Why the war against Wal-Mart?

Oak Lawn (IL) Reporter ^ | 4/1/04 | Michael M. Bates

[Iron Matron]

I don't spend a dime in any of those stores, because a part of that dime would end up in the pockets of organizations and people who are enemies of everything I believe in.

Thanks for the info. A Target just opened here, went to look with the hubby. Store was clean, had a good selection of merchandise . .of course its new. It does not take long for stores to fall apart around here.

[Iron Matron]

Make a trip to Costco or a good meat market twice a month.



I usually go to HEB for weekly shopping, and there is an excellent meat market practically across the street.

I dont mind Wal-Mart being in town, I just dont go there.

[nightdriver]

"Opening a Wal-Mart means jobs and plenty of them."

No, Mr. Bates, that is a near-sighted view of the issue.

Wal-Mart is in the vortex between the living standard of the U.S. and the living standards of the countries where Wal-Mart's goods are produced.

Any reputable History of Economics will show that a situation like that will elevate the living standard of the producer and lower the living standard of the consumer.

[Iron Matron]

The society that maximizes efficiency or wealth is not necessarily the best overall society, since the goods sacrificed in order to achieve that efficiency and wealth may in some cases be worth more. Wal-Mart supporters tend to evaluate the effect of Wal-Mart only by counting dollars, and ignore the intangible social goods that Wal-Mart destroys.

***

Excellent! The whole thing, but the paragraph I've chose to paste says exactly what I mean to say and cant!

[Iron Matron]

Oh, and Wal-Mart hires a lot of people over 55. Where else have you seen that happening lately


LOL! Right. Wal-Mart greeters, who are generally nice, elderly people.

Well, they are not given 40 hrs of work, meaning Wal-Mart does not need to provide insurance and other benefits for these people. A lot of their minimum wagers work less than 35 hrs as well - meaning Wal-Mart gets out of paying benefits for them as well.

That Wal-Mart employees are usually grouchy and uncaring is NOT suprising.

Wal-Mart. The friendly employer. Right.

[So Cal Rocket]

http://www.opensecrets.org/overview/topcontribs.asp

[MEGoody]

"Despite what the Wal-Mart spokesman alleges, a manager with a key is not always present."

I'll wait to see what comes out in court. Either party could be twisting the truth to support their position.

[redhead]

"The same meat that my home-town, non-Wal-Mart grocery stores have....bubble wrapped, water-drenched, sodium ''enhanced'' chickens & pork. It's not just Wal-Mart carrying that crap."

The more I read of this kind of information, the more blessed I feel. In the next town is a small, mom-and-pop creamery that sells minimally-processed whole milk with the cream on top in glass bottles. It comes from cows that are strictly grass-fed. They also sell free-range pork and beef, free-range eggs, homemade ice cream, local cheese and butter. For a low-carb shopper like me, it's like going straight to heaven...

[BlazingArizona]

Oh, and Wal-Mart hires a lot of people over 55. Where else have you seen that happening lately LOL! Right. Wal-Mart greeters, who are generally nice, elderly people.

I'm not just talking about the greeters, who I assume are part-timers. This store has over-55's working in various positions. This suits its customer demographic, which draws heavily from Sun City just down the road.

How many over-55's does your average Democrat-run, politically correct San Francisco design house employ?

[breakem]

thanx

[Iron Matron]

How many over-55's does your average Democrat-run, politically correct San Francisco design house employ?

Ha! I dont know, how many?

Sorry, I cant see Wal-Mart as a political party issue or a union issue. Wal-Mart is a local issue. People like Wal-Mart or they dont.

[Mike Bates]

Any reputable History of Economics will show that a situation like that will elevate the living standard of the producer and lower the living standard of the consumer.

How does leaving consumers with more money to spend (because they've saved by paying lower prices) lower their standard of living? Thanks.

[Mike Bates]

A union local in Houston had a new building constructed - with non-union labor - because otherwise they couldn't afford it.

I remember reading many years ago about George Meaney's (then head of the AFL-CIO) yard fence being torn down in a storm. He went non-union to get it fixed.

[Mike Bates]

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

You're not suggesting that Teresa's face would stop a clock, are you? :)

[Taliesan]

Let me just silence this whole thread by observing that both John Kerry and organized labor hate Wal-mart.

There. That should be enough reasons for any rational human to praise and patronize Wal-mart.

[nightdriver]

"How does leaving consumers with more money to spend (because they've saved by paying lower prices) lower their standard of living?"

Because, in the macro view, they have given up their means of earning money to those who produce. They can only spend for a short time without earning more, and they can't earn if their jobs have gone to a foreign country.

It makes little difference how cheap goods are if you don't have any money left to buy them.

Case in point:

The Spanish came back to Spain with a lot of gold from the new world. They used it to buy all sorts of goods manufactured in Italy and other countries who gained the expertise of production.

The end result was that Spain consumed like mad for a while but ended up being very poor after their gold ran out. The producers not only had their gold, but they had the means of production so that they could generate more wealth.

This is the direction America is in danger of heading with respect to India, China, etc.

[nmh]

Walmart has ALWAYS been a conservative Christian biased chain. Maybe THIS is why other freepers hate Walmart. I don't have an issue with them and shop there when they have stuff we need. If the price is right, I buy it there. OTOH, I have NO time for Costco, Target, K Mart who contribute HEAVILY to Demoncrats, yet these are the very stores "conservative" freepers elevate. Amazing how STUPID they are - upholding the liberal hatred of conservative dominated stores who contribute heavily to Republicans. Yet BJ's is heavily conservative too and contribute MORE to the Republicans but that won't stop freepers from shopping there. Talk about hypocrisy!

As for merchandise, heck, K Mart, Target ... they all carry the same assortment, whether it be from China or elsewhere. The best part of Walmart unlike the other cheap dives is that Walmart is NOT unionized!

[GraceCoolidge]

John Kerry’s wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, said a few weeks ago that Wal-Marts "drive me crazy" because "they destroy communities." The same week in a Los Angeles debate, her husband also disclosed his revulsion for the retailer: "And you've got companies like Wal-Mart . . . that hire part-time people, that have actually advertised to come and work, so they won't do their health care."

Funny, when you consider the following information from Drudge in late February:

Teresa Heinz Kerry blasted WAL-MART last week week -- but an investigation reveals she has over $1,000,000 in WAL-MART stock, and purchased a ton of it throughout 2002!

If you search on Drudge using the terms "Kerry," "stock," and "Wal-Mart," you will find the story. It really amuses me when the liberals attack Wal-Mart, always suggesting they would never shop there. I like to say the only thing liberals want to buy from Wal-Mart is the stock! I see from this thread that there are widely divergent opinions on Wal-Mart, but I hope there isn't a lot of dispute as to the Kerrys' hypocrisy.

[m18436572]

Like I said before, I find Wal-Mart's selection in food wide and varied. I will let lurkers make up their own mind about your opinions and mine.

LOL! Dane, you must work at Wal-Mart!

[Mike Bates]

Because, in the macro view, they have given up their means of earning money to those who produce.

Thanks for the response, but it doesn't necessarily follow that consumers who save money at Wal-Mart "have given up their means of earning money to those who produce."