Wal-Mart Haters Miss the Big Picture

[RS Davis]

[glow=red,2,300]Steven Greenhut Wrote:[/glow] Even those readers who are unfamiliar with Southern California have probably heard of Inglewood. The crime-ridden, drug-infested, gang-laden cesspool of a city just outside the Los Angeles city limits is nationally known thanks to rap music lyrics, a murder of a prominent rap performer and a 2002 videotape of a cop beating the pulp out of a 16-year-old black kid.

If you fly into LAX and take a wrong turn in that rental car and end up there, be sure to roll up the windows and lock the doors – especially if you are stuck at a red light beside a slammed Lincoln Navigator, the vehicle of choice of drug dealers and gang-bangers.

Yet, to hear most Inglewood city officials describe it, the city’s anarchic atmosphere is not the biggest threat to residents. The real threat, in the view of religious leaders, council members, union leaders and community activists, comes from the Arkansas-based retailer, Wal-Mart. Officials could not be counted on to approve a plan to open up a Wal-Mart on a vacant lot next to a racetrack, so the company has put its plans to a ballot next week.

[emilysrevolution]

I think Walmart is pretty evil. They don't hire full timers to avoid giving them benefits.

[RS Davis]

emilysrevolution said:

I think Walmart is pretty evil. They don't hire full timers to avoid giving them benefits.

People work there voluntarily, Em. And you sure spend a lot of time there for someone who hates them...

- Rick

[penguin]

RS said:

People work there voluntarily, Em. And you sure spend a lot of time there for someone who hates them...

- Rick

What? I thought Wal-Mart kidnapped orphans and locked them inside for hours on end, and beat them with seersucker whips if they mouthed of or took the name 'Walton' in vain. Voluntarily, you say!

[whatever]

It seems like prevailing attitudes hold businesses such as Walmart in contempt in the way they ought to of goverment entities. It puts my libertarian logic to the test when I face those attitudes. This was a great article. It cut right through the bull.
If a business can try to force you to buy, whether through a monopoly or subversion of he legal process itself, then it remains an issue of lawbreaking, not big business. Business is about selling a product, and nothing else.

[outgirl]

I hate wal mart. Those big yellow smiley faces scare me. I only by dog food and kitty liter there.

[RS Davis]

outgirl said:

I hate wal mart. Those big yellow smiley faces scare me. I only by dog food and kitty liter there.

I actually prefer Target, but I don't hate Wal-Mart.

- Rick

[DanzaSlap]

Ah, Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is a terrible place. Every single Wal-Mart I've ever been to is dirty, has carts sitting all over the fucking parking lot, and never has enough registers open to accomodate the massive influx of hoosiers that will inevitably shop there. Oh, and it's the largest retailers of CDs in the country, yet they won't carry discs with questionable lyrics. If, one day, the only CDs to buy are Toby Keith and Jessica Simpson, I will pull a Hamas and walk into Wal-Mart with a few pounds of explosives tapes to my chest.

Call me crazy, but I'm very much about spending money at local establishments. I figure it's a small thing I can do to help keep money in the community and perhaps help keep the standard of living high in my community. I don't eat at Applebee's, TGI Fridays, Olive Garden, or any of those stupid, overpriced crapholes.

Of course, if I lived in Inglewood, I would want whatever business I could find.

[outgirl]

DanzaSlap said:

Oh, and it's the largest retailers of CDs in the country, yet they won't carry discs with questionable lyrics. If, one day, the only CDs to buy are Toby Keith and Jessica Simpson, I will pull a Hamas and walk into Wal-Mart with a few pounds of explosives tapes to my chest.

Oh yea, I forgot to mention that they have an anti Eminem policy. They wont even carry 8 mile. That's all the reason I need to hate them.

[MarkS]

outgirl said:

I hate wal mart. Those big yellow smiley faces scare me. I only by dog food and kitty liter there.

I hope you have a dog and cat because it's kind of weird having a cat that eats dog food or a dog that uses kitty litter.

[MarkS]

RS said:

I actually prefer Target, but I don't hate Wal-Mart.

- Rick

This if for you...

I prefer whatever is closest and most expeditious--including drive and waiting in line time. The faster the better. Target, K-Mart, and Value City are close to me, but Wal-Mart is quite a drive. My in-laws live in Washington and I've been to the Wal-Mart there. It's a fine store, I just don't want to drive an hour.

This if for everyone else...

Wa-Mart is doing nothing that any other big-chain, cut-rate retailer is doing... Competing. They're all trying to provide customers with the products they want at the lowest cost while maximizing profit. If you run a samll business and don't do the same, expect to stay small.

If you're an employee and aren't taking action to compete against your competition--other employees foreign and domestic--don't expect to stay one.

A word about benefits. They're benefits. They're not required. There's no law that says a company must provide them--even for full time workers. Company's don't have to buy you insurance or set up a retirement plan or provide a 401K. They only do what's necessary to attract the workers they need and to compete for the labor force. If you want better benefits, make yourself more valuable to an employer.

[RS Davis]

MarkS said:

Wa-Mart is doing nothing that any other big-chain, cut-rate retailer is doing... Competing. They're all trying to provide customers with the products they want at the lowest cost while maximizing profit. If you run a samll business and don't do the same, expect to stay small.

If you're an employee and aren't taking action to compete against your competition--other employees foreign and domestic--don't expect to stay one.

A word about benefits. They're benefits. They're not required. There's no law that says a company must provide them--even for full time workers. Company's don't have to buy you insurance or set up a retirement plan or provide a 401K. They only do what's necessary to attract the workers they need and to compete for the labor force. If you want better benefits, make yourself more valuable to an employer.

Excellent.

- Rick

[penguin]

RS said:

I actually prefer Target, but I don't hate Wal-Mart.

- Rick

I prefer Target or Home Depot or whatever to Wal-Mart, but sometimes they've just got the best price. Oddly, one of the things I don't like about Wal-Mart is that they tend to be crowded, which pretty much guarantees they're going to be around for a while, I suppose.

[RS Davis]

penguin said:

I prefer Target or Home Depot or whatever to Wal-Mart, but sometimes they've just got the best price. Oddly, one of the things I don't like about Wal-Mart is that they tend to be crowded, which pretty much guarantees they're going to be around for a while, I suppose.

True. I especially don't like the quality of the clothes at Wal-Mart. I don't like the fact that they censor their music. I hardly ever go there.

But still, when I think about how much they have rasied the standard of living in small town America, I cannot hate them.

- Rick