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And modern people wonder how the witch-hunts happened in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. The mob-like response to this is sad and deranged... Many companies w

And modern people wonder how the witch-hunts happened in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. The mob-like response to this is sad and deranged... Many companies will go out of business as a direct response to these closings. Millions of people will lose jobs. Before throwing out insults, consider that GameStop probably has to try and stay open, or they'll go extinct. Considering that a retail employee that sells video games isn't exactly an in-demand profession, you're also looking at the livelihoods of 16,000 full-time and 23-45,000 part-time people. Corporations aren't just faceless bogeymen.

dvtrn 7y ago
They already are going extinct, without the help of COVID-19. Let it die, I say.
neuronic 7y ago
Doesn't change the vile and egocentrical nature of this business decision. There are many reasons why GameStop should finally die. Exposing their employees to the current danger in order to remain operational to continue selling games is just one more.
ThrowawayR2 7y ago
> "Before throwing out insults, consider that GameStop probably has to try and stay open, or they'll go extinct." At the potential risk of human lives? Even if we say that customers are coming in voluntarily, it isn't the executives at GameStop manning the counter at these stores; if it were, people would have less objection. Those staff are ordinary people like you or I.
- ceilingcorner 7y ago
  This is a short-sighted view. If GameStop closes, they will go out of business. If they go out of business, these employees will lose their jobs. I see no reason why a GameStop employee can't just quit or refuse to come to work if he/she fears getting infected.
  - braythwayt 7y ago
    > I see no reason why a GameStop employee can't just quit or refuse to come to work if he/she fears getting infected. You see no reason? I'll give you one: In most jurisdictions, if your employer lays you off or closes their doors, you can apply for some kind of benefits, e.g. EI up here in Canada. But if you quit your job on principle, you don't get benefits and have to live on whatever savings you've amassed working a retail job. It seems you believe that everything should remain open, everyone should keep going to work, and hey, if you don't like it, quit your job and stay home. That is not how a society gets through a pandemic, no way, no how. If you were in charge, millions of people would die. But they'd "Have their freedom to choose for themselves." So there's that.
    - ceilingcorner 7y ago
      Sure, this is a legitimate concern. But I don't think black-and-white thinking is really the answer here. There are solutions in between shut everything down and keep it all open.
  - edmundsauto 7y ago
    Do you support unemployment benefits for employees who quit because of coronavirus?
    - ceilingcorner 7y ago
      Sure, and that might have been a better solution than simply forcing everyone to go on unemployment, which is what will probably happen now.
      - edmundsauto 7y ago
        Can you explain your rationale behind your thinking? I assume you were being hyperbolic with "everyone", aka 100%. What percentage do you actually think will hit the dole lines? How confident are you in that prediction? What behaviors of yours have changed because of this confidence? I've seen a lot of "the economy will tank because consumers can't visit shops". I've seen a lot of friends in food & bev lose their jobs. I haven't seen much in the way of hard numbers. Seems to me that a huge increase in worldwide deaths and a huge increase in sick time absences would be economically worse than lockdown.
braythwayt 7y ago
Excuse me, but let's stop this line of thinking right now. No business has a right to do whatever it thinks it must to survive. Tobacco companies don't get to do whatever they think they must to survive. If a restaurant is in trouble, it doesn't get to tell its employees to speed up service by not washing their hands, nor does it get to hire employees under the table for cash to avoid payroll taxes or minimum wage, nor does it get to serve slaughtered horse to save money on beef. Companies do not have an inalienable right to existence. If they cannot make money while being good members of society, they must close or be forcibly closed.
- ceilingcorner 7y ago
  First off, don't start any conversation by telling someone to stop thinking contrarian thoughts. Secondly, the risk of dying from the coronavirus from working at or going into a small video game shop is negligible. You are far more likely to get it at Walmart or a grocery store. Are you calling for the closure of these stores too? Thirdly, you are painting GameStop as some faceless entity. People work there. These people probably rely on their income to survive.
  - braythwayt 7y ago
    You think the risk is negligible. The rest of the world does not. Good for you being a "contrarian," but neither you nor Gamestop get to act on each and every one of your contrarian thoughts. Lots of people, if left to decide these matters for themselves, decide that the risks of their behaviour are negligible. That's why Spring Break is crowded. But you aren't even framing this correctly. It is not just about the risk of a 20-something retail employee dying. It's also about the risk of them transmitting it to each other and to customers, who in turn transmit it to people who have a non-negligible risk of dying. Get a grip. This is not an abstract argument, we are watching thousands of people die from this, and we believe that community transmission comes from otherwise healthy people passing it around long before they have any symptoms at all, and those carriers need not die to cause the deaths of others.
    - ceilingcorner 7y ago
mikestew 7y ago
The mob-like response to this is sad and deranged... In stark contrast to “profits über alles”, which is perfectly A-OK. Here ya go, folks: if you want the voice of late-stage capitalism, it’s right there in print. The only thing missing is a nod to “job creators”.
jsjddbbwj 7y ago
You must be a troll to say you'd rather save GameStop, a corporation that only has a few years left, instead of stopping the spread of a serious disease.

dvtrn 7y ago

They already are going extinct, without the help of COVID-19. Let it die, I say.

neuronic 7y ago

Doesn't change the vile and egocentrical nature of this business decision. There are many reasons why GameStop should finally die. Exposing their employees to the current danger in order to remain operational to continue selling games is just one more.

