What is Digg?186 Comments
- StripeyMagee, on 11/02/2009, -5/+49It's the new economy; selling Chinese ***** and fast food to each other!
- askantik, on 11/02/2009, -5/+30Dugg, but only in the dim hope that people will think about Wal-Mart and what it does instead of just buying cheap ***** there.
- askantik, on 11/02/2009, -13/+34You *****, the point is that 95% of the US population already live within 20 miles of a Wal-Mart. We don't need any more. And they don't exactly have the most ethical business practices, either.
- FearlessFreep, on 11/02/2009, -2/+23My dad once told me that a service-orineted economy means we're all flipping each other's burgers
- brad3378, on 11/02/2009, -14/+34Walmart is becoming the 21st century equivalent of
the Great Depression era's Standard Oil. - borez, on 11/02/2009, -1/+20Lining the pockets of the Chinese so they can buy up America chunk by chunk.
Awesome economic model.
/s - doroh, on 11/02/2009, -8/+25Once a Wal-Mart moves into a community one can expect the small mom and pop stores on main street to close. Yes, Wal-Mart has the lowest prices, but it cannibalizes sales from the community's economy.
- oreobarbie, on 11/02/2009, -2/+18You know... People in urban areas don't NEED walmart. There are real stores to shop in,which provide jobs. That's a big reason why people are anti-walmart.
And urban walmarts are disgusting. - pintomp3, on 11/02/2009, -1/+17Newsflash: He's dead. Sam Walton and the Walmart of today bear little resemblance.
- sodade, on 11/02/2009, -3/+19"the government has no business regulating business."
Regulating business is EXACTLY what government should be doing. The fact that corporations control out government doesn't mean that the problem is "government" - the problem is OUR government and the corporations that have undue influence. - mrjoho, on 11/02/2009, -2/+17walmart puts themselves in position for regulation when they convince local governments to change zoning laws and bend retail regulations that all other businesses are adhering to in the area. unchecked capitalism leads to disaster. why do you think we keep electricity and water out of the hands of private companies? look at the UK in the late nineties and california in 2000-2001 for your answer.
- sonofabiscuit, on 11/02/2009, -2/+15There isn't a Walmart near you?
Where do you live? Somalia? - wakeupsticky, on 11/02/2009, -3/+16Find the heart of Wal-Mart, and smash it with a hammer.
- mrjoho, on 11/02/2009, -0/+13@weister42 WRONG!! Walmart has a system called Point of Sale. Its Sam Walton's notion of drawing in a consumer with some deeply discounted advertised items and then selling other items at retail, or even above the price of some competitors. Once a person is in the store buying already they will either 1) think that the price for the non-discounted items is a good price or 2) purchase the non-discounted items out of convenience. Couple this with predatory purchasing practices (where they threaten manufacturers and distributors into offering products at almost cost- on threat of not having any products carried by walmart at all - example rubbermaid) and you are looking at a highly profitable model that does disservice to the customer and his community. This doesn't even start to describe the terrible wages and no benefits while pushing out competition and the cost this has to the community.
- seltaeb4, on 11/02/2009, -1/+14This is the most ridiculous line in the worst piece of Wal-Mart Astroturf I've ever seen:
"He paid for South Americans to come to 1 of 3 Arkansas colleges to teach them freedom, and capitalization so when they went back home they can help fight off the communists."
Wal-Mart: Fightin' those Communists (except for the Chinese, of course.) - FutureGuy, on 11/02/2009, -6/+17Here's the deal, the money you "saved" at walmart is way less than what you lost out in terms of pay. Pretty much nothing you buy at Walmart contributes to local economy (except beef may be).
- serebreal, on 11/02/2009, -5/+16As a part time college student working at Walmart, I made $3 more per hour than the University previously paid me to be an IT support manager.
I also got 2 weeks paid vacation at Walmart, health insurance for $16/month, 1 week paid sick leave, a company-funded 401k plan (they put in 4% automatically, you put in whatever you wanted), discounted company stock purchases, a Christmas bonus, and a year-end bonus equal to about 1 full paycheck. This was all as a part-time hourly worker.
