# Do Americans feel anything about big American brands like 711 or Columbia Picture owned by Japan? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 17, 2015, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-feel-anything-about-big-american-brands-like-711-or-columbia-picture-owned-by-japan/734914 "2015-10-17T17:33:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![northporlarbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7bcc69/32.png) [@northporlarbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/northporlarbear)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-feel-anything-about-big-american-brands-like-711-or-columbia-picture-owned-by-japan/734914/21 "2015-10-17T19:58:53Z")
Ah, still, it’s losing what you shouldn’t have to lose. So, I was just asking. It’s still a loss in terms of belongings. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-feel-anything-about-big-american-brands-like-711-or-columbia-picture-owned-by-japan/734914/22 "2015-10-17T20:00:30Z")
But these companies never belonged to you. So what did you lose? ---
**Author:** ![northporlarbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7bcc69/32.png) [@northporlarbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/northporlarbear)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-feel-anything-about-big-american-brands-like-711-or-columbia-picture-owned-by-japan/734914/23 "2015-10-17T20:05:49Z")
As in “national” sense, not “personal” sense. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-feel-anything-about-big-american-brands-like-711-or-columbia-picture-owned-by-japan/734914/24 "2015-10-17T20:14:06Z")
> [@northporlarbear](#): > > Do Americans feel anything about big American brands like 711 or Columbia Picture owned by Japan? > > I was just watching Zombieland on cable TV. Columbia Picture has a historical value in USA. It goes way back. The same for 711 convenience chain. These were bought & owned by Japan today. Do you feel anything about it? Like wanting to buy them back for America or something? Or do you just not care? It’s like something of yours that has been meaningful to you being owned by someone else when you are the one who created & owned those. You no longer own them anymore. Any thoughts? > [@northporlarbear](#): > > Well, people sell & buy business all the time. It’s just that some important American things were sold to outside America rather than to another American. > [@northporlarbear](#): > > It’s not about being afraid of foreigners. It’s about your own valuable things being owned by someone else now. > [@northporlarbear](#): > > No, having attachment to your own self & its belongings has nothing to do with being afraid of foreigners. Blurring the line between foreigners & self makes no sense. There is a clear distinction between the self & the others. > > In an analogy, it’s like someone else dating your wife. Or your work on a lab experiment overtaken by someone else. Or you eating a large pizza but your mother giving away the rest of pizza slices to a neighbor kid. > > You can have attachment to your own self & your belongings without being “afraid” of foreigners. It’s a legitimate feeling you shouldn’t be forced to blur out. But I suppose Americans have been forced to be trained to blur out those boundaries & feeling. It sounds a reverse oppression to me. You shouldn’t have to blur out such. You have the right to attachments. But anyway, I suppose that Americans are forcedly made dull on such. > > “The others do it too” or “we’ve been done that before” isn’t really relevant how an incident is or felt. If anything, you are supposed to feel the same thing on every occasion. > > Maybe the examples are not big enough. If Ford (they invented cars, right?) & General Electrics (is this the Edison one?) were bought over & owned by China, how would you feel? That’s what I was getting at. > [@northporlarbear](#): > > Well, how you feel is how you feel. Not my call. Was just curious while watching that movie “made by Sony”. > > I meant obviously the attachment in the national sense (similar to patriotism, “something good” happening for America, “something not taken away from America” or whatever), not as a personal sense. > [@northporlarbear](#): > > Ah, still, it’s losing what you shouldn’t have to lose. So, I was just asking. It’s still a loss in terms of belongings. > [@northporlarbear](#): > > As in “national” sense, not “personal” sense. **northporlarbear** , why don’t you tell us how you feel about this? Do you feel that you’ve “lost” something? Do you feel that you should not have had to have “lost” something? Does it bother you? Why? ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-feel-anything-about-big-american-brands-like-711-or-columbia-picture-owned-by-japan/734914/25 "2015-10-17T20:32:59Z")
Moving this to Great Debates. Cafe Society is pretty much for things only having to do with music/tv/movies/books. ---
**Author:** ![northporlarbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7bcc69/32.png) [@northporlarbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/northporlarbear)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-feel-anything-about-big-american-brands-like-711-or-columbia-picture-owned-by-japan/734914/26 "2015-10-17T20:46:50Z")
Nah, I was just “curious”. But if I were you, I would prefer the good American things under American name. I would feel better (as if my belongings haven’t been taken away) if some American bought back the American companies. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-feel-anything-about-big-american-brands-like-711-or-columbia-picture-owned-by-japan/734914/27 "2015-10-17T20:47:44Z")
> [@northporlarbear](#): > > Nah, I was just “curious”. But if I were you, I would prefer the good American things under American name. I would feel better (as if my belongings haven’t been taken away) if some American bought back the American companies. Does it bother you that no one cares? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-feel-anything-about-big-american-brands-like-711-or-columbia-picture-owned-by-japan/734914/28 "2015-10-17T20:56:23Z")
