Vampire Squid

Chat GPT – write a paragraph about Goldman Sachs as a squid:

Goldman Sachs is a well-known investment bank and financial services company, often referred to as “The Squid” due to its logo resembling a squid. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs has grown to become one of the most influential and profitable financial institutions in the world. The company’s reputation for excellence in investment banking and wealth management has attracted high-profile clients, including governments, corporations, and individuals. However, the company has also been at the center of controversies, including allegations of fraud, insider trading, and unethical behavior. Despite these issues, Goldman Sachs has continued to maintain a dominant position in the financial industry, with a strong focus on innovation and technology. Overall, while Goldman Sachs may be known as a “squid” due to its logo, its impact on the global financial system cannot be underestimated.

Chat GPT – write a paragraph about Goldman Sachs as a vampire squid:

Goldman Sachs has also been referred to as a “vampire squid” due to a widely circulated 2010 article in Rolling Stone magazine, which accused the company of being a “great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money.” The article accused Goldman Sachs of engaging in unethical practices such as market manipulation and taking advantage of clients. While the article was highly critical of the company, Goldman Sachs has since made efforts to address some of the issues raised in the article, such as improving transparency and reducing conflicts of interest. Nonetheless, the “vampire squid” label has stuck and remains a symbol of the company’s controversial past.

Write a paragraph about Casella Waste Systems:

Casella Waste Systems is a leading solid waste management company in the United States. Established in 1975, the company has grown to become a highly respected provider of waste management solutions across multiple states. Casella Waste Systems offers a range of services including collection, transportation, recycling, and disposal of residential, commercial, and industrial waste. The company operates modern facilities and uses advanced technologies to ensure environmentally sound and efficient waste management practices. Casella Waste Systems is committed to sustainability and continually works to reduce its environmental impact by promoting recycling, using renewable energy, and investing in sustainable technologies. Overall, Casella Waste Systems is a trusted waste management partner for communities and businesses alike.

Write a paragraph about how Casella Waste Systems has grown:

Over the years, Casella Waste Systems has grown through a combination of strategic acquisitions and organic expansion. The company started as a small family-owned business in Vermont, and has since expanded its operations to cover multiple states in the Northeast and Midwest regions of the United States. Casella Waste Systems has a strong reputation for providing high-quality waste management services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The company’s growth has been driven by its focus on innovation and sustainability, which has helped it to stay ahead of the curve in a rapidly evolving industry. Additionally, Casella Waste Systems has been able to build strong relationships with customers and communities by providing personalized and reliable waste management solutions. Overall, Casella Waste Systems’ growth can be attributed to its commitment to sustainability, customer satisfaction, and strategic expansion.

Is Casella Waste Systems a vampire squid?

No, Casella Waste Systems is not a “vampire squid.” This term is typically used to refer to the investment bank Goldman Sachs, which has been accused of engaging in unethical practices in the past. Casella Waste Systems is a waste management company that provides collection, transportation, recycling, and disposal services for residential, commercial, and industrial waste. While the waste management industry has faced criticism for its environmental impact, there is no evidence or widely held belief that Casella Waste Systems engages in unethical or predatory practices. The company has a strong reputation for sustainability and ethical conduct, and is committed to reducing its carbon footprint and promoting environmentally sound waste management practices.

This week, the contract for trash removal at my park in central New York arrived in the mail.  My current contract, which I entered into in February 2021, expired at the beginning of March.  Under the old contract, I paid $288 a month for once-a-week haulage in a fifty-lot park, plus $20 per any extra site.  Those prices went up to $333 and $22.50 as of March 1 of this year.  I contemplated pushing back, or at least researching the market.  After five minutes, I said, ‘fuck it’, signed the contract and dropped it in the mail.

The trash hauler in that park is Casella.  Every dumpster and trash bin you see in that part of central New York has the Casella logo stenciled to it.  You also see the logo in Rochester, Albany, Maine, Boston, Worchester, and Pittsburgh.  As with the roar of the sun, you do not notice it until you notice it – and then you see it everywhere, behind your eyeballs and in front of them, like a centifoliate jellyfish as big as and shaped like the Northeast and the northern Midwest, covering the region with dripping, translucent glop.[1]

The last time Casella increased my rates was in 2017.  When that happened, I found a locally-based trash hauler called Alternative Waste Services who offered a lower rate.  I called Casella to tell them that I would switch my contract to Alternative Waste Services.  Casella matched AWS’ prices, then undercut them, and then offered me a two-year contract.  I re-upped with Casella and began to use AWS for one-offs and construction waste.  Then, two years later, Casella bought AWS.  That was when I realized that Casella was a vampire squid.  It had the resources, economies of scale, equity cushion and patience to play the long game.  Unless I was going to start a waste management company myself, I was at their mercy.

I do not mean to say that the new contract is unreasonable.  The CPI increased by 7.5% over 2021.  During 2022, it increased by 6.4%.  With compounding, that is close enough to Casella’s price increase to not complain.  In absolute terms, $333 a month for garbage service in a fifty-lot park is a fair price.  The problem is that, with the competition gone, I would have little recourse if Casella were to decide to be unreasonable.  I understand that the uomini d’onore who control water rights in Sicily are courteous to their customers.  They charge a reasonable amount and do not issue overt threats.  But that is because they have a monopoly on rights to that essential resource, and the consequences of a shake-down, should it occur, would be severe.

(One of the earlier seasons of the Sopranos called, I believe, ‘Mafia Class of ‘04’, explores the challenges and opportunities encountered by a group of older male-identifying adults who had gone to prison during the 80s as they re-enter society.  In one scene, an octogenarian who is angry about a young forty-something who is moving in on his landscaping business grabs the kid by the nuts and throws him into a trash compacter.  That is what I think, when I think ‘Casella – shakedown’.)

Before rent control, an increase in expenses could be passed on to residents through a price increase.  That is not possible anymore – at least, not in states with rent control laws, like New York.  If Casella squeezes too hard, I could do one of two things.  I could stop providing trash collection services as part of the rent, or I could take garbage operations in-house.  Either one would be workable, but neither would be easy.  Making residents responsible for their own trash would destroy goodwill and necessitate a lot of whip-cracking.  Buying a truck and paying the maintenance guy to pick up trash once a week would be a capital outlay that might not pay off in the end, and would engender operational headaches.

Or – I could research the market, get comfortable with what I am paying, grab my ankles and say, ‘BOHICA’.

Pierre Trudeau said that living next to the United States is like sleeping with an elephant.  No matter how friendly and even-tempered the beast is, you are affected by every twitch and grunt.  That is also what it is like, living with a giant vampire squid. Even if the mollusc is well-managed and environmentally-conscious, you feel every pulse and contraction of the gladius, siphon and tentacles.

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[1] Wherever I travel, Casella wounds me.  Last year, my wife and I took a trip to Fort Kent, Maine, the northern terminus of Route 1 and one of the corners of the USA four corners motorcycle trail.  Fort Kent is remote; it sits on a stretch of the St. John River narrow enough to throw a baseball across opposite a small New Brunswick town.  It is north of where most of the population of Canada lives, the diners serve poutine, and students at the local college wear sweat shirts that read ‘UMFK’ unironically.   The dumpsters in Fort Kent bear the Casella logo.