America is getting it all wrong when it comes to government, and taxes, and policy. We all act as if the "lemonade" or benefits we're "giving away" is free.
-snip-

http://www.suntimes.com/business/savage/2464546,CST-NWS-savage05.savagearticle

[Toucano]

1. Truly stunning n/t

[spoony]

2. That's like a parody, right?

Please, please tell me that's parody of Michael Savage or his ilk.

[WillyT]

3. God, I Hope So...

:wtf:

:banghead:

[blondeatlast]

10. For the love of Christ, I hope so. Please. nt

[Art_from_Ark]

15. It's definitely a parody

A tongue-in-cheek critique of people who only think of money.

[blondeatlast]

20. ...

Damn good one--it took me until the very end. No spoilers in the subject line from me, though.

[pnwmom]

22. It's definitely not a parody. n/t

[truedelphi]

27. I figured you were wrong - how could an "attack" on a kid's lemonade stand

Not be a parody.

But you are right - this is by Savage who has got to be one of the more vicious radio personalities spawned by Hate and Stingeyness Devil.

Savage is the sort of person who would kick a puppy just to explain that you can never be mean enough.

[Maru Kitteh]

30. I believe you have the wrong Savage.

http://www.terrysavage.com/


You were thinking of Michael Alan Weiner, better known by his fake name, Mike Savage:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_%28commentator%29

[truedelphi]

31. Ah, so then is this a parody or

Someone like michael Savage?

[Maru Kitteh]

34. Unfortunately it's not a parody. It's a woman with a tiny black bit of rotten meat where her heart

would normally be found.

[truedelphi]

32. Mike Savage and I go way back.

I used to work long long hours and have a two and a half hour commute.

I found out that if I tuned into Savage (Michael that is) and his radio show, I could stay awake easily on the drive home as he made me so mad I couldn't fall asleep.

[Maru Kitteh]

33. Tee hee. That's how I survived a drive straight through from Cincinnati to Kearney, NE

I went to Ohio to volunteer for the 04 election. Had to drive 885 miles straight through to get home in time to work. I listened to Rush, Hannity and the like all the way home for the very same reason you mention.

It works! Being that pissed off makes it all but impossible to be sleepy.

[truedelphi]

36. Here's a small toast to the two

Of us.

:toast:

And thank you for your hard work on that election.

[pnwmom]

38. This Savage is obviously another jerk. She's not drinking free lemonade.

She's drinking the free-market kool-aid.

[truedelphi]

51. Great figure of speech -

Free market cool aid. Hope she wants some unrefined crude with that...

[RandomThoughts]

40. I agree, there is a constant thought put on people.

That everything has some monetary value, and that someone has to pay for anything nice.

Tries to make everything like an economy.

I intentionally do not think of many things that way, and wont, because it just seems wrong for some things.



However, I had the same conversation when I was 12 years old with a friend that was selling baked goods, and running it like a business. But my comment was more along the lines that he was not factoring in the entire cost by just looking at ingredients. Similar to that conversation.



The metaphor for that conversation can be that when people achieve things, sometimes they do not give credit to things that help them reach that point.

It can also be a metaphor for when people do not factor in cost of things like low labor causing tough working conditions overseas.

It can also be a metaphor for 'for free' with the idea of trusting on things like the concepts of karma, not the business world of having to charge for things.

Could even be the idea of best societies, where all selfishness goes away, and everything is free.

Or maybe the society that actually solves its cost of manufacturing and labor, and even resources and energy, and then everything is free, since production would be 100 times demand. Free energy, food, housing, health care, I would guess that would scare the status quo quite a bit.

[blondeatlast]

14. Oops--spoke too soon. nt

[pepperbear]

4. Wait, but that's a :private enterprise" they're running. why would he object to

them being charitable? Don't they always carp about privatizing the poverty industry?

[wndycty]

6. For clarification purposes Terry is a she. . .

:kick:

[LWolf]

44. What's the point of a privatized "poverty industry?"

To make money, of course.

And to gain a captive audience to proselytize.

[wndycty]

45. LOL

:kick:

[XemaSab]

5. Kill me now

x(

[NYC Liberal]

7. Ask him how much Jesus charged for the bread and fish he gave out

to that huge crowd.

[drm604]

8. So she was bothered by them giving away something they didn't own,

but she would have been okay with them selling something they didn't own.

This was little girls playing Terry, not a freaking economic metaphor. :eyes:

[fishwax]

18. I thought that was funny too -- something about it seems so perfectly republican

:rofl:

[drm604]

37. Perfectly Republican

It does, doesn't it. :rofl:

[EFerrari]

25. She was fine with exploiting them for her freaking column.

Republican economics: it's okay if I do it!

