Is Wal-Mart the Root of All Evil?

[AuntiePinko]

Dear Auntie Pinko,

Why do people hate Wal-Mart so much? Yes, it would be better if they could pay people more and provide health insurance, but I think that in a lot of ways they make up for their sins by keeping their prices so low that people can afford to shop there even if they aren’t rich. I don’t know what I would do about school clothes for my kids if we didn’t have a Wal-Mart, and their groceries are always cheaper than the regular stores for real, name-brand items.

Many families are too poor to pay full prices at regular stores, even for the basics, much less a few luxuries like DVDs and sports equipment. Or even toys. My kids would have a sad Christmas if I couldn’t shop at Wal-Mart, because there’s no way I could afford to buy them much if I had to pay regular prices. My husband and I are just barely making it and we are saving to buy our own home. If it weren’t for Wal-Mart’s cheap prices we wouldn’t be able to save at all. I am liberal in a lot of things but I really get ticked off when I see liberals who don’t seem to have any trouble shopping at Crate and Barrel telling me I shouldn’t shop at Wal-Mart.

Allison
Rosario, WA


Dear Allison,

While I agree with you that some people are a little insensitive and judgmental about preaching the anti-Wal-Mart gospel, there are many reasons to dislike how the retail giant operates. In the short term, “I don’t have much money, so I shop at Wal-Mart,” makes sense. But those opposing the economic model Wal-Mart has created understand the long-term consequences: “I shop at Wal-Mart, so I don’t have much money.” Participating in the ‘race to the bottom’ ultimately lowers wages for everyone working in the consumer goods manufacturing and retail sectors, feeds the job-exporting frenzy, and squeezes small owner-operated businesses out of existence.

However, it’s unfair to blame just Wal-Mart. The problem is widespread and pervasive, the effect of an economy reliant on an ever-accelerating cycle of consumption and corporate profits to maintain itself. By removing restraints like union bargaining power, higher tax rates on corporate profits, and regulations, we’ve let this cycle spiral out of control to where the health of the economy depends on constantly pushing labor costs downwards, resulting in far too many people who can’t afford to shop anywhere but at Wal-Mart.

The desire to succeed, to accrue wealth and acquire stuff, is normal and helps sustain human economies and societies. It’s a very powerful engine, but like anything with vast power, when it is out of control it can do terrible damage. Americans rely on stuff to an unhealthy degree, and our desire to make stuff, lots of stuff, available to everybody, has made us vulnerable to a form of consumer exploitation that is harming our country’s security, our resilience, and the very infrastructure that supports us. In valuing cheap consumer goods so highly, we have enabled a small minority of our fellow-citizens to own and control a huge percentage of our national wealth. And they, not unnaturally, use that wealth mainly for the personal benefit of themselves and their families.

And so we’ve started a cycle where those who control all that wealth and power use it to perpetuate the system that benefits them. They use the fantasy of ‘anyone can get rich, even you, and when you get rich you don’t want to be forced to use any of it to pay taxes or support the government, do you?’ And the soothing anodyne of cheap consumer goods to maintains a minimum comfort level even as they drain real wealth— economic security— from the rest of society. Devaluing and disempowering a government that was formed to protect everyone’s ability to benefit from the economy, they divert the resources that should be maintaining our infrastructure into military contracts and sweetheart deals that increase their profits.

The last time this spiral escalated out of control in our country it took some tremendous financial crashes and a long, hard, sometimes even bloody struggle to recalibrate the economy. What emerged wasn’t as efficient at creating vast fortunes of wealth for the few, but it did a better job of ensuring that large numbers of workers achieved some wealth— the power to acquire assets, retire comfortably, fund higher education for their children, and other investments that constituted real financial security. In the process, we built an infrastructure of transportation, public utilities, communications, and other vital elements that was the envy of the world.

It sounds as though you have healthy priorities for your family, Allison, and if saving to buy a house (an important investment in your family’s economic security) means that you have to shop at Wal-Mart for now, that may be the best trade-off you can manage. We are all caught in the escalating spiral of high profits and low wages. We will all suffer from the economic disasters this will ultimately produce, and we all have to make some compromises to survive. But while it can be counterproductive and insensitive to heap blame on each other for the choices we make, the anti-Wal-Mart activists have a grasp on the long-term priorities we all need to share. Wal-Mart is part of the problem, a large part, and shopping there does perpetuate it, even while it may be the best option available for some folks.

