Replies

http://www.dsausa.org/lowwage/walmart/2004/walmart5.html

"What do low-cost goods mean in light of the pressing issues of the global environment, global human rights and the global labor force?" Ms. Strasser asked. "And how do we move beyond the single-minded self-interest of price?"

Low prices come at a cost, she and other speakers insisted, arguing, for instance, that Wal-Mart encouraged overconsumption and overdevelopment, which place strains on natural resources and the environment.

"Everything is based on the consumer first," said Edna Bonacich, a sociology professor at the University of California, Riverside. "Is this the way we want to live?"

To Ms. Bonacich, a hopeful sign that at least some people would answer no came just days before the conference. On April 6 in Inglewood, Calif., a largely black and Hispanic suburb of Los Angeles, voters rejected a ballot initiative allowing Wal-Mart to build a store there, with many saying they were unhappy with its wage levels, fierce anti-unionism and efforts to circumvent land-use regulations.

FYI"

"Everything is based on the consumer first," said Edna Bonacich, a sociology professor at the University of California, Riverside. "Is this the way we want to live?"

Nah. Let's let sociologists and environmentalists tell us what we can buy, and at what price.

Sheesh!!! What inane idiocy!

"Everything is based on the consumer first," said Edna Bonacich, a sociology professor at the University of California, Riverside. "Is this the way we want to live?"

If you're in retail: The Customer is Always Right.

I just paid $1000 for a solid cherry TV cabinet made in America by Baker Road. Beautiful piece of furniture. No way I would buy a cheap piece of Souder crap from Wal-Mart. I've been buying a lot of furniture lately for a large new house, and I have bought American-made whenever possible, no matter how much I could save buying Chinese. (I did buy a Canadian bedroom set, but only because I liked the style so much better than any of the American stuff I saw, not because I saved money.) It has been depressing to hear retailer after retailer say that I should buy American now, because the American furniture makers are going out of business. You can easily see the difference in quality between a cheap Chinese made dining room set and one made in the USA. The Chinese stuff is just crap. American made furniture is the best in the world, but Americans don't seem to care about quality or craftsmanship anymore.

100 years from now, PBS won't be able to have an "Antiques Roadshow." There won't be anything left from the early 21st century, because it was all cheap Chinese crap that fell apart in 10 years. And good 20th century American furniture will be worth its weight in gold.