[blondeatlast]

9. Um, wow... Words fail.

:banghead:

[Canuckistanian]

11. Reminds me of a Monty Python skit, "Merchant Banker"

A charity organizer goes in to see a businessman (John Cleese, of course) for a donation. The businessman had never heard of the concept of charity, but was intrigued at the concept.

Ultimately, he didn't grasp the idea of charity, but liked the idea of people handing over money because of it, praised the man for his novel idea and gave him a pound. Then he pulled the trap door.

[Puzzler]

39. So his point is that the girls shouldn't give away their parent's lemonade....

... but it's OK for the girls to SELL their parent's lemonade? By his logic, the girls should really be doing neither.

[anigbrowl]

48. HER point is that selling the leminade means they can pay back what it cost

Sure, giving away lemonade is nice. But it's not economically sustainable. If you think it is, But all means get a job with the free lemonade company.

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[blondeatlast]

21. Read on--all the way to the VERY end. nt

[KonaKane]

23. Oooo Terry Weiner!

At least she looks better than her brother (not that much of a compliment).

[Maru Kitteh]

35. I can't find where it says they are related?

What am I missing?

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. Ah neo classical economics, and Homo Economicus

meets... real life... which is proving they are all well... off.

By the way... in Neo Classical Economics Savage is absolutely correct... but as we all are learning (and that includes economists themselves) Homo Economicus is our creation and not quite real.

[Triana]

16. God is the godamned dollar bill? In this country, it's not about

'what more can I give?' ... it's all about 'what more can I TAKE?' It's our history...it's all we've ever done. TAKE. If someone just wants to give, well - there must be something wrong with them, right?

As this guy tried to do, we teach our children, who love and give by default, to hate and take instead.

So they'll, you know, 'fit in' and survive. . . It's what's wrong here, in a nutshell.

http://www.mj-777.com/?p=4464

[fishwax]

17. lol -- not sure what else to say about someone who would be upset by such a thing

:rofl:

:eyes:

[Odin2005]

19. Wow, I'm speechless!

[bbgrunt]

24. .."ask not what your country can do for you, but what

you can do for your country"........my, how things have changed.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

26. Translation: "Hey kids! Join the ratrace and you can grow up to be a rat like me!"

[MadHound]

28. I say we do an experiment in human psychology,

Everybody who meets Terry Savage gives her something. Lemonade, coffee, money, a meal, a smoke, a beer, whatever. Smile sweetly, don't be ironic or sarcastic, just give her something.

Given that she is yelling at kids giving away lemonade, I imagine that with people constantly giving her things, she'll be seriously paranoid or catatonic within a few weeks.

[notesdev]

29. Sometimes, free lemonade

is just free lemonade

[Birthmark]

41. Hard to believe anyone is that misguided

Guess what, Terry! Sometimes people just give stuff away. Get over it.

[chrisa]

42. This strikes me as satire.

Or, it was written by the Grinch.

[wndycty]

43. If you read Terry Savage regularly its harder to think it is satire

:kick:

[Johonny]

46. Yah because, no for profit company has ever given anything away for free

or sold it at a loss. L O L Why are Republicans so bad at business?

[City of Mills]

47. Then he ran over their puppy

While flipping them off.

[Silent3]

49. This article makes more sense with a picture of the author

[Blue Owl]

50. Hey Terry Savage I'll charge you a dollar to GO FUCK YOURSELF

n/t

[joeybee12]

52. Aw, I think we've found the new definition of flaming asshole...n/t

[KurtNYC]

53. Terry, would you feel better if I told you this is a Donald Trump-worthy

business plan? You want these girls to play checkers but they are playing chess:

Your girls are out on the next block, selling their, er, your lemonade for $1 a cup. Meanwhile these girls have been studying WalMart, Napster, coke dealers and Facebook's success. These girls could school you in capitalism -- they are sitting on huge cash reserves which they will use to put their competition out of business, eg. your girls. Who is going to pay for shoddy grade-schooler made lemonade when they can get Nanny-made lemonade for free?! And if you stop in today -- free chocolate with every order!

When the other parents are tapped out, these 2 will be charging $2 a cup and be the only game in town. And we will all be hooked on their delicious lemonade. And the chocolate...

Starbucks -- look out.

[DailyGrind51]

54. Sun-Times readers respond to Terry Savage!

Savage Truth is a cold one
Comments

July 7, 2010

In "There is no 'free' lemonade," Terry Savage encounters little girls who dare to set up a lemonade stand where they -- gasp -- GIVE AWAY lemonade. Horrors! Life must operate on dollar-and-cents calculations or society will crumble -- nothing is free.

Maybe . . . but the Savage approach seems a cold way to live.

I recall a story of "paying it forwards." Some Starbucks customer secretly paid for the coffee of the next person in line. That person, surprised, treated the next customer. This continued for some time, people beaming as they ''gifted'' total strangers.