Walmart's benefits and pay were SO, SO MUCH BETTER than what my roommates and friends were getting at their college jobs it was laughable.
(prediction - this comment will be dugg down for not fitting digg's uninformed world view) - avianeddy, on 11/02/2009, -2/+13creating virtual monopolies, running local business out, and forcing their employees to work JUST UNDER the 40 hour bracket to avoid benefits– it's a ***** work ethic. And if you can't afford a better store then YES, you ARE being forced to shop HELL MART
- audiomodder, on 11/02/2009, -0/+11@ator1
rubbermaid is a recent addition. they finally caved.
it is exactly the same crap, but they're able to do it at a lower price because they get it at a lower price. walmart has become so big that it's very difficult to have a successful product without selling it there (mostly because walmart undercut the local markets so badly that the "you can't survive without it" mentality takes hold and suddenly spending $100 at the local market seems ridiculous when you can spend $80 by shopping at walmart...then people can spend more on fast food and cable tv). walmart knows this, and leverages the lower price than the local markets can, so it undercuts them even more...spiraling cost cutting of death for a community...
the sad part is that it's the classic "as long as it's not me" argument. well, they don't employ people full time (don't care, it's not me), they're running the local businesses out (i still gotta job, i don't care), they're selling stuff made overseas by sweatshops (i'm saving money, that's all i care about).
walmart is the perfect picture of what raw capitalism does. i'm not saying capitalism is bad, i'm saying that walmart exemplifies the downside of capitalism. - edwarddouglas, on 11/02/2009, -3/+13Why do people hate walmart so much and then go shop at target. Am i missing something, isn't the crap in target the same crap in walmart.
- representDLV, on 11/02/2009, -4/+14What is so good about mom and pop stores? It's not like mom and pop stores provide their cashiers full benefits either. A little mom and pop store can proved a couple of jobs. Walmart can provide hundreds. Mom and pop stores get their merchandise from China too. Walmart also generates way more tax revenue for the communities where they are. Walmart is not perfect, but neither are the small local businesses. I would rather have a Walmart than a bunch of mom and pop stores.
- askantik, on 11/02/2009, -3/+13I am not only talking about their employees. I am talking about the child and sweatshop labor used to produce 99% of the ***** at Wal-Mart (no, WM is not the only retailer that uses this *****, but it's like the king of doing so). I'm talking about how it puts local stores out of business. I'm talking about how it causes people to think that ***** should just be cheap, no matter how we make it or who is involved.
People blamed China for lead tainted toys and *****... but the companies were American.
May I suggest a Google of "externalized costs." - WhiskeyLemur, on 11/02/2009, -0/+9WalMart prices are pretty standardized throughout the nation...
- FearlessFreep, on 11/02/2009, -0/+9No, they go to a company like Rubbermaid and say "sells us your stuff for cheap or we'll sell your competitor's stuff instead" Because of WalMart's omni-presence, that can mean life or death to be in or out. So a company has a choice to make either nothing if they don't play game or just about nothing if they play. Note: I don't know any details of Rubbermaid, but that's WalMart's SOP.
- Shinpah, on 11/02/2009, -1/+10Sam Walton being a "great american" has really nothing at all to do with Walmart as a business
- Sean98125, on 11/02/2009, -6/+15The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Enron, Goldman Sachs, AIG and Walmart
- mrjoho, on 11/02/2009, -1/+9Let me tell you about another war hero:
A decorated veteran of World War I, he joined the DAP in 1919 and became leader of NSDAP in 1921. Following his imprisonment after a failed coup in 1923, he gained support by promoting nationalism, with charismatic oratory. He was appointed chancellor in 1933, and quickly transformed the countries auto manufacturing into a global giant. The Volkswagon beetles were a great contribution to industry and the capital system.
A great personal story doesn't equate into honest business practices, or even a sense of goodness. - reuscel, on 11/02/2009, -0/+8He also died in 1992, long before Wal-Mart became the union-busting, small-business-destroying juggernaut it is today.
