# Is It Wrong To Use Coupons? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 9, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wrong-to-use-coupons/577793 "2011-04-09T19:05:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wrong-to-use-coupons/577793/61 "2011-04-11T19:29:25Z")
> [@emacknight](#): > > It’s not about the $10 savings, the message is that we need to be overpaying if we’re going to pay people a living wage, with benefits, and no outsourcing/offshoring. Congratulations. Now _ **I’m** _ fucking poor because you think a cashier deserves a living wage and a librarian doesn’t. I repeat, if this is a joke thread, why hasn’t it been locked? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wrong-to-use-coupons/577793/62 "2011-04-11T19:35:09Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > I don’t think communists understand the concept of free enterprise and should therefore have all of their money taken away and put into individual trust funds to be micromanaged. This would help the unemployment situation by creating more trust fund operators. > > Problem solved. Communist Trust Fund Babies. It’s enough to make Marx’s head spin. ---
**Author:** ![emacknight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ec8ea/32.png) [@emacknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emacknight)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wrong-to-use-coupons/577793/63 "2011-04-11T19:37:03Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Congratulations. Now _ **I’m** _ fucking poor because you think a cashier deserves a living wage and a librarian doesn’t. Crap, you’re right, I forgot about civil servants. Some how we need to get people to over pay on their taxes, or tip their librarians. Either way, people paid from tax revenue deserve a living wage too. Could we just up the overdue fines? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wrong-to-use-coupons/577793/64 "2011-04-11T19:39:26Z")
I went to my library the other day to pay off my fine (about $7). They told me to come back when I had something smaller than a $20. I should have just put the $20 in the book dropoff bin… ☹ ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wrong-to-use-coupons/577793/65 "2011-04-11T19:55:33Z")
> [@Delayed\_Reflex](#): > > Anyone who thinks this is a serious thread should just look up some of **emacknight** ’s previous threads. It’ll be interesting to see if any of the posters whose views he is parodying have anything to say about this thread :o Heh… I wondered about that- it’s not quite coherent enough to really be serious, but I thought the coupon thing was worth repeating. ---
**Author:** ![Nadir](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nadir/32/7302_2.png) [@Nadir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nadir)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wrong-to-use-coupons/577793/66 "2011-04-11T20:08:17Z")
> [@emacknight](#): > > Good point, we need a way for the people with money to have more of it to spend. What if we had less stuff available for poor people to buy? Would that work, too? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![emacknight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ec8ea/32.png) [@emacknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emacknight)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wrong-to-use-coupons/577793/67 "2011-04-11T20:21:25Z")
> [@Nadir](#): > > What if we had less stuff available for poor people to buy? Would that work, too? 😕 No, poor people should have more money to spend. And I guess the stuff they buy should be cheaper. Which is why I’m trying to get this tipping thing going. Right now all the money ends up in the hands of rich people who just keep getting richer and richer. We need them to overpay so that workers (all workers) get a fair wage (even librarians). But some how we have to keep products from costing more, because then even if we give poor people more money, they would lose out to inflation. ---
**Author:** ![Nadir](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nadir/32/7302_2.png) [@Nadir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nadir)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wrong-to-use-coupons/577793/68 "2011-04-11T21:01:05Z")
> [@emacknight](#): > > Good point, we need a way for the people with money to have more of it to spend. > [@emacknight](#): > > No, poor people should have more money to spend. Either we have some coherency issues here or we just need to print more money and start passing it out freely to anyone who wants. ---
**Author:** ![emacknight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ec8ea/32.png) [@emacknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emacknight)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wrong-to-use-coupons/577793/69 "2011-04-11T21:05:39Z")
> [@Nadir](#): > > Either we have some coherency issues here or we just need to print more money and start passing it out freely to anyone who wants. I’d be up for that, what could possibly go wrong? The government prints the money, so why not print more of it. They can have some for social programs, give some to poor people, and use the rest to reduce taxes on the rich. ---
**Author:** ![emacknight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ec8ea/32.png) [@emacknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emacknight)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wrong-to-use-coupons/577793/70 "2011-04-11T21:07:03Z")
Unless someone else has a better idea for how we get everyone to have more money. ---
**Author:** ![Nadir](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nadir/32/7302_2.png) [@Nadir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nadir)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wrong-to-use-coupons/577793/71 "2011-04-11T21:11:09Z")
Spending less and saving more has always worked for me in the past. Nah, stupid idea - that would NEVER work, especially when people have coupons to use!! ---
