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Wal-Mart Compared to Mussolini?
Now I've seen everything.
Professor, your "who-ya-gonna-call" argument has two problems. One is that Wal-Mart most certainly does not close down all the small businesses, of every shape, sort and specialty, in any town. The other is that it does not explain people chosing to work at Wal-Mart in the larger towns and cities where other jobs are available in greater numbers than a small town.
I also suspect the balance of your view. Just for kicks and giggles, take a peek at Wal-Mart's charitable giving page at http://www.walmartfacts.com/featuredtopics/?id=5. Check especially the linked story about their giving $245,000,000 in cash and in-kind donations to charitable organizations last year.
Now then: If being good for the community and country in general is a concern, then am I safe in assyming that you also boycott Target for its refusal to allow Salvation Army bellringers on its premises (see http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/charity/sallyann.asp)?
As for the risk of injury while working off the clock: The scenario you propose is utterly illogical. It violates every principle of business sense that helped Wal-Mart achieve its success.
posted by
WriterofLight
on December 3, 2006 at 8:11 PM
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Econmoics 101
"But if working conditions at Wal-Mart are so evil and hideous, why do people work there? Last time I checked, Wal-mart wasn't into slavery or conscripted service."
People work there because they have "habits" (like eating and sleeping indoors). When Wal-Mart drives out all of the small businesses, or is the ONLY game in town, who you gonna call? Ever watch the Discovery Channel show "Dirty Jobs"? The guy collects bat guano (feces) hand-inseminates heifers, and shovels you-know-what. He does it for entertainment. Millions of Americans do it out of sheer necessity. Doesn't mean they like it.
"And as for what makes up for what, aren't you being just a tad cynical to condemn something that is doing good for people because you dislike the company that is doing it?"
You really have to look at things on-balance. Andrew Carnegie manipulated (fixed) the price of coal (the primary, if not only, source of heat for most homes) to the point working people couldn't afford it. Then he built magnificent hospitals to treat the people dying of pneumonia because they couldn't heat their homes. Is Wal-Mart good for the community, its employees & the country in general? No. Does one "good deed" offset predatory business practices? No.
"Tell you what - if you ever find a company that is 100% totally pristine and pure, that has never had a complaint from an employee or a customer, has never inconvenienced or made extra demands of any employee, has never erred in the quality of its goods or services, do let us all know about it. It doesn't exist. Me, I'm no fan of Wal-mart either, but at least I can recognize something good when I see it."
I don't demand sainthood for a company, but can we at least demand that they not break the law? I mean, is an unpaid 30 minute lunch break too much to ask for? "Made extra demands?" Do you mean to tell me that the world's richest company, one that makes tens of billions of dollars every year, and pays its people at or near minimum wage, has the audacity to ask them to work off the clock too? That's just bad business sense; if one of those employees injures themselves while working off the clock, the lawsuit would be enormous. Go ask Whimsystoryteller how she feels about the world's largest company,founded right here in the US OF A, hiring illegals to clean their stores.
So, because no company is perfect, we give them a pass? So, they have dirt-cheap RX drugs. I won't patronize them. That's being an enabler. Mussolini made the trains run on time. But it wasn't worth the cost.
posted by
Professor_Peabody
on December 2, 2006 at 12:14 AM
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We're not being sarcastic here, are we?
But if working conditions at Wal-Mart are so evil and hideous, why do people work there? Last time I checked, Wal-mart wasn't into slavery or conscripted service.
And as for what makes up for what, aren't you being just a tad cynical to condemn something that is doing good for people because you dislike the company that is doing it?
Tell you what - if you ever find a company that is 100% totally pristine and pure, that has never had a complaint from an employee or a customer, has never inconvenienced or made extra demands of any employee, has never erred in the quality of its goods or services, do let us all know about it. It doesn't exist. Me, I'm no fan of Wal-mart either, but at least I can recognize something good when I see it.
posted by
WriterofLight
on November 30, 2006 at 7:50 PM
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Philantropic Wal-Mart
Yeah, and Al Capone set up soup kitchens in Chicago during the depression. Didn't make him a nice guy. So let's see; Wal-Mart hires illegal aliens to clean its stores (they just settled with the Justice Department for a $12 million dollar fine), browbeats its employees into working off the clock and doesn't allow them to take state-mandated lunch breaks, harasses and refuses to promote female workers, forces its suppliers to re-locate to China (causing the loss of American jobs) and lobbies AGAINST the Homeland Security Department inspecting the containers coming in from overseas (it would slow down that exodus of American jobs). But cheap prescriptions will make up for all that.
posted by
Professor_Peabody
on November 30, 2006 at 2:03 AM
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