Posted on 12/04/2005 3:43:27 AM PST by beaversmom
Wal-Mart competes with socialist promises. But Wal-Mart delivers the goods, where socialism has always been empty.
The "great" Soviet Union had only one kind of soap in its stores, and it couldn't supply enough even of that one kind to keep people clean. Wal-Mart has whole aisles full of hand soaps, bath soaps, liquid soaps, sink detergents, laundry detergents, dishwasher detergents, shop cleaners and degreasers, and a profusion of other cleaning products. Of course the same is true with food, clothing, tools and other products. Wal-Mart delivers, socialism steals.
Socialism promises handouts to the needy, then never gives them more than a pittance. Wal-Mart hires the needy and the handicapped and trains them for a life of self-sufficiency and achievement. Welfare recipients can't feel good about themselves living on handouts. But Wal-Mart employees take pride in their work, so they feel great about themselves.
Sounds good enough to repeat... I am a frequent WalMart shopper. "Saving money" counts to me, too...
Anyone notice that it's not the employees complaining here? Rather, it seems to be a bunch of pointy-heads claiming to be moved by their plight.
Wal-Mart buying most of their stuff from china and how they cheat their employees from real full time work.
I'm not sure I follow you, but I'll press on anyway- a further example was that, six feet away, were keyring lights ( a different model ) by themselves- $1.97 each.
I thought the light/carabiner/penknife set was a useful combination, so I got one for myself. And, truth be told, the $1.97 light-only unit was certainly not as robust as that $20 unit I found a few years ago- but for the price difference, you could buy a couple, and if one broke or failed, it would be no great loss.
By contrast, the light in that light/carabiner/penknife set is machined from an aluminum tube, and is surprisingly sturdy. And bright.
So many good points in this article. What Mr. Medved fails to realize (or more likely is to polite to point out), is that liberals are incapable of doing the most rudimentary economic analysis. Or, when their noses are rubbed in it, they just become outraged and sputter that the issue is too important to be subject to the rules of economics.
Down goes the unions! Down goes the unions! (Parody of "Down goes Frazier"!)
The amazing thing is that the libs goddess, Hitlery, has sat on(may still do so)Walmart's board and Booba has gained benefits from Walmart.
Crazy, isn't it? I don't think the libs realize; but if Hitlery wins, she will be so left out. That's the way people like her operate.
Again, this is competing with the Democrat Party. But the Democrats get their handouts by taxes (which is mere consumption and always fails in time) where Wal-Mart EARNS the payroll money. Wal_Mart increases wealth for all. Democrats steal and diminish us all.
Wal-Mart is so far from a "monopoly" that any discussion of the subject in this context is just plain silly. The most dominant retailer in U.S. history -- the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P Supermarkets) -- only managed to attain a market share of something like 25% of the retail industry back at its peak in the 1930s and 1940s. A&P barely even exists these days, and no retailer has ever gotten close to that kind of market dominance since then.
If China offers the best value for a given item, Wal-Mart would be failing its stockholders and customers if it did not get the items from China. It serves nobody's interest in buying from someone less efficient.
Adam Smith discussed the point at length in Wealth of Nations (1776), surely the primer of conservative economics. For instance, he said, it would be possible to produce very fine wine in Scotland from grapes grown under glass -- but it would be absurd because it would cost maybe twenty times as much as buying fine wines from sunnier lands like France and Portugal. The rule of the market is division of labor and specialization -- do what you do best and buy from others who do the same.
If China offers the best value for a given item, Wal-Mart would be failing its stockholders and customers if it did not get the items from China. It serves nobody's interest in buying from someone less efficient.
Adam Smith discussed the point at length in Wealth of Nations (1776), surely the primer of conservative economics. For instance, he said, it would be possible to produce very fine wine in Scotland from grapes grown under glass -- but it would be absurd because it would cost maybe twenty times as much as buying fine wines from sunnier lands like France and Portugal. The rule of the market is division of labor and specialization -- do what you do best and buy from others who do the same.
Drat the "timed out" message........
The only problem that I have with Wal-Mart is that they do not provide ecough handicap spaces.
Kmart has improved lately, and I find that I prefer going there because the lines are way, way shorter than WalMart.
Walmart's problem is not low wages, or any of those other left loonie "criticisms", it's that the company seems too cheap to hire enough employees to handle the looooong lines.
I can't count the number of times I've simply left my full shopping cart at the WalMart cashier line because I refuse to stand there 45 minutes just to buy cheap toilet paper.
The cheapness of Wal-Mart comes with a hefty price tag for all of the U.S. Here are a few facts (check out http://factchecker.purpleocean.org/ for more):
"Wal-Mart Wages" is not an expression for nothing. despite anecdotal evidence of one employee telling another how great Wal-Mart is within earshot of customers, Wal-Mart is an irresponsible employer. Wal-Mart boasts that 74% of its sales employees work full-time but this doesn't mean they are making good money. In 2001, Wal-Mart sales clerks made an average of $8.23 an hour ($13,861 a year). While $8.23 an hour doesn't sound like a bad wage for part-time work while you are getting through school, people who use that job as their full-time employment are in trouble: they make $800 below the federal poverty line for a family of three. Costco's workers make an average of $15.97 per hour; Sam's Club pays $11.52 per hour.
Wal-Mart does not give good benefits. Part-time Wal-Mart workers are not eligible for family medical coverage. They become eligible for individual coverage only after two years with the company (Dan Fogleman, Wal-Mart spokesperson, is the source). Overall, Wal-Mart covers 48 percent of its workers with company health insurance. Costco covers 82 percent of its workers. Also, Costco's workers are able to get health insurance in six months, they receive thousands more dollars in health and retirement plans from their employer and far more of Costco's employees are included in its 401(k) and profit-sharing plans. Wal-Mart pays 66 percent of the healthcare premiums for those happy few covered employees Costco pays 92 percent. Employee turnover is 6 percent for Costco. For Sam's Club, it's 21 percent. Wal-Mart's turnover is a whopping 50 percent.
Wal-Mart does not help cities and counties grow their economy. U.S. counties where Wal-Mart stores were built from 1987 to 1998 had higher poverty levels than anywhere else. Here in Huntington, Wal-Mart intentionally placed its new mega store just outside of Huntington so that it would not have to contribute to the tax-base of the city. What kind of neighbor is it being? Why doesn't it want to contribute to our economy? Because that would cost more money.
Not so! A monopoly exists when, and only when, government grants you special legal powers to lock out competition and forbid consumer choice.
The medical business is a monopoly. Wal-Mart is not.
You hate WalMart -> don't purchase from or work for Walmart.
Simple.
I don't like ToysRUs for their staunch support of the push to have the Boy Scouts change their anti-homosexual hiring practices. Ditto for some charity groups - including the United Way. Thus - they receive NONE of my money.
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