Friday Blog Round-up: Killer Toys, Killer Dog Treats, and Altering the Internet to Cover It All Up

I Can’t Wait...

It can’t be much longer until Alex Goldschmidt starts quoting the Simpsons to make his case.

No doubt about it, WMW is starting to look more like the Onion with every post like this one.

Haven’t you guys milked this toy thing long enough?  We get it already!

It’s pretty interesting how many blatant lies you guys have told about this issue:

“In response to all the bad PR the company has been getting over this, Wal-Mart announced that it would START trying to make sure its toys are safe. “

Wal-Mart’s finally going to ‘start’ trying to make sure it’s toys are safe?  So you should have followed up with something like “Wal-Mart is refusing to test any toys for consumer safety,” since a 20% increase ("Wal-Mart to test 20% more toys") of nothing is still nothing.

What, exactly, does Wal-Mart have to do with this? Wal-Mart imports toys, just like Target, K-Mart, Toys R US and others, and deals with the same suppliers and the same problems.

This is an issue with the manufacturer and not the stores.

Who do you blame when your new Ford blows up, Ford Motor Company or the dealer who sold it to you? Who guarantees the car under warranty, the manufacturer or the dealer?

Wal-Mart is a dealer. Some company in China is the manufacturer. Blame the manufacturer.

Screwed,

Though I often find myself disagreeing with you, I concur with your post on this thread.  Enough said.

Nick,

Good analogy of manufacturer versus dealer—though some of the WMW intern staffers may not exactly see the toy thing, that way…

Bill

“What, exactly, does Wal-Mart have to do with this?” ~Nick

I hope Cazar won’t mind me bringing his comment forward.  It applies to people like Nick.

“One would have to be ‘brain-dead’ not to understand the complicity of retailers such as Wal-Mart, in the current scandal of unsafe imported products from China.” ~Cazar

Nick’s cute little analogy about the dealer vs. the manufacturer doesn’t quite hold up.

“Wal-Mart is a dealer.”

Yeah… the 8,000 pound gorilla dealer!  How come in Nick’s play book, Wal-Mart is “just like Target, K-Mart, Toys R US and others” when something scandalous happens, but when he wants to tout Wal-Mart’s “record sales” or “record profits” or “the number of customers Wal-Mart has each week,” he keeps reminding us that Wal-Mart is larger than it’s next 5 closest “competitors” combined.  THIS is what Wal-Mart has to do with importing unsafe toys and products into America!

Screwedby, I see you haven’t changed much.  First of all, Wal-Mart does not import any toys.  The toy manufacturers are the ones importing them.  Wal-Mart is just buying them to re-sell.  You know, it’s kind of like if I held the company that manufactured your horrendous movie’s discs responsible for the contents of the movie!!!

“First of all, Wal-Mart does not import any toys.”

This is the equivalent of claiming that WalMart doesn’t sell cigarettes. The attitude of responsibility follows similarly that just because people are addicted to smokes and buy them at WalMart, does not mean WalMart is responsible for selling them.
Agentic shifting of any sense of responsibility has become a main propaganda effort from the Bentonville slobs.

Walmart- We are not just the “Low Wage, Low Benefit Leader”. Therefore we are advanced payday loans as well. And we are not responsible for that either.

Who do you blame when your new Ford blows up, Ford Motor Company or the dealer who sold it to you?

So when you have problems with your Ford, you take it back to Detroit (Dearborn), Nick?

Drugs is a better analogy. We shouldn’t bust the dealers because they didn’t manufacture the drugs?

This isn’t about blame. This is about trust.

quality fade: The deliberate and secret habit of widening profit margins through a reduction in the quality of materials.

“Screwedby, I see you haven’t changed much.”

When we’re talking Wal-Mart Michael D, how did you want me to change?

Since this is the FRIDAY BLOG ROUND-UP I thought I throw this in.

Under the heading of Bashing Wal-Mart On Broadway:

Walmartopia

Walmartopia tells the hilarious and timely tale of Vicki Latrell, a single mom and Wal-Mart employee who speaks out against her company’s working conditions and finds herself and her young daughter jettisoned to 2037, into a future where Wal-Mart dominates the entire world. The show was a hit at last summer’s New York International Fringe Festival.

If y’all don’t like what Walmart is selling, don’t buy from Walmart.  Its your choice.  Nobody is forcing you to go through their doors.  If it wasn’t for Walmart there are numerous households who would not be able to provide the basic necessities for their kids.  Food, clothing, school supplies, etc.  The root cause of this problem is not Walmart its that China is now providing over 50% of the non food items that are consumed in this country.  They don’t have an EPA and they don’t have labor unions.  Therefore they can manufacture stuff dirt cheap.  Don’t like the situation?  Don’t buy China’s products.

“If y’all don’t like what Walmart is selling, don’t buy from Walmart.  Its your choice.  Nobody is forcing you to go through their doors.  If it wasn’t for Walmart there are numerous households who would not be able to provide the basic necessities for their kids.”

Choice has been eliminated in many communities. The destruction of the previous retail model and the economic poverty engine that WalMart has become in many areas forces consumers to spend with little or no choice. WalMart is not anti-inflationary as they claim, they merely are externalizing their costs by dumping their costs onto others to pay for as in vast subsidies and welfare pick up expenditures by the states because WalMart refuses to pay a living wage.

In addition to exporting American manufacturing jobs for $.35/hr labor in China WalMart continues to deny in their propaganda efforts any responsibility for this transition. The consumer is dependent on what is already on the shelves from China that WalMart purchasing agents brought into the United States under the extensive Global Labor Arbitrage manipulation.

The 5 Waltons did not make approx. $100 billion in personal wealth by keeping proper wages with the American workforce or by avoiding tens of billions in subsidies or by being loyal to American manufacturing. The consequences of the WalMart business model are adding up-

Want to know where your health care and decent wages went-

Samuel Robson (Rob) Walton (born 1945, in Tulsa, Oklahoma) is the eldest son of Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer. According to Forbes, his net worth is $16.7 billion as of 2007.

John Thomas Walton (October 8, 1946 - June 27, 2005) was a son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton.
Just before his death, Walton was estimated to be worth US$18.2 billion by Forbes magazine, and he was tied with his brother Jim as the 4th richest person in the United States and 11th-richest person in the world.

Jim Carr Walton (born 1948) is the youngest son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton.
With an estimated current net worth of around $16.8 billion, he is ranked by Forbes as the 23rd-richest person in world.

Alice Louise Walton (born October 7, 1949) is the daughter of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton and Helen Walton, and sister of S. Robson Walton, John T. Walton (d.2005), and Jim Walton. She has an estimated net worth of about $16.6 billion.

Helen Robson Kemper Walton (December 3, 1919 - April 19, 2007) was the wife of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton. She was the eleventh richest American and at one point the richest woman in the world. Helen died with an estimated net worth of $16.4 billion.

Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton once said, “I pay low wages. I can take advantage of that. We’re going to be successful, but the basis is a very low-wage, low-benefit model of employment.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Wal-Mart#_note-
iswalmartgood

“Is Wal-Mart Good for America?” PBS. November 16, 2004. Retrieved on February 24, 2007.

WalMart- We did these things but we are not responsible. Lets blame the unions or somebody else with a flood of propaganda. We have paid Edelman at least $10 million per year to tell lies to the taxpayer suckers and anybody stupid enough to continue funding the WalMart poverty engine. The poor shop at WalMart out of desperation and the creation of an entrapped economic ecosystem that maintains poverty for increasing numbers of the U.S. population. WalMart cannot survive without it. Under the Bush administration added millions of Americans have fallen into severe poverty.

I am shocked what is being said about Wal-Mart.  I have many friends who work there and they are happy.  Not to mention what the Wal-Mart in our town donates to the local schools. 

Thousands of dollars are given to teachers and the schools that apply for the grants.  I usually get plenty of grant money from them to fund the projects I do in class so the parents don’t have to come up with the money.  Living in a poor town is difficult enough, then to add on money needed for school?  Well if these things about Wal-Mart are true you couldn’t prove it by out town.

