Posted on 01/17/2005 10:28:09 AM PST by jb6
I assume the sausage you put in the liquid is cooked. Or will the brine take care of that?
The Commies in RED CHINA thank you for your support. Just think you saved 4 bucks so you can spend the 4 bucks on more Commie Chinese crap at Walmart next time next you visit.
Its so clear, but people like you will NEVER get it. Support the machine that creates Trillions for the Red Army. To hard for you and the Walmart fans to figure out.
Close the American producers and ship it off to the land of 25 cents and hour. Patriots are few and far these days.
God Bless Sam Walton. I hope he's riding around heaven in his beat up red pickup truck with his trusty hound dog Ol' Roy. Some slackers just can't stand seeing a regular guy like that make it so successfully. Rest in Peace, Sam. You completely changed the retailing business world.
But those jobs are parasitic. They don't create wealth; they simply provide the service of transferring wealth between consumers and producers. That's a valuable and necessary service, of course, but the fewer people it takes to provide the service--and the less they get paid--the better off our economy will be.
As most on this thread point out, there are plenty of good things to say about Wal-Mart. Along with those, there are two clear, huge negatives about the company, as well. First, they're accelerating the loss of American manufacturing and making us more dependent on China--our mortal enemy--by the day. Second, they totally re-shape the entire culture of small towns when they enter, by putting the mom-and-pop stores out of business and basically turning downtowns into ghost towns.
I find the second factor to be sad even if it is inevitable. (BTW, please save the "if you can't stand the heat" crap.) The manufacturing angle is much more troubling from a national security perspective, though. And to be clear, it's far from being purely Wal-Mart's fault. We also have a huge problem of a lazy/soft/spoiled workforce in this country. But no matter the reason, we're gonna look up one day in around twenty years and be in a real pickle, pun intended. It's never good to become dependent on one's enemies.
MM
I didn't claim that retailers exist to serve vendors. But I also don't expect retailers to have the power to destroy vendors single-handedly. And remember that a large part of what's going on here is an elimination of the customer's feedback through Wal-Mart's buyers. That's exactly the problem with a lack of competition -- the retailer replaces the consumer with respect to calling all the shots and retains all of the power.
Let me put it this way. Do you think monopolies are harmless? If you don't, why aren't they harmless?
That's a red scaring. Wal-Mart doesn't stock a significantly higher percentage of Chinese merchandise than any other retailer, and that goes for mom and pop stores, too.
If you can find a retailer that only stocks American merchandise, I'll stand corrected. Just fill your tank with gasoline from our friends the Saudis, and see whether you can get there and back without a refill.
Two things to note about this example. First, they were competing against a subsidized competitor (Airbus) in a very small marketplace. Second, did Boeing or McDonnell-Douglass accept terms that put their businesses in peril? If Boeing didn't sell to American Airlines, would most of their business dry up?
I never thought of manufacturing jobs as being parasitic, but I guess the loss of a job is never a bad thing until it's yours.
The solution is so obvious; Ban Pickles! When pickles are outlawed, only Outlaws will have pickles! ;)
A one sided demand is not a "negotiation", no matter how much you want to spin it.
The number one thing that a consumer demands from a vendor is more value for his dollar. Nothing else comes remotely close. To the extent that Wal-Mart calls that shot, on the consumers behalf, better than any consumer could possibly do, the consumer happily surrenders that power. And when Wal-Mart fails to do that, the consumer will withhold that proxy by withholding their dollars. Amazon will get them instead.
Let me put it this way. Do you think monopolies are harmless?
No.
If you don't, why aren't they harmless?
Because they charge their customers too much money.
Oops! Hit the button too fast!
I also wanted to say that I admit I was taken in by the "Wal-Mart is Evil" propaganda of the past few years. There was a time when I wouldn't shop there.
But once I thought it through to it's logical conclusion, I reached the point that many of you started from; it's just a store. It's Supply and Demand. People are not held at gunpoint and made to work or shop there! Get what you can there on the cheap, and get other stuff cheaper elsewhere. Better yet, re-think your shopping habits, cut down on your consumming all the way around and bank the saved cash! I'd rather have the money in my bank account than "invested" in an aquarium-sized jar of pickles! Duh!
Works for me. :)
"The Commies in RED CHINA thank you for your support."
Oh, fiddlesticks. This isn't about red china. A certain crowd would still bash walmart unless it agrees to sell only union label products.
"A one sided demand is not a "negotiation", no matter how much you want to spin it."
You're the one trying to spin. Walmart and it's suppliers are both free to sign up or walk. Therefore it's still a negotiation.
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