Please don’t lose sight of the fact that even while they may be irritating you with the apparent ‘liberal hypocrisy’ of condemning your choices while they have the means to make other choices, the anti-Wal-Mart activists are working to make the economic picture better for everyone, including you. Thanks for asking Auntie Pinko, Allison!

[Critters2]

1. Yes...yes it is nt

[Skink]

2. Yes......

:bounce:

[whistle]

3. The tap root to the devil....yes indeed....text book case of capitalisms

.....constant struggle to win profits by exploitation of workers. They employ 700,000 workers but could care less if those workers could even afford to shop at Wal-Mart as long as the other 298,000,000 Americans can afford to buy at Wal-Mart. It is retail capitalism taken to its extreme. Where does this all lead?

<snip>
While ninety one percent of US private sector workers are unorganized and total subjects to the commands of their employers, <...> the nine percent of US private sector workers organized into trade unions are led by six-digit salaried bureaucrats who specialize in ‘giving back’ to employers workers rights and remain as captives of the pro-business Democratic Party, there is no reason to expect any serious challenge to the status quo. As is likely to happen with a turn in the business cycle, the economy slows or even goes into recession and profit margins decrease, capitalism will simply turn the screw even tighter on working class and salaried workers’ wages, impose more of the costs of recovery on their backs, pressure the Democrats and Republicans for greater Federal handouts, tax rebates and cuts in pursuit of recovery. Only if new social and political movements, leaders and activists stop pandering to the soothsayers of a coming ‘Collapse of Capitalism’ and a future ‘systemic decline’ and start engaging in a deeper and more profound analysis of the ‘Dirty Secret’ (Marx) and the source of ‘Wealth of All Nations’ (Adam Smith), in the exploitation of labor and the class struggle can a beginning be made toward denotating the foundations of capitalism and bringing about its collapse and replacement.

<more> http://www.dissidentvoice.org/July06/Petras18.htm

[Bette Noir]

4. Wal-Mart looks bad from any angle.

Sure, Wal-Mart exploits its workers. Everybody knows that. It drives locally-owned businesses out of business, another thing everybody knows.

Less well-known is that it drives its own suppliers out of business, with its relentless insistence on constantly reducing wholesale prices, in the face of increasing costs. Shopkeepers, farmers, and the owners of factories are driven to bankruptcy. Their wealth is eliminated; they are removed from the ranks of the self-employed middle class. That's American wealth eliminated, the American middle class destroyed, to be replaced by state capitalism and near-slave labor conditions abroad.

Personally, I choose to buy whatever I can from businesses that are locally owned, which are supporting the health and dignity of my own community.

[Norrin Radd]

6. Well said. n/t

[DollyM]

9. I am a small business owner who has been affected by Wal-Mart

It is getting so difficult to make it anymore because people don't know the difference in quality. They see a doll at Wal-Mart and they see a doll at my store and figure why should they pay that much more when they can get a cheap doll at Wal-Mart. What they don't understand is that their cheap Wal-Mart doll will fall apart in a few months and they will be buying another one. Why not buy a quality doll that is unique and special (mine are one of a kind)and will stand the test of time. But Wal-Mart has tainted people to think that buying cheap is best. I always buy locally when I can, even if I buy imported goods I buy them from a local merchant rather than Wal-Mart. When all the small businesses are run out of town and Wal-Mart is the only one left, where will consumers turn for quality merchandise?

[MurrayDelph]

13. and those that aren't forced completely out of business

are forced to use inferior components, poorer manufacturing techniques, and "cheaper labor"
all to cut their bottom line in an effort to survive, which usually fails.

Nice post. Welcome to DU.

[newyawker99]

20. Hi Bette Noir!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[bhikkhu]

5. myth: "regular stores" are more expensive

at least in some things. Walmart may have an abundance of "price leaders", but in some whole categroies it does poorly. Art supplies, for instance, are more expensive there than at the mom-n-pop in my city. Yet too many people still buy there based upon the "always the lowest price" notion they have spent billions imprinting upon American brains.

Recommend shopping around. Many local stores want business and can compete, but cannot possibly outspend Walmart's advertising.

[brainshrub]

7. This is one of your best essays to date.

Thank you AuntiePinko.

