Posted on 05/02/2006 11:56:46 PM PDT by Joe Bfstplk
Yes, they do. If they didn't want lower prices, they probably wouldn't be shopping at WalMart.
Maybe I missed where consumers were picketing stores demanding cheaper lawn sprinklers, but I doubt it.
If customers really don't care, you should be able to make a killing selling higher priced products made in the US, or at least not China. But customers by their actions indicate that they really do like cheaper lawn sprinklers.
And I don't demand higher profits where it leads to the evisceration of the American manufacturing base
US manufacturing output keeps rising, albeit with fewer workers due to large productivity increases.
This article is pure BS. It tries to state that Wal-Mart is an innocent victim who is sold Chinese goods against their will.
Wal-Mart seeks out Chinese goods. Period.
That's why I like Ace Hardware, makes it easy to get in and out of the place, they know where everything is and can help you figure out what you need. Much better than Home Depot where you have to lasso somebody to ask a question and the only answer they ever seem to have is "that not in this section, I think it's in (insert section on the other side of the store)".
Wal-Mart seeks out cheap goods. Because that's what their customers want.
Well, we can see that you've read the default response playbook on how to color the dialogue with nonsense. Go stand in the corner.
A depression.. you mean going back to the model that made us a wealthy nation prior to free trade will lead us to a depression. I think you'll need to establish that factually.
Your Smoot Hawley reference is sheer moronic nonsense. Nobody is recommending any such thing. Just another strawman from the treason playbook to color the argument with utter nonsense.
No, sorry. The market based economy in the USA has not always sold out America and Americans for profit. The leftists, maybe.. eg the Rosenburgs..
Damn Walmart for being successful.
Damn Walmart for being successful under capitalism.
Neither is the case. The case was stated plainly. You can't respond to the real issue - selling out America for profit.
Since you can't address that with a straight face and come out smelling of roses, you lie about what the argument is and argue a strawman. You get a time out for deciet. Bye.
How can any rational person hate a system that employs millions of people and then complain that they destroy lives.
Response: "Union of Soviet Socialist Republics"
Every company is in business to make money. Every gun is made to be fired. So by your logic, murder doesn't exist because, hey, that gun was made to be fired. You can't punish someone for putting that gun to it's proper use.. Oh, that's right, there's that thing called ethics.. of which patriotism is a part. I suppose that by your thinking, the Rosenburgs should have been acquited because, hey, they were in business to make money afterall. It doesn't matter by your logic how they do it so long as they make money..
You guys have no shame.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but wal-mart has no obligation to anyone but its shareholders.
I don't think America was destroyed by proper market pricing prior to free trade and Nafta. In fact, it boomed. Curious, that. Curious how companies prior to free trade and Nafta helped make this the wealthiest nation in the world without selling us out. Apparently, trade deals in the modern age are like an ethical circumcision license. Screw america for profit is the new moral highground in the RNC. Pretty sick.
It isn't nonsense. It's a legitimate and proper beef. It just isn't the one you would like to make this about because you can argue the strawman. But, you have to either circumcise your ethics and conscience or face the truth in the argument I offered. Imagine that, actually dealing with the truth on a public forum.. how quaint.
Right, Walmart sells out US companies for profit. Undermining the economy and scuttling the country, we are to believe, is ok if a profit motive is involved. So, lets get to it. We all need to announce to the World media that we're going to dig up all the spies we've put to death in this country for treason since it's inception and pardon them, move them and rebury them in a place of honor with full military honors because, hey, a profit motive was involved afterall...
I'll put a fine point on it, and it is this: This is America. WalMart is an American company. And they have an obligation to this country whether you can see past profit motive or not.
The only obligation a company has is to obey the laws and pay required taxes. Anything else is icing on the cake.
If you want wal-mart to change its ways, then lobby for different laws.
I was tickled by a story from Mexico City I read on FR last week, discussing the popularity of Wal-Mart there for the low prices.
I said it before and I'll say it again. Companies in this country have a responsibility not to sell out the country for profit. If you don't like that, tough, it's your problem. They do have that responsibility. The older generation and the ethical amongst the new still know that. Those of you that seem to have forgotten what ethics and patriotism are do get it. You just would rather make profit than be loyal.. Again, see the Rosenburgs.
Oh, give us a break. Walmart brings cheaply manufactured chinese junk into the country to undercut local pricing and drive Americans out of business with their means of making a profit.. slave labor rates vs. US labor rates. This all used to be a common sense discussion before Greed overtook the political machine full bore and the politiciams stopped listening to America and started pandering to business. What's next? Why don't you go sell your mother if profit motive is all that matters?
And btw, US wages were never unreasonable. Nor is your opinion on them worth anything. They were arrived out through supply and demand. Or are you arguing that supply and demand was unfair?
Okay, this is a small point, but it bugs me: it's The Rosenbergs and not Rosenburgs. With an "e."
I'd also remind you that they broke the law, were caught and punished. But there was a law on the books that they broke.
That said, companies are machines. Those who work for them are not going to risk their careers (i.e. house, cars, kids' education, etc.)by making a morally correct but unprofitable choice.
That is the harsh, grown-up reality. If you want a company to act counter to profit then pass a law. Otherwise the company will continue to pursue profit in any way it can.
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