Hope this shocks you too.

WAL-MART SUCKS.

Excoriating the Walton family, for all the purported evils of the Wal-Mart corporation, is not a very useful argument.
All that argument is worth is engendering class envy.

Wal-Mart has been a very successful company, and in the process it made its major stockholders very wealthy.
Note the word ‘stockholder’, for it has not been a revenue stream (in the sense of say sole proprietorship) that poured wealth into the pockets of the Waltons, it has been aggregation of wealth through stock ownership and exchange.

This is where I think the waters of capitalism and free market get a bit muddy.
In the concept of capitalism, one cornerstone is private ownership (apart from the state), and inherent within that idea of ownership lies the engine of entrepreneurship.

Inherent in entrepreneurship (am I sounding like a Chinese puzzle box yet?) lies assumption of risk.

Risk of losing one’s investment of time and money in the marketplace, should the enterprise fail.

It is my opinion, this is where some who proclaim ‘free market’ and ‘capitalism’ the rationale for supporting huge corporations (such as Wal-Mart) tread thin ice.

For what we are seeing unfold in more modern ‘so called’ capitalism, is the usurpation of the primary engine of capitalism, namely entrepreneurship, as global corporations evolve under the umbrella of huge financial risk absorbers.

Large conglomerates are able to externalize risk more and more, dispersing it in equity markets.

Initially, in the case of Wal-Mart (and others) it was entrepreneurship, that was the engine which moved the business.
However along the way decisions were made to supplant growth, not with profits made from within its actual market, but by exporting risk to another market, namely equities.

This externalization of risk, I believe buffers the actual, real, marketplace (as opposed to equity) from actually working its capitalistic wonders.

This is also why I believe that as soon as one moves away from the business format of sole proprietorship, the real ’free market’ (exchange of goods and services) begins to undergo certain distortions.
A bad thing?

Not necessarily, however one should take care in the freewheeling use of the term ‘free market’.

One should understand that the eventual outcome of a business model like Wal-Mart, with its voluminous growth will in fact begin to distort the particular marketplace in which it competes, actually bending certain principles of capitalism in its wake.

Good, bad?

Excoriating the Walton family, for all the purported evils of the Wal-Mart corporation, is not a very useful argument.
All that argument is worth is engendering class envy.

Wal-Mart has been a very successful company, and in the process it made its major stockholders very wealthy.
Note the word ‘stockholder’, for it has not been a revenue stream (in the sense of say sole proprietorship) that poured wealth into the pockets of the Waltons, it has been aggregation of wealth through stock ownership and exchange.

This is where I think the waters of capitalism and free market get a bit muddy.
In the concept of capitalism, one cornerstone is private ownership (apart from the state), and inherent within that idea of ownership lies the engine of entrepreneurship.

Inherent in entrepreneurship (am I sounding like a Chinese puzzle box yet?) lies assumption of risk.

Risk of losing one’s investment of time and money in the marketplace, should the enterprise fail.

It is my opinion, this is where some who proclaim ‘free market’ and ‘capitalism’ the rationale for supporting huge corporations (such as Wal-Mart) tread thin ice.

For what we are seeing unfold in more modern ‘so called’ capitalism, is the usurpation of the primary engine of capitalism, namely entrepreneurship, as global corporations evolve under the umbrella of huge financial risk absorbers.

Large conglomerates are able to externalize risk more and more, dispersing it in equity markets.

Initially, in the case of Wal-Mart (and others) it was entrepreneurship, that was the engine which moved the business.
However along the way decisions were made to supplant growth, not with profits made from within its actual market, but by exporting risk to another market, namely equities.

This externalization of risk, I believe buffers the actual, real, marketplace (as opposed to equity) from actually working its capitalistic wonders.

This is also why I believe that as soon as one moves away from the business format of sole proprietorship, the real ’free market’ (exchange of goods and services) begins to undergo certain distortions.
A bad thing?

Not necessarily, however one should take care in the freewheeling use of the term ‘free market’.

One should understand that the eventual outcome of a business model like Wal-Mart, with its voluminous growth will in fact begin to distort the particular marketplace in which it competes, actually bending certain principles of capitalism in its wake.

Good, bad?

CAPE COD ,This is a perfect example of how walmart
pulls the wool over peoples eyes. Go to some of the other sites listed on the right of this site. Also go to walmart blows.com. Click on walmart sucks.

PS forgot to tell you to go to the forum on walmart blows,then to walmart sucks.

cazar,

“In the concept of capitalism, one cornerstone is private ownership (apart from the state), and inherent within that idea of ownership lies the engine of entrepreneurship.”

You are very right, entrepeneurship is what is the answer to all the anti Wal-Marts problems!!  Instead of fighting Wal-Mart, by asking the state (government) to bring Wal-Mart down, we need entrepreneur’s to “build a better mousetrap”!!  SDV, chimes out, “Choice has been eliminated in many communities.”, but, all that REALLY means is, there is no competition!!  That is where the true entrepeneur shines, finding areas where choice has been eliminated and creating a business that offers the ‘choice’ that is lacking!!  If people are unhappy with the present situation, people like SDV, Ken V., and Screwedby, or the SEIU, need to band together and create a better business model, create that competition!!  It is easy to sit back and whine, it is harder to get off your butt and actually DO something to change things!!  They are unwilling to step up to the plate and take out their wallets and put their MONEY at risk to start a business to provide CHOICE!!  And, if things at Wal-Mart, are really as ‘bad’ as these people claim, then the citizenry, should be ‘ripe’ for something “NEW”!!

You may think that the ‘modern day’ entrepeneur cannot fight “Big Business”, because of this ability, “to externalize risk more and more, dispersing it in equity markets”, but just as Sam Walton dethroned K-Mart, someone else can dethrone Wal-Mart!!  As a business grows larger, it becomes harder to cater to customers needs and that is where the entrepeneur needs to step in and fill those needs!!  Competition is what will change things, not whining, the way some here are doing!!

“it has been aggregation of wealth through stock ownership and exchange.”

This is where most people fail, I have know many people who participate in stock buying at the company they work, through a ‘stock buy program’ and they tend to do this, purchase 1 or 2 shares this week and sell those shares 2 weeks later, they fail to accumulate!!  Accumulation, is where you make money, not buying and selling (unless you are a day trader)!!  The Waltons earned what they have, through accumulation, not ‘stealing’ workers money, as SDV claims!!

BTW: Glad to see you back, you bring up good points, without the constant whine!!

JOE,

“Go to some of the other sites listed on the right of this site. Also go to walmart blows.com. Click on walmart sucks.”

All these sites are, is a bunch of whiners, crying about their ‘loser’ lives!!  All one has to do is look at the words, “blows” and “sucks” to figure this out!!

...and inherent within that idea of ownership lies the engine of entrepreneurship.

Or, as the United Kingdom’s media put it after the Secretary of Trade and Industry ruled against a Wal-Mart acquisition of Safeway (no connection to the U.S. grocer of the same name), raising concerns over too much market consolidation in one company.

Trusts and monopolies are concentrations of wealth in the hands of a few. Such conglomerations of economic resources are thought to be injurious to the public and individuals because such trusts minimize, if not obliterate normal marketplace competition, and yield undesirable price controls. These, in turn, cause markets to stagnate and sap individual initiative.

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist. ~ The Usual Suspects

While I thank you for the strokes RDS:

Initially, Wal-Mart pursued a perfectly reasonable business model, that being a value competitor offering low prices to the consumer market.

It followed a venerable history of retailers, Sears, Woolworth, A&P;to name a few.

As Wal-Mart grew it became increasingly more a clearinghouse for consumer commodities, and in that process began to feed the American consumer with the pabulum of low prices.

No other company in the history of American enterprise (sans Ford) had previously been able to breast feed the American consumer on the sweet milk of broad spectrum, cheap consumer goods.

Sears began laying the infrastructure for consumerism years prior, yet it was Wal-Mart who began later feeding consumers along that highway with highly addictive low prices.