- APselfStorage, on 11/02/2009, -2/+9Wal –Mart Brings China to villages . wellcome to free market
- inactive, on 11/02/2009, -4/+11It's funny how the same things people accuse wal-mart of, ma and pa are just as guilty of.
For example, labor practices. It is very common for small shops to put their underage kids to work during the summers for as little as 2-3 dollars an hour, and how many ma and pa shops are giving their employees insurance and benefits? Odds are little to none. - askantik, on 11/02/2009, -7/+14I haven't shopped at Wal-Mart in years, save when I'm in a tiny town that has nothing but a Wal-Mart, because all the other mom and pop stores are gone. You talk about how business shouldn't ever be regulated... I guess you are okay with the fact that 99% of the ***** at Wal-Mart is made in China or India or Bangladesh or Pakistan and (aside from not supporting the local or even national economy), encourages child and sweatshop labor. You okay with that?
The same people that talk about not regulating business also often talk about how they hate stuff made in China. Well, guess what. Those two viewpoints are diametrically opposed. Because unregulated businesses will do every single thing in their power to reduce costs. Welcome to our current healthcare *****.
The reason we are in this poor economy is because of a LACK of regulation on Wall Street, not the other way around. I thought this was common knowledge.
Finally, I'm not bitching and yelling, but I called you a ***** because of your petulant, asinine comment. You are becoming a well-known troll. - dabestdefense, on 11/02/2009, -3/+10I want to get dugg down. Wal-mart rules!!!
First off, if all you haters avoid Wal-Mart, where are you shopping?
Mom and pop stores, for real? In downtown urban centers? I want names and addresses, or I call BS! Come on I know some of you can produce something. I really want to see the other options here available.
I grew up in a small town in the middle of nowhere Minnesota, Wal-Mart was a glorious place.
When I started to hear all the Wal-Mart hating, I was confused. I had no mall to hang out at like you spoiled suburbanites, I just had my good old Wal-Mart in a field, how could their be so much hate? Go hang out at the local mom and pop where my 50 cents did not go as far and I get yelled at by old pop? Hells no!
So I watched every anti Wal-Mart propaganda video I could get my hands on...
Nothing but some fertilizer fiasco, anti-union (unions suck), employees complaining about wages while driving brand new cars and kids with more video games than my physician mother could afford to provide me with growing up, Chinese workers happy to accept the pay and have a job manufacturing in China, and stupid politicians giving Wal-Mart tax breaks on land to get them into the town and the town bitching at Wal-Mart while reelection the same crooks.
Wal-Mart, perfect and super moral? Nah, but free market at its finest. Amazing work ethic and thrift.
All you complainers are slackers and haters is all.
Lets look at the last two retail giants:
Woolworth, built the tallest building in the world in 1910, Woolworth Building in New York City. Not much left of them today.
Sears, built the tallest built the tallest building in the world 1974, Sears Tower in Chicago. They moved the head quarters out of the building, it is the Willis Tower now.
Wal-Mart, still working out of some Podunk buildings in Bentonville, Arkansas.
The former CEO got to work at 4am every day and still does beat the current CEO who gets there at 5am.
No cushy corner office for the CEO or anything, these guys earn every dime, or save it rather.
The managers get up and go to regional meetings every Saturday morning.
The distribution system is amazing and efficient, a work of distribution art, because it comes down to lower energy and less time saves money! Wal-Mart has manufacturers competing for their shelf space, they can name prices and drive manufacturers down, and we all win on the consumer end for it. Even if you do not shop at Wal-Mart you are benefiting from the lower prices, because of competition.
Now the sneakiest thing Wal-Mart does is the old here is item A at lowest price in town. The consumer goes for item A then sees the same type of item, item B, next to item A for slightly more. Item B is a bit higher quality then item B, next to item B is item C, item C is a little more money and a little better as well, and on up. Suddenly the consumer is like: "hmm, I could get item C for a little more and it is better". Consumer "upgrades" and ends up not with item A but something a little better and more expensive. Turns out that while item A was the cheapest in town, item B, C, D, E... may not be! Tricky tricky Wal-Mart. Of course they offer price matching and all that most the time, but who takes the time to track that down? Genius! Dishonest? They offer price matching bitch, do your homework.
