Despite what you may have heard, Wal-Mart is not evil. They do not hold séances in the meat department, I assure you.Did they put "mom and pop" stores out of business? Yes. Do they make it difficult for other corporations to compete? Yes. Is this a horrid offense? No.
We are a society founded in the idea of capitalism and we cannot turn our backs on that ideal when it doesn't suit us and hope that we can stand behind it when it helps us thrive. Mom and pop stores do not employ thousands of American workers who may then go home, feed their children, and possibly even spend their hard earned Wal-Mart dollars at your place of business (thus, helping you thrive and continue the cycle).
First, let me speak to an offensive you are likely to put up; the foreign product argument. Ever checked your labels at Target? Not too many are made in the good old US of A. Next, the treatment of Wal-Mart employees here in the states. They seem very happy to me (actually, they're quite polite and pleasant in my town). If dissatisfied, Burger King is always hiring and who wouldn't jump at the chance to eat free whoppers?
So, if you are still irate about Wal-Mart's hold on America, buy stock in the company and make it your next shopping trip. You know the old saying, "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em." Well, let me save you the suspense...you can't beat 'em.
6 comments:
I just have one question for all the hockey moms and Joe six packs out there: how has that capitalism thing been working for ya' when it comes to the mortgage crisis and the whole banking and investment industry? Or take the automobile industry for that matter.
Sure, things will eventually correct themselves. The problem is, that could take years. In the meantime, we're back in 1929 unless our "elected leaders" use our kid's money to bail them all out.
Funny thing about bail outs... you give some of the banks money and they blow it on bonuses and meetings at fancy hotels, all in the name of business. Or the fat cat politicians chide the automotive CEOs for waste, over the edge medical benefits for their employees, huge pensions and general waste and yet look - those same politicians are guilty of, you guessed it, the best medical coverage our money can buy them, pensions to die for and they waste so much money. Oh, don't get me started.
Capitalism at its best...Wal-Mart will only be happy when they are the only store out there. Then it's not capitalism, it's a monopoly and their master plan is complete.
The auto companies capitalists? Thanks to the UAW, capitalism has no place in the U.S. auto industry. They are the epitome of socialism.
That is what doesn't work.
As far as the mortgage crisis goes, if we'd take some responsibility for our own financing, the government wouldn't have to waste time and resources regulating the heck out of us.
I don't expect, nor do I trust, the government or the mortgage company to tell me what, if any, kind of house I can afford.
Better face reality. Those uof us that do take personal responsibility will always pay the way for those that don't.
The mortgage crisis originated with the influence of Wall Street - can you say "Big Business?" Tumbling house values were the result and thus began the cycle. No house value = less money. Less money = lower house values.
Season's Greetings to Wal-Mart from the University of California/Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education! The UC Berkeley Labor Center has been producing research since 1964, but this week the research team released not one---but two---studies, neither of which you will find under Wal-Mart's Christmas Tree.
According to the first report, "A Downward Push: The Impact of Wal-Mart Stores on Retail Wage and Benefits," researchers found that employees at Wal-Mart earn lower average wages and receive less generous benefits than workers employed by many other large retailers. "Our research finds that Wal-Mart store openings lead to the replacement of better paying jobs with jobs that pay less," the Labor Center reports. "Wal-Mart's entry also drives wages down for workers in competing industry segments such as grocery stores."
The study examined Wal-Mart store openings for the 8 year period 1992 to 2000, and found that the opening of a single Wal-Mart store in a county lowered average retail wages in that county by between 0.5 and 0.9 percent. "In the general merchandise sector, wages fell by 1% for each new Wal-Mart. And for grocery store employees, the effect of a single new Wal-Mart was a 1.5% reduction in earnings," the study concludes. With an average of 50 Wal-Mart stores per state, the average wages for retail workers were 10% lower, and their job-based health coverage rate was 5 percentage points less than they would have been without Wal-Mart's presence. "Nationally, the retail wage bill in 2000 was estimated to be $4.5 billion less in nominal terms due to Wal-Mart's presence." This suggests that workers in 2000 would have taken home $4.5 billion more in their total paycheck if Wal-Mart had not been around.
"Overall," the researchers say, "the results strongly support the hypothesis that Wal-Mart entry lowers wages and benefits of retail workers." With more than 1.3 million American workers, Wal-Mart accounts for 55% of all general merchandise workers. In the area of large general merchandise companies with more than 1,000 employees, Wal-Mart workers earned 25% less than workers at competitor stores. Wal-Mart's impact on grocery store workers is especially dramatic. Wages of unionized supermarket workers are 27% higher than their non-union counterparts.
The UC study also found no evidence of job gains when a Wal-Mart opens. "Our study demonstrates that the opening of new Wal-Mart stores produces a decline not just in average wages," researchers explain, "but in the total wage bill of a county." As for health care benefits, the new study reports that 10 new Wal-Mart stores in a state caused a 1 percentage point drop in the proportion of retail workers getting health insurance from their workers.
Wow, they get benefits and health insurance??? Nice. I don't.
My sister worked at Meijer for years and their wages were very low and no benefits.
But, if Wal-Mart employees would rather go to Meijer...it's a free country.
The title of this blog is Wal-Mart is not the Devil. So, you missed the point of the previous post, summed up here: "Overall," the researchers say, "the results strongly support the hypothesis that Wal-Mart entry lowers wages and benefits of retail workers."
Not the devil perhaps but Wal-Mart sure isn't Jesus, either!
Post a Comment