Ray Kroc had begun feeding hamburgers to Pavlov’s dog.
Soon that dog no longer saw the need for a dinner table.

So too did Wal-Mart begin to dress, and feed the dog.
The dog was in ‘dog heaven’, cheap and fast food, and cheap and cheaper dog toys.

Soon a very satiated and happy dog, no longer cared where, or how his food or toys came.
He only knew what he was trained to do by his handlers.

Eat fast, eat cheap, and respond only to the most easily obtainable satisfaction.

What a wonderful world, the dog contemplated.
McDonalds and Wal-Mart, what could possibly be better!

Thousands of dollars are given to teachers and the schools that apply for the grants.

It’s going to take a lot of “thousands of dollars” grants to make up for the <b>$17 million</i> Wal-Mart cheated Wisconsin (and their school kids) out of.

...breast feed the American consumer on the sweet milk of broad spectrum, cheap consumer goods.

That’s some turn-of-phrase, cazar!  ^5!

RDS and what about the other sites to the right of this site.
Let people make up their own mind. Plus it wasn’t addressed to you anyway.

I am sick and tired of hearing about “lack of choice” in retail today. This is one of the most ridiculous statements I have EVER heard!

Did people have “choice” when they had to buy meat from Joe The Butcher, bread from John The Baker and opium from Jed’s Pharmacy? When you lived in a small town and did not have interstate highways and cars, what “choice” did you have? You had to buy groceries from Stan’s Corner Market (at a 40% markup). You HAD to buy a suit from George’s Men’s Store. Where was the “choice”?

Compare then to now. Today, you have MULTIPLE choices for everything you buy. For example, I love to buy books. I really enjoy browsing at Waldenbooks, Borders and Barnes & Noble (and Books A Million starting this weekend!) but I rarely ever buy books there. Why? Because I look at a book with a price tag of $29.99 and I think “I can get that on Amazon for $18.65.” I will from time to time buy books at a bricks and mortar store but it will have to be something I want right away and be available for purchase using my discount cards. The point is-I HAVE CHOICE! How many bookstores were there 50 years ago?

Computers-Dell, HP, Apple
Cars-GM, Toyota, Honda
Groceries-Wal-Mart, Giant Eagle, Aldi’s
Clothing-Target, American Eagle, LL Bean
Personal Care items-Wal-Mart, Target, K-Mart
Pet Food-Petsmart, Petco, Pet Supplies Plus
Dining-Outback, Garfield’s, Olive Garden

and so on and so forth.

Do people realize how irrational it is to HATE a STORE? If you don’t like Wal-Mart, shop at Target, Costco, Nordstrom’s or LL Bean (as I do!). You have no right, absolutely ZERO right, to tell others where they may and may not shop.

Have you ever thought about the picture? Some individual hates Wal-Mart. Said individual exercises his right to avoid Wal-Mart. Now, individual stands in front of Wal-Mart with a cluster or hippies, who are determined to physically prevent you from shopping at Wal-Mart. They talk about freedom, choice, rights, etc. yet they want to limit your freedom to choose where you will shop! Now, hippies may not physically block you from entering Wal-Mart but they are pushing for government policies that tell you where you can shop.

Shouldn’t Americans have the right to choose which legally permitted establishments they will frequent? What do you care about your neighbors’ spending habits?

Unless there’s more to it. You have an axe to grind, an agenda. Nothing else can explain this irrational hatred of a STORE!

You can also choose not to shop at Wal-Mart.

...opium from Jed’s Pharmacy

Exactly where is Jed’s Pharmacy? :o)

<b>Oh, But We Do Have the Right!

You have no right, absolutely ZERO right... ~Nick

When Wal-Mart takes every subsidy local towns or the U.S. government will throw at them in order to expand their empire, and when Wal-Mart uses a REIT to avoid (notice my choice of words...I didn’t say “minimize") taxes, putting more of a burden on other taxpayers, then it becomes our right to tell people where NOT to shop!

What do you care about your neighbors’ spending habits?
We don’t care or shouldn’t care about “our neighbor’s spending habits,” unless these “habits” affect us financially. As we’re all witnessing in the sub-prime mortgage fallout, when our neighbors’ poor financial decisions make it necessary for the government to come to the rescue, it becomes our business.

Not one cent should go to people who took on these risky mortgages on houses they couldn’t afford in the first place.

Screwedby,

“When Wal-Mart takes every subsidy local towns or the U.S. government will throw at them in order to expand their empire, and when Wal-Mart uses a REIT to avoid (notice my choice of words...I didn’t say “minimize") taxes, putting more of a burden on other taxpayers, then it becomes our right to tell people where NOT to shop! “

Wouldn’t it make more sense, to go after the people GIVING the subsidies, instead of going after those Taking the subsidies?  If you want to stop a problem, you need to stop the creaters of the problem!!  Why are you trying to blame the ones who operate within the system?  If you don’t like the system, go after those who are throwing the money at Wal-Mart!!  If someone was throwing money at YOU, and, it was legal, why wouldn’t you pick it up?  Bet you deducted your business expenses involved with your ‘movie’!!

“then it becomes our right to tell people where NOT to shop!”

But, as the customer is not the one taking the subsidies, you are going after the lowest rung on the ladder!!  And, I agree with Nick, no matter what, you have no right to TELL anyone where to spend their money!!  As they say, “Who died and left YOU in charge”?

With all of these discussions about subsidies to Walmart (and every other business under the sun) granted by local and state governments you need to ask yourself a question… why do these subsidies continue today and why will they continue tomorrow if they have truely negative effects.  This is simple logic with only 2 answers.

1.  The subsidies are NOT wrong and they do benefit local and statement governments.

2.  Local and state governments are rife with only really dumb people who work for them because they continue to dole out the subsidies even though everyone is pointing out to them how bad they are.

As for me… I’ll take #1.  I think there are alot of dumb people working for our government but I’ll give the benefit of the doubt that not all government workers are that dumb.

Brilliant Mary!

“I think there are alot of dumb people working for our government ...”

Well they can’t all be as brilliant as George W.

From the Sun Times:

Let the buyer beware

suzanne elston
Editorial - Monday, August 27, 2007 @ 08:00

The recent recall of nearly 900,000 Mattel Inc. products was the second major recall of dangerous toys this month. This most recent recall involved popular items including a variety of Doggie Day Care, Polly Pocket, Barbie and Tanner and Batman toys, as well as “Sarge” die-cast cars. The toys were pulled off the shelf because of concerns about lead paint poisoning and a choking hazard due to small magnets coming loose. The earlier recall was for Fisher-Price toys, which included an assortment of Dora the Explorer and Sesame Street toys. Once again, the concern was that the hard surfaces of the toys could contain excessive levels of lead.

In every case, the toys were manufactured in China, which has prompted critics to accuse the government of failing to protect Canadian consumers. In question are Canada’s Environmental Protection Act and the Hazardous Products Act, both of which are badly in need of updating. Canada’s Lead Reduction Strategy, which falls under the jurisdiction of Health Canada, was reviewed a decade ago, but none of the six original objectives of the review was met, according to the Canadian Environmental Law Association’s Kathy Cooper.

Canada’s Auditor General has been critical of the federal government’s failure to protect its citizens since 1997. In 1999, Canada’s Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Brian Emmett said, “Understanding the risks posed by toxic substances is the first step toward protecting Canadians.
But the federal government’s knowledge of their effects is incomplete and the risks are still unknown. Furthermore, the departments responsible for managing the risks are themselves deeply divided on how it should be done. They even disagree on the importance of the risks.”

Three years later in 2002, Emmett’s successor, Johanne G‚linas, warned that the management of toxic substances remained inadequate. Five years later, millions of toys that are readily available on store shelves have been identified as potential toxic health hazards to our most vulnerable of citizens - our children.

While the government has an undeniable responsibility to protect its citizens, those same citizens have an inherent responsibility to become a lot more discriminating about what they buy and where they buy it.