**Author:** ![emacknight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ec8ea/32.png) [@emacknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emacknight)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wrong-to-use-coupons/577793/72 "2011-04-11T21:40:20Z")
> [@Nadir](#): > > Spending less and saving more has always worked for me in the past. But if you don’t spend, people will be fired. They can’t save when they earn zero dollars! We need you to over spend so that people can be paid more. ---
**Author:** ![Nadir](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nadir/32/7302_2.png) [@Nadir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nadir)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wrong-to-use-coupons/577793/73 "2011-04-11T22:15:22Z")
> [@emacknight](#): > > We need you to over spend so that people can be paid more. You mean "over"spend, or spend money I don’t actually have, like on credit? ---
**Author:** ![emacknight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ec8ea/32.png) [@emacknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emacknight)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wrong-to-use-coupons/577793/74 "2011-04-11T22:21:55Z")
> [@Nadir](#): > > You mean "over"spend, or spend money I don’t actually have, like on credit? Either is fine with me. But what I meant was that we really need to you pay more than retail. Oops, that’s what I mean by over spend, not necessarily spend beyond your means. I just mean pay more for the stuff you buy. If it requires running up a credit card I guess we’ll deal with that in 4-6 weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Nadir](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nadir/32/7302_2.png) [@Nadir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nadir)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wrong-to-use-coupons/577793/75 "2011-04-12T13:56:24Z")
> [@emacknight](#): > > I just mean pay more for the stuff you buy. If it requires running up a credit card I guess we’ll deal with that in 4-6 weeks. Ohhh, now I get it! You mean shop more like my wife. Sorry, not gonna go there. Better work on getting taxes raised or something similar which I have less personal control over. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wrong-to-use-coupons/577793/76 "2011-04-12T14:02:30Z")
Is this a debate or a joke thread? ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wrong-to-use-coupons/577793/77 "2011-04-12T14:16:29Z")
> [@emacknight](#): > > How can you be so cold? People will lose their jobs! Why should the cashier suffer because the guy in marketing is a tool? Like I said earlier, this might be a scheme by the top execs to create short term gains, pump the stock, then parachute to safety with their $5million bonuses. I can guarantee you the cashier won’t get a $5million bonus when the store closes. She’ll be out on the street starving to death. All because of me. And then you can buy her a McDonald’s hamburger with the leftover $10. Heck, you’d even have enough for a Shamrock shake to boot. ---
**Author:** ![Nadir](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nadir/32/7302_2.png) [@Nadir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nadir)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wrong-to-use-coupons/577793/78 "2011-04-12T14:16:37Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Is this a debate or a joke thread? I think it’s a joke-debate thread. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![emacknight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ec8ea/32.png) [@emacknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emacknight)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wrong-to-use-coupons/577793/79 "2011-04-12T15:18:11Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > And then you can buy her a McDonald’s hamburger with the leftover $10. Heck, you’d even have enough for a Shamrock shake to boot. Like I said, it’s not enough to spend $10 at McDonalds. All I’m doing is making their employees poorer while making the capitalists richer. We need to be tipping at McDonalds. And this isn’t a joke guys. This is really really real. Doe the term “jobless recovery mean anything to you?” What about labour arbitrage? Plutocracy? Productivity has increased, but real wages have fallen. All because the American consumer demands low low prices. We call it efficiency, but what we’re really doing is playing off of desperation. Letting businesses compete until one of them is forced to close their doors. What we don’t see is that it’s all a game played by rich people. When a business goes under they get a $5milllion bonus and a trip to Spain. That’s real, really real. It’s the wage-slave employees that lose when businesses compete. They lose their job, their health benefits, their homes. What does the employee gain when businesses compete? Nothing. What has competition done for the American Worker? Nothing. We need to stop competition or else people will riot like they did in another country far away for unrelated reasons. This is real people, wake up, and stop drinking discount Kool-aid. Wait, no, you need to drink more of it because Kraft Foods employees a lot of people. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wrong-to-use-coupons/577793/80 "2011-04-12T18:07:54Z")
> [@emacknight](#): > > Like I said, it’s not enough to spend $10 at McDonalds. All I’m doing is making their employees poorer while making the capitalists richer. We need to be tipping at McDonalds. OK, but if you tip at McDonalds you won’t have enough money to buy all your daily sustenance and then you’ll be the one starving on the street. Do you think the makers of coupons care that it will lead to worldwide hunger? That every coupon you use brings you one step closer to death? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wrong-to-use-coupons/577793.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-wrong-to-use-coupons/577793.md?page=5)