EulerLagrangodamus on Farcaster

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https://warpcast.com/~/channel/cryptoleft

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EulerLagrangodamus

Govt owned grocery stores is a terrible idea. I think what they’re looking for is cooperatives.

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Purp🇵🇸 pfp

How so? Why should New York City pay Billions of dollars in subsidies to corporations that pay poverty wages? Why shouldn't that money instead be used to subsidize at cost groceries?

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EulerLagrangodamus

Because there is a history of govts doing this and it never ends well

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Purp🇵🇸 pfp

Theres a long history of governments subsidizing losses for corporations, and it never ends well Theres a long history of raising police funding and not stopping crime, and it never ends well Theres a long history of lowering taxes on the rich, and it never ends well How come all these are acceptable but subsidizing losses on public grocery stores is a bridge to far

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EulerLagrangodamus

You’re hitting me with a what about-ism. I’m not really interested in debating moral superiority here, but i’m fame if you wanna discuss how more people can be fed. I’m not advocating for subsidies here. I’m just pointing out that the history of govts trying to force an outcome for such an enterprise is not good. I really doubt NYC is subsidizing grocery stores right now. More likely they give out benefits that look like SNAP. SNAP has the benefit of preserving the benefits of the free market (not saying free market is all good, but they do have good properties in healthy markets). If the mayor instead said NYC will expand SNAP (or NYC equiv), and get more grocery stores to accept it, then you’d get more food to people with less money spent. The government is not good at running small businesses.

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EulerLagrangodamus

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2020/05/22/859853877/food-banks-get-the-love-but-snap-does-more-to-fight-hunger

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EulerLagrangodamus

Curious what our beloved /opacity Marxist @cryptokibbutznik.eth thinks. also @tbsocialist

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Josh | The Blockchain Socialist

Other cities in the US have already been doing it to some degree it looks like. According to the article, the state does do a lot of food distribution and logistics as it is. Slight preference for coops but I think it's a worthwhile experiment personally. There are also plenty of state run alcohol stores in places like Sweden and I believe in a couple of US states as well which seem to be doing pretty well. https://foodtank.com/news/2025/06/city-owned-grocery-stores-a-bold-fix-for-food-insecurity/

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EulerLagrangodamus

Even with free rent and tax breaks, Chicago’s feasibility study showed government stores would still need large annual subsidies. Illinois tried this before - 6 stores opened with state funding, 4 closed. Meanwhile, enhanced SNAP benefits are proven to work and reach 9x more people than all food banks combined. If you want cheaper food for low-income people, just increase SNAP - it’s simpler, more effective, and doesn’t require taxpayers to subsidize failed retail operations. Government retail almost always loses to private competition on both cost and efficiency. Govt stores can’t match the purchasing power of govt grocery stores.

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EulerLagrangodamus

Government-owned grocery stores: - Reason magazine: “A Government-Run Grocery Store in Kansas Is Predictably Losing Money” (2023) - WBEZ Chicago: “City-owned grocery stores could be oasis for Chicago’s ‘food deserts’” (2024) - Investigate Midwest: “The government spends millions to open grocery stores in food deserts” (2024) - Kansas State University: St. Paul Supermarket case study SNAP effectiveness: - NPR: “Food Banks Get The Love, But SNAP Does More To Fight Hunger” (2020) - Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: SNAP benefits research (2021-2022) - ScienceDirect: “Hunger relief: A natural experiment from additional SNAP benefits during COVID-19”

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Purp🇵🇸 pfp

Im not advocating or even implying that the government can compete with retail businesses Im saying for the 10-15% of new yorkers that are dealing with food insecurity the current system is not working, and maybe there are other ways to address this issue

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