Wal-Mart: The New Company Store

Wal-Mart has been in the news quite a bit lately. I have heard arguments by wealthy talk show hosts praising the retailing giant. I have also heard more than one lefty bashing the place.

Who's right?

Oddly, I have an opinion. After years of outsourcing jobs, illegal aliens flooding our country and driving wages down, Wal-Mart has become the company store.

When I was first introduced to Wal-Mart I was living in Viginia. I recall quite vividly the big banners touting the products made in America, they made quite a big deal out of the fact that they would scour the country looking for any goods produced here first, and then, only then, would they import things.

Whenever I am dragged into a Wal-Mart these days I note without surprise that those banners are no longer on display. Instead the only in-store marketing relates to pricing. I hate to be the one to state the obvious here, but what the hell, it seems sometimes I'm the only one who will. Follow me on this.

Wal-Mart buys almost exclusively from China. China has stolen (or our government has given away) many, many jobs from America because they keep their economy artificially low. China employs slaves, hard to compete with actual, honest to goodness slaves. So, we lose jobs to China but gain inexpensive, cheap, dare I say, shitty products in return that we must be grateful for because most of us don't earn as much as they used to and the great wheel of life keeps spinnin'.

The irony is that people love Wal-Mart, and if you do I'm not calling you stupid, MJ used to luuuuve! Wal-Mart but after intensive counseling she's broken the addiction. Loving Wal-Mart seems a bit like the symptoms of a disease, because that's what Wal-Mart is, a symptom of a disease that's eating this country up.

I won't lie to you. It really pisses me off when I hear some talk radio guy extolling the virtues of Wal-Mart and how great they are. We don't shop there anymore as a matter of conscience. I think they are a rapacious outfit, who are willing to make a profit at the amoral expense of Americans in general. I have nothing against profit, but I and Gordon Gecko would not see eye to eye on the role of companies and corporations in the community.

Yes, company's have an obligation to provide a return on investment to their shareholders. I think if they want to throw around the term corporate citizen they could start acting like such and not just mouth the words.

Of course that would require decency and the last time I checked...

That wasn't a class at B-school.

Wal-Mart