Of course, Savage has a point: you can't give away what isn't yours; the lemons and sugar belonged to the kids' parents. Children need to learn the value of hard work, of living within their means -- but kindness is a pretty important value, too.

Nothing is free -- but some things, like giving, are priceless.

Diane O'Neill,

North Center
Giving is better than greed

Terry Savage should be ashamed for criticizing the lemonade kids for their generosity.

Encouraging selfishness might not be the lesson the parents of the kids wanted to teach. If the parents provided the lemons, the cups, and the candy for free, they were obviously OK with the idea.

Savage is right about raising taxes, but she would gain a little more respect from me if she included the idea of those who make the most should pay the most. Government giveaways is not what drove us to this economic disaster we now face -- greedy, selfish people did.

James Washington,

Auburn Gresham
Column was a lemon

Right on, Terry! Jesus and the Buddha and all the other loving gods would have charged. That's the spirit! That ''giving'' thing is for fools. Profit above all!

Sybil Hoffman, Evanston

http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/letters/2471406,CST-EDT-vox07a.article

[wndycty]

57. Nice

:kick:

[TalkingDog]

58. She is obviously getting her ass handed to her. Here is her reply to my email of earlier today.....

(Note: At first I bridled at the snarky: Have you read my column...then realized the rest was a boilerplate. People are obviously flooding her with "you are a complete asswipe" letters)

Thank you for your thoughtful note about my column.
Have you actually read it? If not, here's a link:
http://www.suntimes.com/business/savage/2464546,CST-NWS-savage05.savagearticle
I merely explained how kids' lemonade stands have worked for all time -- as a cute way to introduce kids to the real world of starting a small business. I believe that's what America is all about -- the opportunity to join the free enterprise system.

Now if they were charging money for the lemonade to make a profit OR to give it to a charity -- well, either way, that would be wonderful. But simply taking "stuff" out of their parents' kitchen and giving it away to strangers doesn't strike me as responsible behavior on a number of levels.
Isn't it great that we live in America, so we can disagree with each other civilly!


Terry Savage

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Talking Dog
Sent: Wed 07/07/2010 10:07 AM
To: Savage, Terry
Subject: You are absolutely right, that IS what's wrong with America


Some presumptive white woman in an upscale neighborhood driving to a restaurant decides she is the arbiter of how other people choose to raise, teach and treat their children.



Well, turn about is fair play. Let me make a few presumptive judgments about how you choose to behave based on my ethics and mores.



Driving instead of walking or taking public transport: BP Lover



Upscale Neighborhood: Living off the sweat and labor of the under-classes. In addition, since Reagan instituted trickle-on economics, the wealthy have paid less in taxes than at any other time in history. So not only are you benefiting from labor you, yourself did not perform, you are failing to upholding your end of the social contract. You get a lot of breaks from the government that the rest of us poor schmucks don’t because we don’t have the money, power or influence to buy laws that benefit us. We carry your load in proportionally higher taxes based on dollars earned.



Valuing the idea of doing business “properly” over basic humanity: A rigid world view that does not allow for exploration, invention or creation.



i.e. how “Americans” do it or “my family” does it: Also leading me to imagine that you had a childhood replete with a lot of shame and guilt heaped on you by one or more parents whenever you exhibited behavior that went against their idea that childhood has the potential to be a time of both exploration outside societal norms AND learning of current mores and manners. But on the whole, indicative of the worst of American’s obsession with themselves.



Belittling others (your brother’s fiancée) by shouting her down for not subscribing to your world view: There is no other way to say it; Bitchy and Ill-Mannered. And rather along the lines of our last Administration. You’re a Tea Bagger aren’t you?



Sticking your head out of a car window to yell at and belittle children who were giving away things their parents worked for, but may have given their children permission to do or even given it to their kids as a task to teach them humility and service: Possibly in the midst of a psychotic break. Or, it is much more likely that you have Borderline Personality Disorder: marked by histrionic outbursts, paranoia and a compulsion to control. Since you are in your mid 60’s, there’s little possibility that you have a hormonal imbalance due to menopause. But since other illnesses can cause hormonal imbalance. You may want to get that checked out.



Flawed or absent critical thinking skills: If the girl’s parents gave them a (tax deductible) gift and the children choose to share, then by definition, the children were not giving away their parent’s candy, cups or drinks. And if the parent’s gifted the items to their children, wherein lay the costs? This draws the entire basis of your rant into question.



Benefitting from the pain and suffering of others without regard for their humanity: If you don’t believe in service, then why associate yourself with the NorthWestern Memorial Hospital Foundation? Unless that is a coldly calculated politically oriented business-move, with no real concern for the suffering of the people who come to the hospital….. which would be yet another thing that is wrong with America.

[KamaAina]

55. Looks like the Savage Weiner has a bratty little sis.

:eyes:

[Initech]

56. God damn some people really suck.