As if calling me "ZEE-no-fobik" wasn't enough (and even assuming you had to give me pronounciation guidelines).
It wasn't condescencion, but just observing what happened in MY small town. Wal Mart does not sell gas here, so gas isn't cheaper. But we do have a huge store with lots of stuff, which is changed out on a seasonal basis in tune with Arkansas (I'm in North Dakota--our winter is still happening when the swimsuits hit the shelves, and coats are two months late hitting the racks here).
Maybe your town's experience was good, but here they cannot keep more than three of the 20+ tills open at any given time because they do not have the staff to do so.
They did put a few stores out of business here early on, but the rest are holding on pretty well because they have a better selection and better quality. A few items are cheaper at WalMart, and those of us who shop around will go there for them and to see what is in the clearance aisles.
Great jobs? Hardly.
When a kid just out of high school can get a job here roughnecking (working on an oil rig) that will pay 60K plus, they really don't have much drawing power for employees.
Anyone here who wants to work and is capable of working has a job.
Nice diversion, though, trying to peg me as a WalMart 'hater', but not germane to the discussion of the dangers of seling factories in America to be operated in America as economic warfare and part of asymetrical warfare.
Got any more labels?
Or do you want to discuss issues?
Well so far you’ve compiled enough issues to fill a dumpster.
Where to begin?
Isw there a way to tie it all together and get to the primary difference between our positions?
For example, you and I have what appears to be the identical experience with WalMarts in small towns, and yet, it appears we have polar opposite conclusions.
I think we both saw competition come in, weed out some, make some better, etc. Interesting that they don’t sell gas and so didn’t make your pricing better.
Why not? Are you better off with the local guys shafting you on gasoline retail?
I guess I don’t glean a consistent point from you on that. Are you for a competitive market locally or not? Or just in some products?
I’m not trying to PEG you as anything. I’m just trying to understand your ethics and reasoning which motivates your keytapping.
I know chinese-americans taiwanese-americans and mexican-americans and whitey-americans like me LOCALLY, on a first hand personal basis who cover all ends of the spectrum of ‘Made in USA’ quality. And I work with all sorts of Asians generally to have my own stereotypes about Japanese v. Koreans v. Taiwanese v. Chinese(Shanghai) and Chinese(guangdong) and Chinese (fujian) etc. I know what racists they are to each other and how much ‘they’ are all far worse than ANYTHING we have in this country, as a hasty generalization.
I just think there are lots of things we need to do as AMERICAN-AMERICANS to make us more appropriately competitive, and safe, and it doesn’t have anything to do with TRUSTING STEREOTYPES or generalizations.
When I contract a white plumber or a chinese screen-print vendor, I trust them as far as I can throw them.
When I take a new medication, I check the seals, I avoid buying stuff off the backs of trucks, and I keep an eye out for wierd symptoms. I don’t trust anything implicitly because it says “Made in USA” because the Tylenol scare was precipitated by a homegrown terrorist and it had NOTHING to do with Tylenol itself.
Are you more opposed to American consumers paying chinese people to pay $12/hour to build crappy price-only products in the USA under EPA regs and OSHA work environments, or are you more opposed to American consumers paying chinese people to pay $3/hr to chinese people to build crappy price-only products in China?
I’m sorry pal. But ma and pa kettle aren’t paying more than 99c for a plastic bowl.