The problem is that consumers have been seduced by the cheap availability of just about everything, thanks to global trade and retailing giants. Wal-Mart, the world’s largest corporation and biggest retailer got that way by relying heavily on the cheap labour and lower environmental standards in China, where a whopping 70 per cent of Wal-Mart’s goods are made. In 2004 alone this translated into $18 billion worth of goods.

“If Wal-Mart were an individual economy,” said Xu Jun, Wal-Mart China’s director of external affairs in China Business Weekly, “It would rank as China’s eighth-biggest trading partner, ahead of Russia, Australia and Canada.” This is the very same China that is notorious for its human rights violations and environmental practices.

According to a briefing document, China’s Environmental Crisis, prepared by the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations, “Sixteen of the world’s 20 most polluted cities are in China.” One third of China’s population lacks access to clean drinking water, thanks to industrial pollution. With its heavy dependence on fossil fuels, China is poised to overtake the United States as the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases.

If Canadians are really concerned about toxic toys and other potential health threats posed by consumer goods, then they need to take a Latin lesson. Caveat emptor - “Let the buyer beware” - has never been more relevant. Everyday low prices are just a very small part of the real cost we pay for buying cheap consumer goods.

related websites

The background report, China’s Environmental Crisis, can be found on the Council on Foreign Relations’ website at www.cfr.org

For a more humorous perspective, check out Big Box Mart and other socially relevant (and really funny) videos at www.jibjab.com.

R E M E M B E R
J O N Q U I E R E
Q U E B E C
Home of Walmart Worker Abuse

R E M E M B E R
J A C K S O N V I L L E
T E X A S
Home of Walmart Worker Abuse

Alex,

“then they need to take a Latin lesson. Caveat emptor - “Let the buyer beware” - has never been more relevant.”

Doesn’t this translate into “Personal Responsibility”?

Hey Nick.

Seems a bit below your acumen level to offer such a lame argument which contrasts some bucolic past to today’s pace of life.

Let me also suggest that ‘choice’ is unrealized, until multiples are presented.

I doubt very seriously the people in that little town were walking around…

“Dammit, we got no choice. Wish we had a friggin Wal-Mart here so we don’t have to deal with that damn butcher, baker, and candlestick maker..”

No, like most small communities of times past, people chose to be in fact a community.
A matter of ‘choice’.

And, I add, they were quite self regulated both as a community and as a micro-economy.
I would imagine if the local grocer was seen as a threat to ’community’, say he was filling ground meat with sawdust, or soaking spoiled poultry in Clorox;
He certainly would remain either shot, hung, or driven out of town on a lame-ass donkey.

The small town was also a place that where money was exchanged for goods and services, the profits were not sucked of into some concentration account in Chicago.
(that is unless this was early Chicago ;)
No all those terrible, usurious profits ( which you seem to intimate, 40%?) were probably deposited in the local bank, along with the savings of the community.

Where the huge evil banker, loaned money only at 45% (over grocer margin)…Wrong.
No, the money generally flowed back into the community in the form of home and business loans, savings interest, etc.

One has to wonder how the people of this small community would react if one day a huge conglomerate like Wal-Mart suddenly arrived, and told them we are building there, that their entire lives would change because they could buy ‘stuff’ cheap. That, unfortunately their neighbor the butcher, baker and candlestick maker, well they would eventually be driven out of business.
Oh, and by the way?
We could care less, what you think, we have a legal right to do it.

Sound familiar?

And yes, I also used the same lame logic, but with a point!

OK I have read it all and as a consumer I have educated myself on both sides and I am done. DONE! NOT shopping at Wal-mart any longer nor will my extended family. Actually not buying non-American made or grown goods is a more accurate statement. “Same difference”
We are taking a stand. I have seen the results of Wal-mart. Our small business owners have gone under and the “choice” is getting narrower. Who can compete with cheap labor in China or the massive buying power? It is not just a Wal-mart problem but also an American problem. It is becoming hard to find American made products anywhere.
Well I am glad to read that they help some schools with thousands of dollars, Hmmm nice diplomatic cover. The left over dollars from those taken right from the community and given to China so people can work for pennies. Meanwhile I am unsure if the apple juice that my son drinks is safe or if the toys he plays with will be covered in God knows what tomorrow or down the road.
I have read all the cries about Wal-mart getting all this bad hype. Well let me say that my opinion as a consumer is that Wal-mart promised me at the beginning that they were an “American supporting company”, they were here to support our economy by having products that were made here by us, helping build our job force, strengthening America. They lured me in with this pretence then they let it fly. My beef is that they are no longer that company, they have sold out; they have decided that the bottom line and profit margins wins over strengthening American. Instead of helping our farmers and small business owners they have put them on the extinction list and we have all turned a blind eye and let them!
If America wants cheap, well here it is. Hate to sound like a cliché but “You get what you pay for”. I might be just one person but my hard earned and dwindling money is going to go towards American made and grown products. We are a people of excess I will cut back on something else.
I take a percentage of the blame for this situation. We as Americans have had to cut costs across the board, we have demanded more for our money and companies like Wal-mart has delivered. However I believe that we did not know the true costs of these demands, the effect on our small businesses, the effects on our food suppliers, nor the possible health dangers from the ever-growing demands companies put on these importers.
Hell I can’t afford health insurance anymore anyways so I might as well spend that extra money on American made items.
Lynn

Lynn,

How much did Wal-Mart Watch pay you to write that long piece (which was short on substance...)?

“NOT shopping at Wal-mart any longer nor will my extended family. Actually not buying non-American made or grown goods is a more accurate statement. “Same difference”

Easier said than done - get out there, do your homework, and you will find just about every store, from the big boxes to the dollar stores, does not sell a vast majority of “Made in USA” merchandise.

“Meanwhile I am unsure if the apple juice that my son drinks is safe or if the toys he plays with will be covered in God knows what tomorrow or down the road.”

You’ve been digging into the banners on the WMW homepage a little too much!  As several people (including myself) have said, the toy thing can be narrowed-down to two multi-national, multi-brand toy companies (Mattel and Hasbro).  Toys have been manufactured overseas for at least two generations, now.  As for the apple juice, if origin is important to you (as it should be to everyone), just read the label, and then make your determination.

“I have read all the cries about Wal-mart getting all this bad hype”

I’ll admit, Wal-Mart isn’t perfect (but then again, who is??) - their “bad PR” can be attributed to a bunch of twenty-somethings with internet access, as well as a group of people (on both sides of the fence) who try to liken Wal-Mart to the Republican Party, which is just plain silly!

Well let me say that my opinion as a consumer is that Wal-mart promised me at the beginning that they were an “American supporting company”, they were here to support our economy by having products that were made here by us, helping build our job force, strengthening America.”

You are obviously referencing the now-ancient “Bring it home to the USA” ad campaign that Sam Walton engineered back in the late 80’s, before Wal-Mart became a household name across America…

To quote the “king of quotes”, Ken V from Texas, “Sam Walton is dead”.  All maufacturers/retailers were seduced by China, because “cheaper to make” means “more money in the bank”.

“I take a percentage of the blame for this situation. We as Americans have had to cut costs across the board, we have demanded more for our money and companies like Wal-mart has delivered. However I believe that we did not know the true costs of these demands, the effect on our small businesses, the effects on our food suppliers, nor the possible health dangers from the ever-growing demands companies put on these importers”

Newsflash!  You live in Arkansas!  If anything, this “effect” you speak of happened, there way back in the late 70’s/early 80’s, as you live in what folks like me call “Wal-Mart Central”.

“Hell I can’t afford health insurance anymore anyways so I might as well spend that extra money on American made items.”

If you need any hints on where to find stuff made in the USA, look no further than Ken V - he recently offered links to websites of nothing but American-made stuff.  I can’t guarantee it will be anything you want, though…

In fact, as you are female, I am certain Ken will find you before the day is up—he’s just that kinda guy…

Good luck in your quest.

Bill

cazar

I enjoy your posts, as always. Even when I disagree, I have to give you credit for bringing some intellect to a forum sorely lacking in same. HOWEVER, I have to challenge your assertion about community and Wal-Mart’s effect on the quality of life contained therein.

