“We are entitled to more money from the only industry in the county – Jack Daniel’s distillery,” said Charles Rogers, a 75-year-old retiree and self-described “concerned citizen” of Moore County – home to Lynchburg and Jack Daniel’s.
Rogers wants the proposed tax to pay the bills for new schools, roads, bridges, even a new water treatment plant.
Rogers says Moore County is “entitled” to more money because Jack Daniel’s used bucolic images of small-town life in Lynchburg to sell its product. And as Norman Rockwell made a living off of his iconic images of Americana, so too should Lynchburg, according to Rogers.
If Mr. Rogers thinks that people buy Jack Daniel's simply for the "bucolic images" he probably believes that Häagen-Dazs is made in a scenic town in Denmark.
Were it not for Jack Daniel's there probably wouldn't be a Lynchburg, Tennessee. The company is the largest employer in the county and supports a tourism industry that probably keeps every other business in the town alive. If anything, Moore County owes thanks to Jack Daniel's for the county's prosperity.
Rogers claims the distiller could simply raise the price of their product and pass along the new tax. In other words, he feels that not only is the county "entitled" to the distiller's profit, but is entitled to collect from everyone who buys the product, where ever they live.
This sort of thinking is like a creeping infestation that is slowly destroying our country. People who subscribe to this entitlement mentality no longer wish to strive for success, instead they scheme to take from others what they can't, or won't, earn for themselves.
See "Jack Daniel's Faces More Taxes From Cash-Strapped Hometown in Tennessee" for more on this infuriating story.
Silly 75 y.o. whipper snapper.
ReplyDeleteWhat are they teaching in government and civics classes in 1952?
It almost makes one wonder if they could get away with threatening to move production elsewhere. On the one hand, they built up so much of their marketing on Lynchburg and Tennessee. On the other hand, that kind of "location identity" seems to me jack-all for the likes of Coors, Budweiser, Yuengling, and even Flying Dog and New Belgium, all of which have or are planning satellite breweries..... to say nothing of Guinness being brewed in 53 countries, last I heard.....
ReplyDeleteI admittedly don't buy a lot of Jack, but if they up and moved I'd buy a bunch of bottles, to use as gifts maybe! :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to the day when we would just tell a 75 year old socialist to sit down and STFU? No. Local news wants in on the OWS frenzy. Sheesh.
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