What Does the War on Wal-Mart Mean?

City Journal ^ | Spring 2004 | Steven Malanga

[quidnunc]

Here is a story you’re unlikely to read in the spate of press attacks on Wal-Mart these days:

When Hartford, Connecticut, tore down a blighted housing project, city officials hatched an innovative plan to redevelop the land: lure Wal-Mart there, entice other retailers with the promise of being near the discount giant, and then use the development’s revenues to build new housing. Wal-Mart, after some convincing, agreed, and city officials and neighborhood residents celebrated a big win — better shopping, more jobs, and new housing in one of America’s poorest cities.

But then, out of nowhere, outsiders claiming to represent the local community began protesting. Astonished city leaders and local residents quickly discovered the forces fueling the campaign: a Connecticut chapter of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union; and ACORN, the radical community group. Outraged residents fought back, denouncing outside interference, but opponents persisted, filing three separate lawsuits that have delayed construction, including a ludicrous suit claiming that the development would destroy unique vegetation that has sprouted since the housing project came down. “These people looked for every possible reason to stop a project that the community wants,” says Jackie Fongemie, a frustrated community activist who has fought for the store. “Where were the environmentalists when rats were running wild around this place?”

Though Wal-Mart has encountered opposition for years from anti-sprawl activists or small-town merchants worried about the competition, the Hartford drama exemplifies a brand-new kind of opposition, a coordinated effort of the Left, in which unions, activist groups like ACORN and the National Organization for Women, environmentalist groups, even plaintiffs’ attorneys work together in effective alliances. They are fighting the giant retailer not only store by store, but in statehouses, city halls, and courts. They have already managed to make Wal-Mart an issue in the presidential campaign: several Democratic hopefuls indicted the American shopper’s favorite store as unfriendly to working people.

This new war on Wal-Mart is more than just a skirmish over store sites or union-organizing efforts. It is an attack on a company that embodies the dynamic, productivity-driven, customer-oriented U.S. economy that emerged in the 1990s by opponents who advocate a different economics. Arguing that there is a hidden cost to business’s increasing emphasis on low prices and high employee output, these opponents seek government edicts to force Wal-Mart and discounters like it to raise wages and offer workers more benefits. Wal-Mart’s opponents are rushing into battle just as the company and some of its imitators are expanding their brand of retailing to many underserved urban communities starved for the low prices, broad selection, and friendly service these stores offer, making the conflict a vital issue not just in Wal-Mart’s traditional rural and suburban markets but, increasingly, in American cities.

-snip-

[Nonstatist]

25 % of the increase in productivity in the US economy last year can be credited to Wal-Mart. Of course this is an attack on American productivity and capitalism. The left leaves no rock unturned. They are a real enemy to progress, no doubt about it.

[NCSteve]

Boggles the mind, doesn't it?

I guess I can't understand what Wal-Mart has done to so enrage these poor, pitiful fools.

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[dead]

I guess I can't understand what Wal-Mart has done to so enrage these poor, pitiful fools.

They make money and take people off welfare.

[cksharks]

THEY WILL NOT GO UNION. That is all they care about. The f-----g union thugs are a wart on the publics ass.

[SedVictaCatoni]

This whole thing is cultural. Wal-Mart represents rural white America - in short, the Red Zone. It is anathema to those who believe that the world should consist of impoverished urban blight and pristine, Currier and Ives countryside.

[backhoe]

If you thought the New Left was dead in America, think again. Walk through just about any of the nation’s inner cities, and you’re likely to find an office of ACORN, bustling with young people working 12-hour days to “organize the poor” and bring about “social change.” The largest radical group in the country, ACORN has 120,000 dues-paying members, chapters in 700 poor neighborhoods in 50 cities, and 30 years’ experience. It boasts two radio stations, a housing corporation, a law office, and affiliate relationships with a host of trade-union locals. Not only big, it is effective, with some remarkable successes in getting municipalities and state legislatures to enact its radical policy goals into law.

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[joesnuffy]

How long does it take to 'blight' a perfectly good housing project
Talk bout throwing good money after bad....

[discostu]

WalMart strongly defends itself against unions, has a tendancy of putting union shops out of business, is part of the department store reality that so many nostalgia freaks like to complain about, and by being the clear winner becomes the enemy of America's natural tendency to root for underdogs.

[Xenalyte]

Wal-Mart accepts returns on used undergarments. That is enough for me to spam every thread and tell every soul how hideous Wal-Mart is.

[Tacis]

The war on Wal-Mart is backed by unions and other anti-business, anti-American forces. The ultra-left wing opposes any big business, probably, because big businesses are tougher to extort than smaller businesses. Remember, the ultra-left wing has to be able to claim to work for victims and without victims, their self-serving activities become very obvious.

In fact, the union view on Walmart is the same as it is on criminal illegal alliens. Once they begin to sign these people up and the begin to pat dues, union opposition stops. The other groups, ACORN, for example, have no constituency (and, thus, no grants, revenue, good benies and slush funds, etc.) once people become sefsufficient and helping themselves.

[weegee]

The ultra-left wing opposes any big business, probably, because socialists/communists are anticapitalist.

[Doctor Stochastic]

The town I live in has defeated all chain stores' (other than Smith's grocery and some gas stations) attempts to move in. Nearby (about 18 miles) a new super-WalMart has opened. People drive there to do weekly shopping (the savings more than outweigh the gas costs.) Next to the WalMart a Wendy's has opened (no surprise), a gas station, a pet store, and a Sears (strange but true.) A new restaurant has opened a block away.

[blanknoone]

I for one don't mind this fight for a few reasons. For one, Walmart is big enough and has enough resources to fight and win. I'm sorry they have to spend their resources this way, but better them than me. It drains the left of resources to fight other battles. Walmart is crushing unions with competition....good.

[blanknoone]

A new development just went up about 1/2 mile from where I live. Walmart, Sam's, Lowes, Pier 1, Marshalls, Kohls and a whole bunch of other stores. Welcome to the neighborhood. Pay your taxes.

[freethistle]

Unfortunately, in my state Walmart is a taxpayer-subsidized corporation.Their personnel instruct their workers to sign up for medicaid for low-income families for their kids.

Walmart has a lot of clout in Congress and they are sure not going to be against medicaid-they use it.

The no such thing as a free lunch rule still applies.

So the taxpayers pay but don't get the profits.

[newgeezer]

Union thugs ping.

[Army Air Corps]

So, you are saying that WalMart is like a capitalist tank division against far-left infantry platoons? If so, tanks forward! Avance upon the Red citadels and level them!