Wal-Mart was founded in 1962, same year as Target and K-Mart. By 1970, eight years after its founding, Wal-Mart had just 18 stores scattered throughout Arkansas, Oklahoma & Kansas. By 1979, Wal-Mart had sales of just $1.25 billion, with a total of 276 stores in 11 states.

After WWII, small town America began to evolve. Returning veterans needed homes and empty space on the outskirts of cities became suburbs. As people moved farther away from the city centers, stores, strip malls and enclosed shopping malls followed. With the creation of the interstate highway system by President Eisenhower, the growth of suburbia, the availability of cars and the general post war boom all combined to destroy the small town merchant. All of these things happened SANS Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart’s 276 stores in 11 states in 1980 can hardly be blamed for a post WWII shift in population and housing.

My own small town’s retail did not die because of Wal-Mart or any other store. The steel industry died in my area and people began driving to the malls and distant K-Marts, etc. for their goods. People will shop Mom and Pop as long as it is convenient. They will not shop in any one place if given a plethora of choices. I can say, with absolute certainty, that the nearest Wal-Mart was 30 miles away, up until 1997, and it was not a Super Wal-Mart. Given this information, how can Wal-Mart be blamed for the demise of small town America?

Do we decry GM now because they put buggy whip makers out of business? Do we hate Ford because they are one of three US car companies when there were 130 car companies in 1920? Things change. They do not always stay the same. Go to Pittsburgh and you will feel as though you walked into 1955, albeit without the dark smoke from the mills. Things were this way in 1955, so people decided things should always be that way. They don’t want change. They don’t want expansion. They are comfortable, dammit, and they want it kept that way! Unfortunately, change is constant. We have to make the change happen or accept someone else’s change but we cannot have things as we’ve always had them.

Finally, Wal-Mart has never taken a dollar away from any competitor and it has never put a competitor out of business. CUSTOMERS are to blame. I have to laugh at the ridiculous assertion that a small town of 5,000 people, loyal to Mom and Pop, will somehow allow Wal-Mart to put Mom and Pop out of business. If the people wanted Mom and Pop, and didn’t shop there due to lack of options, they would continue to shop there. Wal-Mart should have NO effect on the town’s loyalty to Mom and Pop. Unless...the customers are not loyal, they merely lacked choices to begin with.

Lynn,

What you need to do, is read the book, ‘A Year Without “Made In China”, by Sara Bongiorni’!!

She thought the same way you do, but over the year, her view slowly changed, when she saw the differences in price and the effects it had on her family!!

People get it into their heads, that things are a certain way, without really knowing all of the things involved!!  People have this picture in their heads, of a funnel and all our money going to China, yet they fail to see that the money is coming back in other forms!!  Also, in a dynamic global economy, as China grows economically, they will need what we have, exports to China have tripled in the last few years and will continue that trend as China moves into the 21st century!!

On the subject of choice.

Would someone like to name any item for sale in a Wal-Mart, that they could not find the same or comparable elsewhere in a moderate sized city?

So choice, in terms of product availability, is not an issue.

Is there any service available in a Wal-Mart store, that cannot be found as well?

Now before I hear, howling about ‘one stop shopping’ and such.
Let me suggest that hackneyed old theme is worn out.
Most cities have either malls, shopping plazas, or ‘strips’, which if one does not weigh 500 pounds, or is too lazy to open purse or wallet more than once, these lands are easily traversed with a modicum of effort in the hunter/gatherer mode.

So, for the most part, Wal-Mart offers nothing significantly different, than what is normally available, except to the very lazy.

Except one thing. Price.

In all actuality, in modern society, the only significant choice Wal-Mart actually offers, is purportedly the cheapest price.

It has nothing to do with expertise in selecting electronic items, or in-house service after the sale, or custom cut meat, or home delivery, or trying on cosmetics, etc.

So variety of ‘choice’, in terms of Wal-Mart is no variety. It is monistic.

Just thought we need to clarify this idea of ‘choice’ a bit.

...“then they need to take a Latin lesson. Caveat emptor - “Let the buyer beware”...

Hmmm..my text translates it thusly:

Caveat emptor:Screw ‘em if you can!

I have nothing against Wal-Mart openly embracing either translation but in order to make it legal they’ll have to chisel off all the Satisfaction Guaranteeds from the front of the buildings.

“What once was a friendly, customer service oriented business, has become a rude, unhelpful, impersonal corporation that has lost touch with it’s roots.” ~ James, ex Wal-Mart customer and PFB letter writer.

Craig Cole is president and CEO of Bellingham-based Brown & Cole Stores, a 34-store regional supermarket chain operating under the Food Pavilion and Cost Cutter trade names.

He writes about retail choice as follows-

A healthy political democracy requires a diversity of participants engaged in fair competition to offer choices to voters. No single political entity can be allowed to become so powerful that it controls the political process and permanently destroys the competition.

The same constructs apply to commercial democracies, which benefit from a diversity of participants engaged in fair competition to offer choices for the dollar “votes” of consumers. No single commercial enterprise should be allowed to become so dominant that it can eliminate competition, thereby depriving consumers of choice.

Wal-Mart has become such an enterprise. It is a corporate entity of disturbing proportions and a symbol of how the globalization of commerce can produce local economic dislocation. This mammoth company seeks to undermine our commercial democracy by permanently destroying competitors, especially smaller, community-based businesses.

Its goal is to reduce consumer choice through the domination of every field of commerce that it touches. This will become increasingtly evident to Washingtonians as Wal-Mart’s ubiquity spreads here. Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott has said that his firm’s long-term strategy is “to be where we’re not.”

Wal-Mart views America as one big company town. According to a January article in Time magazine, Wal-Mart has aggressive plans to double its sales within five years, to insinuate its way into more neighborhoods, and to invade more product categories. The article describes a Wal-Mart goal of having a 30 percent market share of every major business that it touches, from groceries to electronics. Imagine, a single company controlling a third of consumer purchases!

Suppliers must stop enslaving themselves to Wal-Mart and realize that their long-term success is dependent upon a diversity of retailers offering their products. In many ways, suppliers have been contributing to their own imprisonment and eventual doom by becoming the captives of a single retail outlet.

For the rest of the article-

http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2003/03/24/editorial3.html

SDV,

“Craig Cole is president and CEO of Bellingham-based Brown & Cole Stores, a 34-store regional supermarket chain operating under the Food Pavilion and Cost Cutter trade names.”

I wonder if Mr. Cole, is concerned about the businesses his stores caused to go out of business (the customers had to be shopping somewhere else before his stores opened)?  Is it any surprise, that the CEO of a company that is trying to grow, would be negative about their competition?  34 stores, why wasn’t he satisfied with just 1 store, or could it be, that he is interested in making a PROFIT (how shameful)?  Do you think he has it in mind to open more stores and if he gets the chance, would he like to grow his business to thousands of stores?  And, isn’t he making his money off the backs of his workers, or does he go out and run the stores by himself?  How hypocritical can you get?

“Capitalism needs to function like a game of tug-of-war. Two opposing sides need to continually struggle for dominance, but at no time can either side be permitted to walk away with the rope.” ~ Pete Holiday

Ken V,

““Capitalism needs to function like a game of tug-of-war. Two opposing sides need to continually struggle for dominance, but at no time can either side be permitted to walk away with the rope.” ~ Pete Holiday”

And, who is it that is walking away with the rope?  Haven’t you guys been saying that Wal-Mart’s sales are falling and that Target and Costco are getting stronger all the time?  And, you keep harping on the fact that Wal-Mart is always making the WRONG decisions, so where do you get that there ‘isn’t’ a struggle for dominance?  It is hard for some of us to understand, how Wal-Mart can be going down the tubes and yet be so powerful, bent on world domination, run by a bunch of idiots!!  Somewhat contradictory, don’t you think?

It is hard for some of us to understand, how Wal-Mart can be going down the tubes and yet be so powerful, bent on world domination, run by a bunch of idiots!!

