Posted on 05/02/2006 11:56:46 PM PDT by Joe Bfstplk
Wal-Mart is the only corporation in the world that I know of or have ever heard of that is hated because it is successful. What do these critics want Wal-Mart to do? Fail? Start selling $300 shirts like Saks Fifth Avenue?
Of course, some of the hatred is coming from unions, which have tried but, so far as I know, failed to unionize Wal-Mart's work force. That one thing tells you that it must be a much better deal to work for Wal-Mart than its critics let on. Some of the disdain comes from leftist snobs who think they should run the lives of the peasants who work and shop there.
I am a small-town guy who has hated to see so many locally owned small businesses go under, but that's not Wal-Mart's fault. That trend started years ago with suburban sprawl (a major contributor to the energy crisis, by the way), suburban shopping malls, strip malls and all the other discounters that preceded Wal-Mart in prominence. It was caused by the American public's preference to buy based on price, rather than on service or quality. It was caused by local politicians converting the National Defense Highway System (the interstates) into suburban and urban commuter systems by routing them through instead of around the cities.
Wal-Mart is one of the best-run corporations in the world. The individual consumer has no clout with suppliers and manufacturers. Wal-Mart uses its enormous buying clout to get consumers the best price at the best quality possible. Being a supplier to Wal-Mart is no picnic, as the company is quite demanding.
It's not Wal-Mart's fault that much of its merchandise is manufactured in China. The late Sam Walton went to extraordinary lengths to help American manufacturers, but Wal-Mart doesn't control any corporation except itself. The move to China is not coming from Wal-Mart, but from greedy manufacturing corporations that love cheap and controlled labor. If your competitor is selling an American brand-name product made in China cheaper than you can buy one here, and if the customer says, "I don't care where it's made as long as I can afford it," what are you going to do?
More recently, Wal-Mart has been slammed for not providing what its critics think it should in the way of medical insurance. Well, why is General Motors flirting with bankruptcy? Why is Ford Motor Co. in financial trouble? Why, for that matter, is the federal government in financial trouble? The stinking hag in this room that everyone is ignoring is the high cost of medical service.
You can't provide low-cost health care or low-cost medical insurance for a system run by millionaire doctors and six-figure hospital administrators, and that has 1,200 percent profit margins for drugs and medical devices. The health-industry attitude is, we'll profiteer like crazy, and you people find a way to pay us. If Congress were not a bought-and-paid-for whore, America could join the rest of the industrialized world with a reasonable health-care system.
Health-care costs are one of the key factors in making American manufacturers uncompetitive. Now that the state of Maryland has presumed to dictate what kind of benefits Wal-Mart provides, if I ran the company, I'd close every store in the state and put the property up for sale. This is just one more ploy in the anti-Wal-Mart crusade.
We have reached a sick and perverted point in our culture when honesty and success bring attacks, mainly from people who either don't know what they are talking about or have a hidden agenda.
Millions of Americans who earn low wages from other employers rely on Wal-Mart to help them stretch their family budget. Wal-Mart has kept faith with those people. I've never found a dirty store, a rude employee or a defective product in a Wal-Mart store.
If you prefer to pay more than something's worth in exchange for some phony ambience or fancy label, go right ahead. In the meantime, get off Wal-Mart's back. It's one of the few entities in this country that is doing the right thing the right way for the right reasons.
Good article
What about 'Big Oil'?
Reece is nuts. Try Halliburton, for example. And many other corporations in U.S. history have been hated for being successful. Standard Oil and the old, big railroad companies stand out in U.S. history as having been hated for being successful.
This guy must only go to that one Wal=Mart in the far off land of Oz.
Walmart isn't hated because it is successful. Walmart is hated because it destroys American jobs, American companies, American communities and American wages for it's own good. WalMart is hated because it does what Republicans and Democrats in Washington are currently doing - putting money ahead of Americans and America. This story is just another attempt to whitewash the issue by painting a strawman.
This should be automatically inserted in front of every post at FR.
Yeah, Wal-Mart destroys American jobs, American companies, American communities, and American wages. I mean, who wouldn't want to work for a mom and pop for minimum wage with no insurance?
Wal-Mart hatred is silly. You don't like Wal-Mart, shop somewhere else. Capitalism is good.
Capitalism may be good. That has nothing to do with whether Walmart is or not. Funny that rather than defend them, you resort to defending capitalism which none of us have any beef with.. Strawman anyone?
Why do you hate America?
(joke, it's a joke)
In my neck of the woods, they have a few defective employees. I always say hello to the employees there to greet customers at the door, and more than half the time they don't acknowledge. They will look right at you and say nothing. Maybe they need to be rotated a little more frequently, eh?
And by the way, if they DON'T close up every store in Maryland, they're not practicing capitalism, they're an accessory after the fact to fascism.
Capitalism may be good, but it's not always kind, warm and fuzzy.
Suggested reading: Joseph Schumpeter/creative destruction
The greeters in my area are always nice and respond when I say 'hi'!
They are almost always senior citizens, which may account for their politeness......
Sometimes it is a problem actually FINDING someone to help you in the rest of the store.
Why am I going to pay more if I dont have to?
anyone have an Ace Hardware near them? I can't understand how they can afford to have 1 guy for every 3 aisles to walk up to you "can I help you?"
Spend 5 minutes in there and four people will ask you if you need help. Its NOT a good thing after a while
"Hello ... Ma?"
"You can't provide low-cost health care or low-cost medical insurance for a system run by millionaire doctors and six-figure hospital administrators, and that has 1,200 percent profit margins for drugs and medical devices. The health-industry attitude is, we'll profiteer like crazy, and you people find a way to pay us."
Apparently, Mr. Reese hates the medical profession for the same reasons other folks hate Wal-Mart. Author, heal thyself.
Does this mean that your alternative is SOCIALISM? Just wondering. Amen.
That may have been the case in the past.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.