> [@northporlarbear](#): > > As in “national” sense, not “personal” sense. They never belonged to the nation either. > [@](#): > > if I were you, I would prefer the good American things under American name Well, since every American here is telling you they don’t care, maybe you should re-evaluate your position. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-feel-anything-about-big-american-brands-like-711-or-columbia-picture-owned-by-japan/734914/29 "2015-10-17T21:17:57Z")
From the movie _Heaven can Wait_ (the 1978 one with Warren Beatty): Former owner: He got my team. The son of a bitch got my team. Advisor to former owner: What kind of pressure did he use, Milt? Former owner: Well, I asked for sixty-seven million, and he said “okay.” Advisor to former owner: Ruthless bastard. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-feel-anything-about-big-american-brands-like-711-or-columbia-picture-owned-by-japan/734914/30 "2015-10-17T22:08:40Z")
> [@northporlarbear](#): > > But if I were you, I would prefer the good American things under American name. I would feel better (as if my belongings haven’t been taken away) if some American bought back the American companies. Why? I _suppose_ if they were nationalized assets that had been bargained away for some political reason, I might be more interested\*. But as noted it just has gone from having one set of owners to another, with no appreciable effect on Americans at all. I guess if the Albanians bought Yosemite and then refused entry to all American citizens I might get miffed ;). I kinda think people who are absurdly proud to an almost tribal extent about things like the state they live in and the teams they root for are already a bit silly ( and I like my state and root for favorite teams ). It somehow seems exponentially sillier to be emotionally attached to some corporation for nationalistic reasons. - Or I might not even then - I really and truly could not give not a shit about something like 7-11, even though 'll stop there occasionally to grab a soda. ---
**Author:** ![BrightNShiny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@BrightNShiny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightNShiny)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-feel-anything-about-big-american-brands-like-711-or-columbia-picture-owned-by-japan/734914/31 "2015-10-17T23:02:21Z")
Think about this. In 1776 (or maybe 1783), a number of British-owned corporations suddenly became American-owned. Mind blown? I thought so. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-feel-anything-about-big-american-brands-like-711-or-columbia-picture-owned-by-japan/734914/32 "2015-10-17T23:34:03Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > But they weren’t my own valuable things. They were valuable things owned by people who happened to citizens of the same nation as I. Now they’re owned by other people who happen to not be citizens of that nation. The only difference between the old owners and the new ones is that the new ones are foreigners. In other words, it’s entirely, 100%, about being afraid of foreigners. Have to agree with this. It’s xenophobia that’s afraid to look in the mirror and accept itself as it is. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2015, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-feel-anything-about-big-american-brands-like-711-or-columbia-picture-owned-by-japan/734914/33 "2015-10-17T23:37:22Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > Have to agree with this. It’s xenophobia that’s afraid to look in the mirror and accept itself as it is. Don’t worry, the OP has issues with Jewish people as well. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-feel-anything-about-big-american-brands-like-711-or-columbia-picture-owned-by-japan/734914/34 "2015-10-18T00:01:53Z")
> [@northporlarbear](#): > > It’s not about being afraid of foreigners. It’s about your own valuable things being owned by someone else now. I’ve just never thought of 7-Eleven® as mine. Now, if Vlad Putin buys up City Barbecue, I will be pissed. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-feel-anything-about-big-american-brands-like-711-or-columbia-picture-owned-by-japan/734914/35 "2015-10-18T00:45:38Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Now, if Vlad Putin buys up City Barbecue, I will be pissed. Ah, but prolly only because it’s a known fact that Putin knows nothing about barbecue, aye? ---
**Author:** ![inscrutable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a88e4f/32.png) [@inscrutable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inscrutable)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-feel-anything-about-big-american-brands-like-711-or-columbia-picture-owned-by-japan/734914/36 "2015-10-18T02:00:24Z")
Is SDMB foreign-owned? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-feel-anything-about-big-american-brands-like-711-or-columbia-picture-owned-by-japan/734914/37 "2015-10-18T02:44:27Z")
> [@northporlarbear](#): > > It’s not about being afraid of foreigners. It’s about your own valuable things being owned by someone else now. It’s always been owned by someone else. I never owned Columbia Pictures or 7-11. Why should I care if the guy who does own it is American or Japanese? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-feel-anything-about-big-american-brands-like-711-or-columbia-picture-owned-by-japan/734914/38 "2015-10-18T03:09:44Z")
No, don’t care. ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-feel-anything-about-big-american-brands-like-711-or-columbia-picture-owned-by-japan/734914/39 "2015-10-18T03:24:30Z")
> [@northporlarbear](#): > > It’s about your own valuable things being owned by someone else now. Did you start either company? Did you get cheated out of your stock in 7/11 or Colombia Pictures? If not, then they never were _your own_ valuable things. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2015, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-feel-anything-about-big-american-brands-like-711-or-columbia-picture-owned-by-japan/734914/40 "2015-10-18T03:27:53Z")
He’s banned. I’m closing this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-feel-anything-about-big-american-brands-like-711-or-columbia-picture-owned-by-japan/734914.md?page=1)