I have one word for you, RDS:

Sam’s momentum!

Ken V,

“I have one word for you, RDS:

Sam’s momentum!”

First, I believe that is two words!!  Second, how long does “Sam’s momentum’ last, he’s been dead for quite awhile now, hasn’t he?

Part 1
I am sorry this is so long but this really makes me angry! Bill do you know where your steak came from on tonight’s dinner table? Do you buy your meat and produce from Wal-Mart? You stated:
…………………..
…"As for the apple juice, if origin is important to you (as it should be to everyone), just read the label, and then make your determination. “
……………………
Would love to be able to do this Bill with some level of certainty however Congress supported the right of consumers to know where their food comes from and included a country-of-origin label requirement back in the 2002 farm bill. However this bill was stalled till 2008. It is voluntary currently.  It was claimed to be too costly to implement but it was proven to cost less then a tenth of a cent per pound of food. Isn’t that worth it to have a “Choice”? Americans do not know what are cheap imports and what is American grown on many items today. Most just take it for granted that the vast majority of food items they and their families consume are from the US.
……………………………
It was stated on this forum..."People get it into their heads, that things are a certain way, without really knowing all of the things involved!!  People have this picture in their heads, of a funnel and all our money going to China, yet they fail to see that the money is coming back in other forms!!  Also, in a dynamic global economy, as China grows economically, they will need what we have, exports to China have tripled in the last few years and will continue that trend as China moves into the 21st century!! “
………………………………
hmmmmm. How is the money coming back to the US?  China’s imports of US fresh fruits and vegetables (potatoes and sweet corn mainly) have increased substantially which is good for this US export market. This is a very very small percentage however. Soybeans and cotton make up the majority of the agricultural imports from the US to China. All other agricultural products are too expensive to import from the US because China can produce these products at the rate of about one fourth the cost of US products. One example: The exporting of Apples/apple juice from China has devastated the US Apple industry. (US had 50% of the Asian import market of apples and now has under 10%) China is now the leader (around +80%) in Apple exporting and has taken this export market away from the US. To further the blow to the apple growers is that the US is importing Apple juice from China so not only has the US apple market lost it’s exports it has lost a huge market within the US. Wal-mart and other retail stores have chosen to purchase imported apple juice instead of supporting its own domestic production.  It would still make a profit using domestic Apple growers but not as MUCH. I am sure the apple growers would not mind a bit to increase their productivity with a buyer like Wal-mart and I am sure they would not mind Wal-mart making up the demand with China imports after it had exhausted the US supply. Sadly however these companies along with heavy export competition has put the US out of the apple business. Just another number to some unless your family is in Apples.

From what I have read the majority of the exports to China from the US are component parts to be assembled in China and sent back to the US. (about 40%) These are not exported goods produced in the US for China’s consumption or economic growth it is to take advantage of the cheap labor costs instead of using American workers.

Exports HAVE NOT tripled to China in the past few years. From 2003 to 2006 US Exports to China have raised from 28,418,493 to 55,224,163. (in thousands of dollars) US imports from China from 2003 to 2006 raised from 152,379,236 to 287,772,786. (in thousands of dollars) US totals for imports in 2006 were 1,855,119,254. US totals for exports in 2006 were 1,037,142,973. (in thousands of dollars) AKA a trade deficit. On a good note the trade deficit has decreased 1 billion thus far last month in 7007 a nice drop in the bucket!
http://www.marktaw.com/culture_and_media/TheUSTradeDeficit.html
This is a nice site for those of us who are not as educated as we should be on trade deficit. It also gives the US comparison to other countries financial export verses import history.
We are not looking at a global trade balance and they are not forecasting that as a future trend in America.

Our insatiable need for cheap items is, as the Asia Times likes to say “the rope from which we will hang ourselves with”. Manufactured goods exports were 63.4 percent of total goods and services exported in the first half of 2007, compared with 64.4 percent a year ago.

We are creating an America of two classes the “Have-nots” and the “Have too much alreadys”. Instead of killing off our middle class and small businesses we need to redirect and re-educate that work force into technology and sell this to our foreign trade partners to balance off imports. Please tell me what America can offer as exports to these growing foreign economies 25 years from now to balance the imports? We will be a nation of sales clerks depending on foreign countries for a greater number of goods that we use to provide domestically.

Wal-mart and stores like it is giving us what we ask for “cheap” but is it giving us what we need to grow and succeed as a global economic leader? Large discount stores that rely on the majority of their sales from cheap imports create an impossible environment for small businesses and American made products to compete and succeed. It also feeds the trade imbalance and trade deficit!!!!!

Can American businesses pay their employees 30 cents an hour? Can they work their employees in substandard and sometimes hazardous work environments? Can they as some research has shown cause environmental hazards in producing their products?
It is not a matter of choice, the problem is a matter of reliance of imports extinguishing the American work force and small business. We can’t compete even if we wanted to. The playing field is set and we have already determined that America will no longer be a producer of textiles and agriculture isn’t too far behind.
The FDA registered as of July 3, 2007, 322,744 food facility registrations, of which 188,946 are foreign facilities and 133,798 are domestic facilities. China and Japan being the top producers in FDA registered food facilities. The growing predictions looks like the US numbers of registrations will level off and then drop and the foreign producers will continue to rise.

We are making a choice in America of saving a buck now and not worrying about what happens later. I worry what we will have to offer as exports in the coming decades? A smart bet would be to replace the void of lost jobs and small businesses with a strong growth in technology. This would balance off imports or most probably exceed imports when sold to developing countries. The US as the global high-tech leader is not coming to fruition. I quote the “Global Technology Forum” 2007 article
……………………………

“China’s soaring spending on technology research and development now exceeds that of Japan. An authoritative recent study shows that if current trends continue, China’s R&D;spending will pass the European Union in four years and the US in seven. If China’s spending continues to accelerate or if the US rate slows, China could be the world’s leader even sooner.

Make no mistake: with China’s much larger population and lower production costs, the only way the US can maintain its high standard of living and military security is to retain vastly superior technology within its borders. This does not mean global companies incorporated in Delaware but producing in Shanghai; it means companies working within US borders.”
………………………………

So from Barbie dolls to High Tech global leader, we are creating an America that cannot compete! Why? Because we are comprised of high maintenance, greedy wolves and a very large flock of sheep. Not the America my grandfather fought for. I for one would really like to work hard to get that back.

As I see it, a country of sales clerks and a majority of “Have-nots” cannot sustain us as the leaders in Technology or anything else for that matter. Unless we take hold of our appetite for the cheap imports, tighten our excessive belts and start investing in our children, their minds, and our future, we can kiss our little sweet way of life goodbye.

Might I add that we are not going to just stop shopping at Wal-mart we are going to make an active “choice” to try and support our local community. We are buying all out meat and vegetables from local/US farmers, Buying what textiles we can from US mills ( a hard thing to do actually) There are going to be things we will have to buy that are Imports. But I figure we can cut our import spending by 75% or more, this will raise our spending budget by I figure 10% to 15%. In my own back yard we will be trade balanced and making money for American businesses and supporting American employees. Who in their right mind would contest to that??? Maybe the greedy wolves ;o)

Oh I must also reply to Bill.
Nope, never been contacted/paid by anyone, any site, etc. This was our family decision. A decision we feel really good about! I graduated from a top ten US university, paid for by working in American factories and have a pretty high IQ for a female. I decided to raise a family instead of climb the corporate ladder (I know that drops my IQ significantly). I am not a corporate genius but I do worry about the state of affairs in America that I love and that I leave to my children. As so many average sheep do these days.

