Goodwill Industries Building Inc: Fill & Download for Free

The exact same way we fund other large projects like Exxon and Boeing, the Goodwill Industries and Apple Inc. . . . oh, and the same way the Union Pacific Railroad was funded, ATT was built and Safeway came to exist. It’s also exactly how the New York City subways were built (before 1913).From Wikipedia: “The first underground line opened on October 27, 1904, almost 35 years after the opening of the first elevated line in New York City, which became the IRT Ninth Avenue Line. By the time the first subway opened, the lines had been consolidated into two privately owned systems, the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT, later Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation, BMT) and the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT). Many present lines were built under the Dual Contracts, and after 1913, all lines built for the IRT and most other lines built or improved for the BRT were built by the city and leased to the companies. The first line of the city-owned and operated Independent Subway System (IND) opened in 1932; this system was intended to compete with the private systems and allow some of the elevated railways to be torn down.”Why is this such a mystery? Libertarians would follow the plan that built the NY City subways right up to: “this [city-owned and operated] system was intended to compete with the private systems.” Libertarians would leave that off the plan.By some people’s thinking (apparently) left to their own devices, some homebuilders would build a bunch of homes to sell for profit. Then developers would build shopping malls across town to profit from commercial rent. Then, everyone would sit around scratching their heads, saying: “How the heck are homeowners ever going to be able to buy anything?”Then, a politician shows up and says: “I have a great idea. I will tax everyone and build these things I call roads.”At which point, everyone else would exclaim: “Brilliant. Why didn’t anyone else think of that?” And, the politician would be widely revered as the wisest person in the community and people would finally be able to actually get to the stores to buy stuff.How has America become so myopic as to be oblivious to the fact that politicians aren’t required to force people into being smart about how to help themselves? I’m kind of astonished that someone posts a question like this not knowing the answer.Society doesn’t need Nixon, Trump, Pelosi, Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan to figure out how we can all work together productively to build the infrastructure we need. We can do fine without those people, thank you very much.

Goodwill Industries IS a 501c3 charity.Their purpose is to “help people overcome challenges to build skills, find jobs and grow their careers through the power of work.” They provide adult literacy classes. They help the formerly incarcerated become employed thus reducing recidivism. They help the disabled acquire workplace skills and gain jobs. They provide digital literacy classes and job search coaching. And those are just the programs that I personally know about at our local Goodwill.Goodwill Industries International, Inc. - Goodwill Industries International

Value Village, a chain of second hand clothing shops.The corporate entity is called Savers, Inc.People donate their clothes and other items thinking VV is a non profit like Goodwill. Or, Savers buys product from non profits in bulk. The stores have the feel of a Goodwill store. But Savers is a for profit company. They did $1 billion in revenue in 2012 and was very profitable.Savers - WikipediaPS. What a great deal — people give you their stuff for free and you sell it. It would be interesting to know what their cost of goods, gross and net margins are. How much do they get for free from well intentioned individuals, and how much do they purchase in bulk from non-profits?Interestingly, Savers’ corporate hq was in the same building as my company for many years, till we relocated to another building. Their offices are small — they are not spending money on an extensive, fancy hq. The company keeps a low profile. I will also say the partners drove interesting exotic cars (Ferrari, Porsche, Alfa 4C). They are doing very very well.