Who cares if the stuff is made in China? Not me. Oh no it hurts our economy. No, minimum wage is why everything is made in China, and they are happy to get paid what they do. The stuff you buy from holy Target, Sears, mom and pop store, or wherever you go to avoid Wal-Mart, where is it made? I am sure you can find some crap made in America.
Wal-Mart limits benefits by not letting employees work full time! Boo ***** hoo, go work somewhere else then. I have never met a Wal-Mart employee who was unhappy with their job. The complainers in the videos were still working there I guess. Forced? Only job in town? There is always a choice, maybe not great, but apparently Wal-Mart is the best choice in their eyes.
Wal-Mart is killing mom and pop stores? Good riddance, why would I want to pay more to buy it from some run down hole in the wall with selection? It helps the local economy? Nah, the crap is still made in China, that is where the money is going anyway, just more middle men with mom and pop.
I welcome Wal-Mart anywhere, and patron them with pride!
My money is going to China no matter what I do anyway... - Nyaos, on 11/02/2009, -11/+18Jump on the bandwagon. I'm sure you have no clue what Walmart does to small businesses.
- LonesomeFighter, on 11/02/2009, -6/+12so you're saying walmart lowers the cost of living for people nearby? that's good stuff, especially in a recession!
- AndrewMoyer, on 11/02/2009, -0/+6Your supply of awesome far outweighs its demand.
- Barbarino, on 11/02/2009, -10/+16Wish they would build one by my house. All their golf gear, car maintenance stuff, food is so much cheaper.
- simongiln, on 11/02/2009, -4/+10Wow... There's a lot more Walmart hate still floating around than I thought. You guys are so 2003. These misconceptions about Walmart are rather stupid. Take it from someone who used to work at there: it sucks, but it's not half as bad as you seem to think it is.
1. All Walmart employees make more than minimum wage. That's not "on average"; that's actually every employee taken as an individual, sort of thing. Try saying that about every beloved "mom and pop" store.
2. WalMart prices are barely competitive. The *rumor* of low prices (which you morons with your "cheap Chinese crap" diatribes are actually promoting with said diatribe) is more powerful than the actual prices themselves (Gamestop *always* has better prices than WalMart, for example). Your "mom and pop" store isn't going out of business because of WalMart's prices; it's because people don't care about small stores that don't carry everything that they're looking for.
3. WalMart gives more to local charities than most of the stores you'd probably think of as alternatives.
If you don't like WalMart's position on Unions, or you're still butt hurt about something one store did nearly a decade ago as a result of retarded CSMs, fine. Don't shop there. The rest of us, who mostly only go there for convenience (and because it's the only place to buy a Hard Drive at 3am), will at least save on gas money from not driving all over town, because sometimes you need a plunger, some shampoo, and a usb flash drive, and it's nice to have one place for them all. - DarkMatter911, on 11/02/2009, -1/+7While I agree with your union comments I am against wally world. I would take poltical action to help prevent them from moving anywhere near my urban area.
I will drive out of my way to shop someplace other than walmart. - urbanetruth, on 11/02/2009, -5/+10It's ironic that it's Wal Mart that is mooching off the government (and getting rich), by providing very few benefits to its workers. These workers, in turn, are forced to use state and federal social welfare nets, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill. Fix this, Wal Mart, and then we will let you move into the city.
- Thistlejack, on 11/02/2009, -2/+7Regardless of what you think about Walmart specifically, choices for grocery stores are highly limited in poor urban areas. The situation is usually referred to as a "Food Desert." There are a vast number of sociology-type studies that show that the urban poor are completely lacking in choices of "good" places to shop for groceries. For whatever reason, the only type of businesses that hang around are convenience stores / fast food that sell absolute crap for high prices. Trying to find normal ingredients for cooking is a challenge and so many end up buying junk food for their meals.
- reuscel, on 11/02/2009, -0/+5Don't get me wrong, mrjoho, I'm sure it was bad before his passing. But it hadn't yet become the universal symbol of greed and unfair labor practices like it did in the 90s. Still, good point.