I want what I am sure you want. The US to be a global leader in technology, exports of quality goods and services, National Security, and for us as a nation to be financially responsible and not in a trade deficit. Just by shear design Wal-mart and stores like it do not fit into this plan, if it did we would support it. I am sure the wolves will tear me apart for my own personal decision, poke holes, take stabs at me personally, but at the end of the day if we both want what is best for America and it’s people then we both win. If Wal-mart ends up to be a company that is great for America’s economy and trade balance then I will be the first to cheer! My opinion at this point is that it is not.
Thanks for letting one person/sheep speak their mind! Bye all and God bless

A few thoughts Lynn. It was published 12 years ago (1995) The End of Work by Jeremy Rifkin that gave some insight to what happened in the 1980s and now extended with further consequences. It is heavily documented and shows an observational conscience. Thomas Friedman and some other corporate propagandists want to make basically a technology only argument/observation and leave out the real reason for stripping down America’s factories and shipping the equipment/jobs overseas. Money.

The Waltons ‘earned’ or ‘worked’ for their wealth? More like betrayed/cheated American people/labor out of it with Sam Walton’s exploitation model and now a 80% Chinese product inventory at WalMart/Sam’s Club-

Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton once said, “I pay low wages. I can take advantage of that. We’re going to be successful, but the basis is a very low-wage, low-benefit model of employment.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Wal-Mart#_note-
iswalmartgood

“Is Wal-Mart Good for America?” PBS. November 16, 2004. Retrieved on February 24, 2007.

Stealing/arbitraging wages and benefits from the American people/labor and the Walton’s ‘working for’ and ‘earning’ billions in public subsidies (welfare for corporations) resulted in this-

Samuel Robson (Rob) Walton (born 1945, in Tulsa, Oklahoma) is the eldest son of Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer. According to Forbes, his net worth is $16.7 billion as of 2007.

John Thomas Walton (October 8, 1946 - June 27, 2005) was a son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton.
Just before his death, Walton was estimated to be worth US$18.2 billion by Forbes magazine, and he was tied with his brother Jim as the 4th richest person in the United States and 11th-richest person in the world.

Jim Carr Walton (born 1948) is the youngest son of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton.
With an estimated current net worth of around $16.8 billion, he is ranked by Forbes as the 23rd-richest person in world.

Alice Louise Walton (born October 7, 1949) is the daughter of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton and Helen Walton, and sister of S. Robson Walton, John T. Walton (d.2005), and Jim Walton. She has an estimated net worth of about $16.6 billion.

Helen Robson Kemper Walton (December 3, 1919 - April 19, 2007) was the wife of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton. She was the eleventh richest American and at one point the richest woman in the world. Helen died with an estimated net worth of $16.4 billion.

Working at WalMart is like working at the morgue. Your ‘living wage’ job was killed and the endless autopsy reads “died from Global Labor Arbitrage and low wage exploitation of labor”. WalMart crematorium slaves cash their meager paychecks as if they are death certificates sign by the Waltons and Lee Scott. WalMart is a poverty engine for America’s workforce operated by “low wage low benefit” economic undertakers in Bentonville.

But Nick and a corporatist propaganda ilk must scream hysterically about ‘class warfare’ or ‘class envy’ in a sterile monotone economic hedonism and denial that claim ‘free market entreperneurialism’ passing for capitalism. A casual review of WalMart over the past 15 years will show tax dodges, cash susidies for store and DC placement, free land subsidies, tax abatements, labor subsidies for health care, food stamps, section 8 housing, etc etc easily adding up to over $30 billion in public largess and many other scams and practices declared as ‘business acumen’ by the ‘love of money’ Bentonville slobs.

Other retailers did not pursue this ravenous business model-

“Given Costco’s performance, the question for Wall Street shouldn’t be why Costco isn’t more like Wal-Mart. Rather, why can’t Wal-Mart deliver high shareholder returns and high living standards for its workforce? Says Costco CEO James D. Sinegal: “Paying your employees well is not only the right thing to do but it makes for good business.”

What Sinegal has proven is that a company doesn’t have to be ruthless. Being humane and ethical can also make you money.

continues-

Costco CEO Finds Pro-Worker Means Profitability
High Wages, Employee Benefits Build Loyalty—and P.R. Ambassadors
By ALAN B. GOLDBERG and BILL RITTER
August 2, 2006

And Sinegal says he’s also built a loyal work force. In fact, Costco has the lowest employee turnover rate in retailing. Its turnover is five times lower than its chief rival, Wal-Mart. And Costco pays higher than average wages—$17 an hour—40 percent more than Sam’s Club, the warehouse chain owned by Wal-Mart. And it offers better-than-average benefits, including health care coverage to more than 90 percent of its work force.
<http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Business/story?id=1362779>

While Wal-Mart makes twice as much profit as Costco, Sinegal believes its better business to make a nice profit, but not a killing, and to invest more in Costco’s 92,000 workers. “I don’t see what’s wrong with an employee earning enough to be able to buy a house or having a health plan for the family,” he says

http://www.alternet.org/story/19014/

Yes, Costco also imports from China. But nothing near the WalMart model. Yes, Costco has received some local subsidies. But nothing even remotely near the largess that WalMart has wolfed down.

Others from the WalMart/Edelman ‘war room’ crowd have tried unsuccessfully to blame the unions/communists/child molesters etc for America’s business and economic troubles and even for the WalMart wolf attitude and reputation about labor/people. The Bentonville ‘love of money’ psychopaths will accept no responsibility for any of their actions against the American people. They want to claim how much money they are saving you while impoverishing Americans at the same time.

Lynn, thanks for the honesty of your views and for letting me use one of my favorite Lincoln quotes again-

“The Shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep’s throat, for which the sheep thanks the shepherd as a liberator, while the wolf denounces him for the same act as a destroyer of liberty.” Abraham Lincoln

Lynn,

Sorry you had to read SanDiegoView’s drivel (which has been posted here no less than a couple dozen times).

I appreciate what you want for the sake of your children, but the bottom line, finding “made in USA” for everything we need is simply better said than done.

If you’ll browse around the stores, you’ll see this is much bigger than just Wal-Mart—everybody’s in on it, Wal-Mart only gets all the press, because that’s the purpose of WMW’s existance…

Bill

“Yes, Costco also imports from China. But nothing near the WalMart model. Yes, Costco has received some local subsidies. But nothing even remotely near the largess that WalMart has wolfed down.”

Damn!  A “True Confession” from SDV!

The reality is the only reason Costco isn’t receiving as much bennies/importing as much goods from China, is only because Costco operates about 1/10th the amount of stores (in the USA) as Wal-Mart.

According to the description of the stock (COST) to investors, it says “As of October 12, 2006, the company operated 488 warehouses, including 359 in the United States”.

I’m sure 500 would be a more accurate number, today.

Give it time, if and when Costco gets a couple thousand locations under their belt, they’ll be riding the Chinese container ship to the money trough, too!

Bill

I’m really sorry again Lynn. I suffer from writer related envy syndrome and cannot accept that SanDiegoView posts such hurtful material to my cause. You see I’m a shill and WalMart/Edelman ‘war room’ propagandist with little or no talent but must have some type of W.I.M.P. presence. WalMart pays me to do this, can you believe it! I would not bother to post here as a WalMart worship type trying to fool the public but it is a job and paycheck. It is either this or attempting to teaching English to the illegal Mexican cleaning crew at WalMart after I lock them in the store every night.

And don’t tell anybody that-

It is not considered an argument that Costco, No. 28 in the Fortune 500, is the fourth-largest retailer in the country and the seventh-largest in the world.
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/10/30/8391725/index.htm?postversion=2006102515

Walmart Image Manipulation Police (WIMP)- We try desperately to make WalMart look good by making others look bad or just as bad as us. It doesn’t have to be true, just convenient for temporary propaganda purposes.

Boo hoo!!!

“Bill” Chief lackey at WIMP

You Want to Talk About “Drivel,” Bill?

“...drivel (which has been posted here no less than a couple dozen times).”

Nick’s covered SDV’s “drivel,” and has raised him a couple dozen times more!

Tell us why exactly we shouldn’t consider your posts drivel, Bill?

Definition of “drivel”.... posts by SDV and Alex for the pure reason that they are EXPERTS on the “cut and paste” methods of destroying perfectly good white space.  I don’t see Nick in that group.  I’m just sorry you can’t understand simple logic or you refuse to face the facts when presented to you ScrewedbyWal-Mart.

