A lot of people hate on Wal-Mart. But most of the dislike for Wal Mart is very unfounded. Let me just counter a couple popular arguments.
Argument: Wal-Mart's employees don't have insurance. Therefore Wal-Mart is an evil empire.
Counter: Yes, Wal-Mart employees may not have health care, but if it weren't for Wal-Mart, many of the employees would likely not have health care AND NOT have a JOB. Next time you go to Wal-Mart, look around. They hire many people who otherwise would be un-hirable. Like the 400lb morbidly obese lady at customer service whose only job is to sit in a chair. She doesn't even sit behind the service counter! Not to mention the mentally challenged they hire. Find me another company who will hire slow people just to say "Hello" all day long.
Argument: Wal Mart hurts small business.
Counter: You are damn right it does. But the smart companies have learned that you can't "out Wal Mart Wal Mart." So they make a fortune differentiating themselves from Wal-Mart. That's called free market ingenuity and ultimately creates jobs in the end. Plus, the economy as a whole and quality of life of society at large is greater off even with the loss of the small businesses Wal- Mart puts out. This is partly because of the previous argument- people who, without Wal-Mart, would be jobless now have jobs and purchasing power - and partly because Wal-Mart affords people a quality of life they otherwise would not have.
Case in point - a little while ago I was at WalyMart and I overheard this very hard lived looking man say to his friend, "You see WalyMart has computers now? I always wanted one of them there computers, but I never could afford one before. But now I can!" You could tell this dude has lived a hard, hard life. And it nearly brought a tear to my eye when I heard the joy in his voice over this.
And, Wal-Mart creates tons of jobs. Not only at the stores they open, but since they have such great purchasing power, they enable the manufactures of products to produce more products and therefore hire more people. Wait, whats that you say? All the products are made in China so it doesn't help create jobs here? WRONG! Someone has to import, inventory, store, and distribute all the merchandise here in the States. It hires truck drivers, forklift operators, importers, warehouse owners, etc. etc. etc.
Bottom line: If you hate Wal-Mart, its probably because you are well off enough to be in a position to hate Wal-Mart and shop elsewhere. Count your lucky stars.
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8 comments:
I shop at Target. They carry much nicer things at the same price and they provide a much safer environment to shop at.
Safer environment? What does that mean? If you mean safe from airborne VD, you might be right. Other than that I don't get it. Though, I did work at Target for several years and the average clientele is probably just as likely to give you something just by looking at them.
And Target prices are higher than Wal-Mart. But they give you options to go there for certain things.
Bring a gun dude. When I go to Wal-Mart, I bring two. Hence, my profile picture.
Next time you are in the Berks County area, stop by the local Wal-Mart around 8 pm, then go over to Target. You'll figure it out.
VD is not an airborne disease, and I have no intentions of hooking up with anything I see at a Wal-Mart.
I find Target's pricing to be very comporable to Wal-Mart for many items. Not to mention they have a nice selection of clothing for men and women. Way nicer than Wal-Mart.
Yes, I know VD is not airborne - that was the joke. That the people are that nasty that it would be airborne.
Anyway.
Anthony - you take damn good pictures. Though I always have a look on my face like I just had a lobotomy in your pics. Guess that's more my problem...
technically, it could become airborne, but i won't get into particulars due to the female viewers.
Did you know that if you ride a tractor in your bathing suit you can get gonnorhea?
http://www.tv.com/seinfeld/the-burning/episode/2412/trivia.html
Spohn, I'm not sure what took me so long to respond....
1. The insurance / providing a job point. Yes it's good that WalMart is providing those people, who likely would have great difficulty securing jobs, a paycheck. My beef, however, is that I think all employers over a certain size should be required to provide health insurance for their employees. Those employees end up having to go to the ER for normal things, which costs more money and is eventually paid for by government sponsored insurance. If WalMart just ponied up a tiny fraction of their huge profits they could help their employees and the country.
2. Driving out Mom and Pop. Sure WalMart is a huge force for selling lots of junk for low prices. I don't have much beef with that, though I'm not sure how much of a free market we'll have in the next decades... Anyway I think that other stores just need to get people to realize that their products are crap with lead paint and VD all over it. WalMart sucks in a lot of people who think they're getting a better deal... who aren't thinking about the fact that the crap they're buying will break sooner and that they'll have to replace it.
You still racing CX man... let's hear about that!
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