- isewise, on 11/02/2009, -1/+6Hasn't the recession taught anyone anything? I do not buy this idealistic "local economy" nonsense. National and global economics overshadow this nonexistent "local economy" garbage. When the housing market crashed it affected everyone, not just the people in one town or one city. Same with the banks. Everything is connected, economies are not local, they couldn't and cant exist separate from the national or global economy. LonsomeFighter is completely correct also. Buying stuff at Walmart pays for the paychecks for the people who work in Walmart, who probably live in the same town as the Walmart. How is that not supporting the supposed "local economy" everyone talks about. Also why is there no hatred toward Target. Isn't Target basically the same as Walmart? Target sells goods from China. Also I urge you to compare the differences in prices between US made goods and China made goods. Additionally we are to blame why everything is made in China. Our factory workers demand exorbitant pensions, unions, and salaries. Of course the companies are going to go to China to make stuff, it saves them tons of money.
As for the whole killing off small business nonsense. Yes it true that when Walmart comes to town some small businesses will close, but who's fault is that? Is it Wal-Mart's "fault" for having lots of goods at discount prices? Or would you rather you have people shop at solely small businesses and pay a premium on the same goods and services that Walmart offers at cheaper prices in a recession. NEWSFLASH: MOST PEOPLE LIKE TO SAVE MONEY! That's the sole reason why Walmart was one of the only companies with increased sales when the recession was really bad.
Small businesses can exist along Walmart as long as they find a niche that Walmart doesn't offer. - coltraning, on 11/02/2009, -1/+6No, the problem is that we're not producing anything: we just buy ***** from China.
- Nyaos, on 11/02/2009, -3/+8It can't be any worse than what a monopoly does to them. Taking an argument about Walmart and switching it to the current administration is a classic Red Herring. Well done.
- oreobarbie, on 11/02/2009, -2/+6You're wrong.
I was raised in west philadelphia. There's no food dessert there. You can find a supermarket about every 10 blocks, and they are fully stocked. West philly is overall a lower-income neighborhood. There are several supermarkets where you can get all sorts of healthy, nutritious stuff. I, as a child with a mom on welfare had veggies with lunch and dinner, every day.
There are also several shopping districts where you can buy clothing, toiletries and even ***** you don't need like video games in walking distance, and easily accessed by trains, busses & Trolleys.
I am also familiar with the neighborhoods here in Louisville. In the west end of louisville which is predominantly black-- supermarkets. Not quite as many, but they have everything one needs.
Your argument is invalid.
Oh, and Walmart sucks. - mrjoho, on 11/02/2009, -0/+4What? Walmart's practices in undercutting manufacturers and distributors hit fill steam in the 80's
- urbanetruth, on 11/02/2009, -0/+4By that logic there would be no reason to have a minimum wage or even workplace safety requirements. If people are willing to risk their lives to work in an unsanitary slaughterhouse or dangerous coal mine, for example, then that should be their right, correct? Wrong. It is not as simple as "if-you-dont-like-it-then-leave."
If you've read your labor history you would know that there is a good reason that we don't let factory owners, retailers, and manufacturers do whatever they want no matter the cost. Also, the states are NOT okay with picking up the tab for Wal Mart's undercompensated workers. In fact, since healthcare spending makes up such a large part of their budgets, it is bankrupting local governments and causing cuts in other basic services. - Barbarino, on 11/02/2009, -0/+4Fort Lauderdale, only one nearby is in the ghetto and about a 30 min ride...
- gn84, on 11/02/2009, -2/+6Standard Oil had been forcefully split up into many baby Standard Oils (1911) long before the great depression arrived.
- serebreal, on 11/02/2009, -1/+5http://investing.curiouscatblog.net/2008/01/22/top ...
The US manufactures about twice what China does.
http://www.commerce.gov/02-13-07%20Export%20Fact%2 ...
The US exports a lot of stuff to China - they are our 4th largest customer.
The relationship is mutually beneficial, and it wouldn't be wise to abruptly end it. -
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