Bye all and God bless

Come back anytime, Lynn, and bring that female IQ with you.

“A better legacy than a Wal-Mart would be a vacant lot.” ~ Linda Bevard

“And don’t tell anybody that-”

SDV, is either a COSTCO PR agent, or a wannabe!!  He constantly brags them up, while talking down all the others!!  Costco, is SDV’s ‘holy grail’!!

“A better legacy than a Wal-Mart would be a vacant lot.” ~ Linda Bevard

A shopper, saving money and an employee paying their bills with a paycheck, might disagree with Ms. Bevard, you can’t save money on purchases or earn a paycheck, from an vacant lot!!

You’re NOT Alone, Lynn!  Keep the Vision!

“I want what I am sure you want. The US to be a global leader in technology, exports of quality goods and services, National Security, and for us as a nation to be financially responsible and not in a trade deficit.”

Lynn...your comment paralleled something former NBC news commentator, John Chancellor said way back in 1990.

He said:  “What the country needs is a peacetime Pearl Harbor to shake it up, (remind you of anything?) to make Americans aware of the trouble they’re in, to tap their energy and their willingness to work.  The strength is there, but it is being sapped by a combination of weaknesses--a thousand wounds we find difficult to heal.  We have weakened ourselves in the way we practice our politics, manage our businesses, teach our children, succor our poor, care for our elders, save our money, (or more precisely don’t save...except for RDS, of course) protect our environment, and run our government.  If the government’s debt and trade imbalance (what trade imbalance, right Nick?) remain high, many more billions of dollars will flow to the foreigners who fund our debt (I wonder who that could be) and sell us their goods.”

Although your comments got a “little lost” or “passed over” amidst all the other noise on this blog, don’t let that stop you from speaking your mind again, Lynn!

Lynn

I have neither the time nor the patience to post three long rants as you did. Let me quickly torpedo your arguments.

Myth 1: The trade “deficit” is bad for the US.

FACT: The US had a trade “deficit” for most of the 19th Century, when the US economy grew at a record pace. Now, you have to understand what a trade deficit is. Technically, when you pay your doctor or dentist, you have a “trade deficit” with your provider. But, you say, I received medical treatment or a teeth cleaning. Well said! You exchanged one thing of value (currency) for another (service). This is called a free exchange of goods. Your doctor gave you something (service) and you gave him something (money). While you technically showed a “deficit” are you worse off? When your car dies and you buy a new car, let’s say you spend $25,000. Did you LOSE $25,000? Techincally, you have a $25,000 deficit with the car dealer. Did you LOSE $25,000? Or did you merely EXCHANGE it for something of value? We hear “record trade deficit with China” and “Trade deficit with China hits $180 billionj”, etc. This leads the average stupid person to believe that US LOST $180 billion and China GAINED $180 billion. This is not the case. The US merely traded $180 billion in money for $180 billion in goods. We did not LOSE the $180 billion!

Myth 2: We are becoming a society of the haves and have nots.

FACT: In the 19th Century, again, our period of record economic expansion, the gap between the rich and the poor was much larger. In fact, there was no middle class in the US until 1945. The fact remains that the US had very few people controlling a huge percentage of the national wealth in the 19th century. The average person didn’t even own their own home. 99.9% of Americans did not own stock. And yet, the US expanded and grew into the industrial power than won two world wars. Compare the true poor of Andrew Carnegie’s mills ($2 per day wages for skilled labor, 12-hour days, 7 days per week, did not own their homes, no savings, no pension, no 401k, no government mandated Ponzi scheme to keep them poor, no car, no horse, no new clothes and no chance at advancement) to the “poor” of today. Today’s “poor” are limited in number. First of all, the poverty rates count income and not government benefits and so millions of people on welfare, living pretty good, are considered “poor” and “below the poverty” line. However, they have homes, cars, food, clothing, medical coverage, free schooling, etc. Are they really poor as compared to the 19th century workers who built this country?

Here are some facts about today’s “poor” in America:

-46 percent of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.

-80 percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, in 1970, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.

-Only six percent of poor households are overcrowded; two thirds have more than two rooms per person.

-The typical poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)

-Nearly three quarters of poor households own a car; 31 percent own two or more cars.

-97 percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions.

-78 percent have a VCR or DVD player.

-62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.

-89 percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and a more than a third have an automatic dishwasher.

And this, from an article by Robert Rector:

“Overall, the typical American defined as poor by the government has a car, air conditioning, a refrigerator, a stove, a clothes washer and dryer, and a microwave. He has two color televisions, cable or satellite TV reception, a VCR, or DVD player, and a stereo. He is able to obtain medical care. His home is in good repair and is not overcrowded. By his own report, his family is not hungry, and he had sufficient funds in the past year to meet his family’s essential needs. While this individual’s life is not opulent, it is far from the popular images of dire poverty conveyed by the press, liberal activists, and politicians.

There are two main reasons that American children are poor: Their parents don’t work much, and their fathers are absent from the home.

In both good and bad economic environments, the typical American poor family with children is supported by only 800 hours of work during a year . If work in each family were raised to 2,000 hours per year, nearly 75 percent of poor children would be lifted out of official poverty.

Nearly two thirds of poor children reside in single-parent homes; each year, an additional 1.5 million children are born out of wedlock. If poor mothers married the fathers of their children, nearly three quarters of the nation’s impoverished youth would immediately be lifted out of poverty.

Yet, although work and marriage are reliable ladders out of poverty, the welfare system perversely remains hostile to both. Major programs such as food stamps, public housing, and Medicaid continue to reward idleness and penalize marriage. If welfare could be turned around to encourage work and marriage, the nation’s remaining poverty could be reduced.”

There You Go Again, Nick

“I have neither the time nor the patience to post three long rants...”

But you apparently had the time for two long rants.  My patience runs out when I see ”Nick in”

Do you think Nick typed all that or does their side use Copy & Paste also?

“SDV, is either a COSTCO PR agent, or a wannabe!!  He constantly brags them up, while talking down all the others!!  Costco, is SDV’s ‘holy grail’!!”
RDS

Aside from WalMart, what others have I talked down? Costco simply has a socially responsible business model that is admirable especially in contrast to Bentonville and their corporate cult like psychopathy that must tell ‘war room’ lies.

If my posting about Costco bothers you RDS, then think of it as the only reason I do it. You have a neurotic tendency to evade simple facts with a need to defend WalMart almost out of some compulsive behavior disorder. It has a detrimental effect on your material/research (if any)/rationality and as a diagnosis should be entered into the DSM as WalMart Worship and Hysteria/Compulsive Defense Disorder (aka Edelman’s disease).
.

Basically you and Nick amount to being a dishonesty tax upon the reader and America’s culture. Just like WalMart.

“These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert, to fleece the people.”
Abraham Lincoln

SDV,

“Aside from WalMart, what others have I talked down?”

If the others are ALL either the same or worse than Wal-Mart, when it comes to wages and benefits, it only follows to a rational person, that to critize one, is to critize them all!!

Tell us this, is it some kind of a RULE, that if one business pays more than ALL the others, all the others MUST raise their wages and benefits to the level of the one, or they are automatically psychopathic for not doing so?

Typical RDS in wanting to make a stink but not a distinction. Your WalMart worship disposition does not allow you to remember this is the WalMartWatch site and your desperate evasion/distraction drool to cast ‘others do it too’ slobber blame doesn’t cut it here at WalMartWatch.

WalMart- So what if we megabetrayed American workers by shifting their manufacturing jobs to China. It’s not as if we Bentonville ‘low wage’ ‘love of money’ psychopaths are going to share any of the huge Global Labor Arbitrage profits with our ‘associates’ like those bastards over at Costco do paying an average of $17/hr.

WalMart- We are the largest and most perverse destroyer of American wages. We are not just impoverishment wages, we are your dream of advanced payday loans as well. Let’s blame someone else. Trying to make others look bad will make WalMart look good in the RDS dreamworld.