[daveslash]

What about raising prices (at the exclusion of the locals), and then using the increased revenue to philanthropically give back to the community in a meaningful way?

[CocaKoala]

Seems like the way he had before was pretty meaningful to the community, given how bummed people sound about the closure.

[geofft]

There are some things in a capitalist society that are the domain of philanthropy, and some things that are not. A school or library might be a suitable target of philanthropy, but a burger place or pub or barber shop isn't; there's no way to fund it and have it end up the same sort of place it would be on its own.

At best, it can be a target of a GoFundMe or something - but that's just to pay operating costs. The store itself has to operate like a normal capitalist store for the concept to work, accepting customers, charging money, etc. There is no concept in our society of a non-profit burger joint.

[Haegin]

I think daveslash was suggesting the burger joint runs as the for-profit entity that it already is and that it is the source of the philanthropy, not the target.

To give an example, charge exorbitant prices for burgers knowing there are still people desperate enough to try the burger that paying $30 is fine and then use the extra revenue to give back to the community, possibly by paying for the local soccer club to get a new clubhouse, or possibly by providing free/subsidized burgers at local events where the crowd will be local. In this way the business stays open and isn't overwhelmed by the demand, while not completely isolating itself from the local community that the owner wants to give back to.

[geofft]

Yes, that is how I understood 'daveslash. My claim is that this fails to accomplish any of the goals of the burger joint's owner: he wants to provide a burger joint for the community, not a soccer club for the community. Saying "Why don't you run a fancy burger place and help the community in other ways than you wanted" isn't actually a solution to anything.

[daveslash]

Thank you Haegin for clarifying what I was trying to say.

[pbhjpbhj]

Can't you buy a burger place, reduce the price to give zero profit, adjust the price on the fly to ensure zero profit.

Sure you won't necessarily meet demand, but there's no inherent reason quality need suffer(?).

Or, have a coop where staff wages soak up all excess revenue, giving zero profit.

You'd want a contingency, and a savings account if you seek to expand the business, but they're not profit.

We could do that with all businesses I think.

[dcow]

I love this idea: zero profit capitalism. Sure some people would abuse savings accounts more than others, but taxing standing profits on a gradually increasing scale the longer they stand (sure the market already does this at a minute level, but it's not enough to deter wealth hoarding) seems like an effective way to solve the wealth extraction problem corporations introduce.

[ryneandal]

Brings to mind Paul Newman: https://newmansown.com/

[ams6110]

Zero-profit capitalism has another name: hobby.

[pbhjpbhj]

If it pays for your living it's not a hobby.

[cimmanom]

GP is suggesting the burger place become a source (or maybe a conduit) of philanthropy, not a target.