ThrowawayR2 7y ago

> "Before throwing out insults, consider that GameStop probably has to try and stay open, or they'll go extinct." At the potential risk of human lives? Even if we say that customers are coming in voluntarily, it isn't the executives at GameStop manning the counter at these stores; if it were, people would have less objection. Those staff are ordinary people like you or I.

ceilingcorner 7y ago
This is a short-sighted view. If GameStop closes, they will go out of business. If they go out of business, these employees will lose their jobs. I see no reason why a GameStop employee can't just quit or refuse to come to work if he/she fears getting infected.
- braythwayt 7y ago
  > I see no reason why a GameStop employee can't just quit or refuse to come to work if he/she fears getting infected. You see no reason? I'll give you one: In most jurisdictions, if your employer lays you off or closes their doors, you can apply for some kind of benefits, e.g. EI up here in Canada. But if you quit your job on principle, you don't get benefits and have to live on whatever savings you've amassed working a retail job. It seems you believe that everything should remain open, everyone should keep going to work, and hey, if you don't like it, quit your job and stay home. That is not how a society gets through a pandemic, no way, no how. If you were in charge, millions of people would die. But they'd "Have their freedom to choose for themselves." So there's that.
  - ceilingcorner 7y ago
    Sure, this is a legitimate concern. But I don't think black-and-white thinking is really the answer here. There are solutions in between shut everything down and keep it all open.
- edmundsauto 7y ago
  Do you support unemployment benefits for employees who quit because of coronavirus?
  - ceilingcorner 7y ago
    Sure, and that might have been a better solution than simply forcing everyone to go on unemployment, which is what will probably happen now.
    - edmundsauto 7y ago
      Can you explain your rationale behind your thinking? I assume you were being hyperbolic with "everyone", aka 100%. What percentage do you actually think will hit the dole lines? How confident are you in that prediction? What behaviors of yours have changed because of this confidence? I've seen a lot of "the economy will tank because consumers can't visit shops". I've seen a lot of friends in food & bev lose their jobs. I haven't seen much in the way of hard numbers. Seems to me that a huge increase in worldwide deaths and a huge increase in sick time absences would be economically worse than lockdown.

braythwayt 7y ago

Excuse me, but let's stop this line of thinking right now. No business has a right to do whatever it thinks it must to survive. Tobacco companies don't get to do whatever they think they must to survive. If a restaurant is in trouble, it doesn't get to tell its employees to speed up service by not washing their hands, nor does it get to hire employees under the table for cash to avoid payroll taxes or minimum wage, nor does it get to serve slaughtered horse to save money on beef. Companies do not have an inalienable right to existence. If they cannot make money while being good members of society, they must close or be forcibly closed.

ceilingcorner 7y ago
First off, don't start any conversation by telling someone to stop thinking contrarian thoughts. Secondly, the risk of dying from the coronavirus from working at or going into a small video game shop is negligible. You are far more likely to get it at Walmart or a grocery store. Are you calling for the closure of these stores too? Thirdly, you are painting GameStop as some faceless entity. People work there. These people probably rely on their income to survive.
- braythwayt 7y ago
  You think the risk is negligible. The rest of the world does not. Good for you being a "contrarian," but neither you nor Gamestop get to act on each and every one of your contrarian thoughts. Lots of people, if left to decide these matters for themselves, decide that the risks of their behaviour are negligible. That's why Spring Break is crowded. But you aren't even framing this correctly. It is not just about the risk of a 20-something retail employee dying. It's also about the risk of them transmitting it to each other and to customers, who in turn transmit it to people who have a non-negligible risk of dying. Get a grip. This is not an abstract argument, we are watching thousands of people die from this, and we believe that community transmission comes from otherwise healthy people passing it around long before they have any symptoms at all, and those carriers need not die to cause the deaths of others.
  - ceilingcorner 7y ago

mikestew 7y ago

The mob-like response to this is sad and deranged... In stark contrast to “profits über alles”, which is perfectly A-OK. Here ya go, folks: if you want the voice of late-stage capitalism, it’s right there in print. The only thing missing is a nod to “job creators”.

jsjddbbwj 7y ago

You must be a troll to say you'd rather save GameStop, a corporation that only has a few years left, instead of stopping the spread of a serious disease.