[Perry Mason]

8. We can't afford to shop anywhere else?

This might be true if you have no social consciousness. We are certainly not well-off by any stretch of the imagination. We could not, for example, afford to shop at Crate & Barrel as the letter suggests, yet we have somehow managed to not spend a nickel at Wal-Mart in the past ten years. It can be done, and without breaking the bank. Sure, it may take a little effort at first, and some people’s concern for the exploited peoples of the world goes right out the window when it is weighed against what they perceive as a good deal, but boycotting Wal-Mart is really rather easy to do when you set your mind to it.

[VaYallaDawg]

14. Welcome to DU Perry Mason! n/t

I have to confess that I once (about 6 yrs ago) went into a Wal-Mart in Staunton VA - was having allergy problems so bad I was in dire need of Dimetapp. At that time of evening in Staunton (about 8pm) there are exactly two stores open - the 7-11 and the Wal-Mart. 7-11 had no Dimetapp, so I was obliged to hit the WM. That was the first and last time I've ever set foot in one, and I don't expect any compelling reason to send me back to one.

[Perry Mason]

15. Thanks for the welcome

I've been an avid eavesdropper here for some time.

What does n/t mean?

[VaYallaDawg]

18. n/t means no text following the subject line.

However, after I wrote that, I changed my mind and edited to tell my little experience about visiting WM in Staunton. Even after you post a message you can still edit it. I just forgot to edit the subject line.

I lurked around here too for a long time before throwing my hat in the ring. I consider this place vitamins for the brain.

[newyawker99]

21. Hi Perry Mason!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[mntleo2]

10. Poor People Can't Even Afford WalMart

Their workers cannot afford Walmart's prices.

I agree with your points, Auntie Pinko. However even a 2nd hand store is a "shopping spree" for most poor folks.

*Elders and low income mothers are sometimes trapped into buying WalMart an this continues the cycle in their communities of killing anything local, creating virtual monopolies, which force the poor to shop at their stores, especially in small communities. I understand a poor person shopping there when there is nowhere else to shop.

*They locked workers after hours in their stores and forced them to work for nothing to finish up projects that were too much to do in one shift. They discriminate against women and pay them less. Many of these are single moms trying to make ends meet and forced into the workforce away from their children because of Welfare DEformed ~ which Walmart supported since they saw the most slave labor coming their way (and another tax break for being so noble as to hire the poor).

*Our tax dollars have subsidized Walmart by giving away property, allowing them not to pay taxes to this country, rewarding them for taking jobs offshore, and killing small business. The Waltons are one of the 17 families promoting the Inheritance tax that screws the rest of us but gives themselves and their heirs a huge break. The Waltons are the richest people in the world and keeping billions is still not enough to satiate their rampant greed.

*Buy Blue says that perhaps Walmart has good sale prices for some merchandise, but a lot of their prices are the same as anywhere else, even more expensive at times. As a low income person myself, I have found that I can shop at a locally owned shop for most of my things and get as good a price AND they know me, my kids and what I like.

These are a few reasons why I hate Walmart.

Cat In Seattle <---Seattle has no Walmarts and we are fighting to keep it that way

[ieoeja]

12. While Chicago is NOT fighting to keep Wal-Mart out.

That has become the most inflammatory argument around my parts. The people who listen to too much rightwing talk radio or rightwing morning DJs are in an uproar over it being "illegal" for Wal-Mart to come into the city. There are a couple of these guys I have deprogrammed half a dozen times already. But I don't preach at them every morning like their radio gurus do. So every couple weeks I find myself having the exact same conversation with them.

Things Chicago has NOT done:

1. banned Wal-Mart, Target, etc.


More Things Chicago has NOT done:

2. exempted Wal-Mart, Target, etc from labor laws,
3. exempted Wal-Mart, Target, etc from zoning laws,
4. exempted Wal-Mart, Target, etc from building codes,
5. exempted Wal-Mart, Target, etc from paying taxes.

There are probably more. But this is usually enough to make my point. Chicago has done nothing, NOTHING, to/for Wal-Mart that they have not done to/for the other big box retailers. But Target and the other big box retailers are doing a brisk business in Chicago, while Wal-Mart continues pressuring Chicago for the above while maintaining a public relations campaign lying about the city "keeping them out".

[DemExpat]

11. Thanks AuntiePinko. I found this enlightening on some points

that I was unclear on.

:kick:

DemEx

[sinkingfeeling]

16. I beg to disagree with the writer. Wal-Mart is not the cheapest nor

does it offer value for your dollar. There meat is of exceptionally poor quality. Most brand name items can be purchased in local groceries at the same price. Clothing and miscellaneous items can be had at K-Mart, Fred's, or 'dollar' type stores for lesser prices. I live in Wal-Mart's shadow and we have a minimum of 7 Wal-Mart Super Centers and 3 Neighborhood Markets within a 25 mile radius. I don't shop at Wal-Mart and even refuse to eat items from their bakeries that show up at every party or get-together around here.

[charlottelouise]

19. WM and food prices

Look carefully at expiration dates; a lot of WM food is very close to the sell-by date. The house-brand items are often cheaper, but look carefully at the package size; the WM brand will often be 1/4 ounce or so less than its name-brand counterpart.

[Taoschick]

17. Allison

Does have a point about the "Crate and Barrel" mentality. I live in a poor county in a poor state. We get a lot of people in here that buy vacation homes then rail against "big box" stores and work very hard to keep them from coming in. They feel good when they keep that Super Wal-Mart from coming to town but forcing the working poor to drive 40 miles to the nearest Wal-Mart because they can't afford "boutique" prices isn't helping their quality of life. It's not putting extra money in their pockets and it's not bringing any money into the community. It's far too easy to tell someone else what they should do when you don't have to deal with their lack of discretionary income.

There has to be some middle ground on this issue.

[War Pigs]

22. i thought that was Dumbya's job??

:toast:

[Nosimplehiway]

23. Yes, but for an electoral whore....

Yes, Walmart is evil.

I agree.

Buuuut... I live in a tiny little flyspeck of a town in south central Florida. There are three things surrounding my town: cattle ranches, swamps and Lake Okeechobee. With the Baptist church and air boats and hunting rifles this would seem like an overwhelmingly red place, right? And yet, it isn't. Oh, Bush carried the county (Glades), in as much as any election in Florida can be considered accurate.

And yet, there is a strong minority of moderate to liberal folks. They don't like that poor, rural young people just like their poor, rural young people are being shipped off to a pointless war. They don't like that the conservatives are trying to gut Social Security and Medicare and everything else their Dixiecrat grand-pappies fought for alongside Roosevelt and Johnson. They are well aware that next time the bungling that went on with Katrina could happen here, with a hurricane and the failing of the Okeechobee dikes.

On the positive side, they look at the sugar cane fields and fallow ranch land and see a fortune to be made in the Democrat's alternative energy plan. They understand that even a small rise in the minimum wage would make a huge difference in many of their lives. They sense intuitively that the Democrats will leave them alone, to live their private lives the way they want, which is why they live in the middle of a swamp in the first place.

So, why do these latent liberals not vote?

Because the liberal establishment in the northeast and on the west coast (yes, it exists, try wearing a pro-life lapel button in Santa Cruz or Provincetown or Manhattan) insists on repeatedly attacking some things very basic to their way of life. Gators and water moccasins regularly show up on the roads and yards, so folks need guns. Agricultural and construction workers (a huge portion of the economy) haul supplies and equipment and need big trucks. This town has one bait shop/convenience store. The next nearest other place to shop, right or wrong, is the Walmart, almost fifteen miles away. The next nearest big store (a shopping center including Home Depot, Walmart and Target) is thirty miles away. Should there be an old fashioned general store with old guys out front playing checkers in my town? Maybe, and it would sure make for nicer tourist snapshots when you all come down here to visit. But when the locals need baby formula, cheap work shirts and fire ant poison, we need that Walmart.

And when liberals in places that have funky thrift shops and cool used record stores and esoteric used bookstores tell us they only shop in those places, we feel degraded, devalued and left out. We feel like the poor cousins who are forced to wear polyester and old shoes to the family wedding. We still love our family, but usually, to avoid feeling shamed, we simply stay home.

So, is Walmart evil? Yes. And it would be great if we had a congress and a white house that would erect fair trade policies to combat them, but is attacking Walmart directly and loudly the way to achieve that goal?

Is it really helpful electorally to attack Walmart, and by extension pickups, nascar and country music?

Well, we can discuss that the day after Election Day 2008, once we see how Florida, West Virginia, Missouri, Arkansas and New Mexico have voted.


-Mark