Writing about Walmart is like reading The Nation: neither is as much fun as shopping at Walmart.
At Walmart I get good deals. In The Nation I get skewed analysis. Just look at the old progressive rag’s online “petition” to Walmart:
While Walmart rakes in annual profits of more than one billion dollars, the average hourly wage of a Walmart sales associate … is just $8.81. That translates to an annual salary … far below the federal poverty level for a family of four.
On top of being unjust, Walmart’s low wages come at a high price for American taxpayers: a recent report revealed that, because the retail giant’s employees are forced to utilize government benefits to supplement their meager income, a single Walmart Supercenter could cost taxpayers from $900,000 to $1.7 million per year.
Typical: there’s so much left out.
What would Walmart workers’ wages be if Walmart hadn’t employed them? More? Not plausible. Walmart’s mom-and-pop competition typically pay lower wages.
Net effect: Walmart lifts workers out of poverty.
Whose responsibility is it to feed “a family of four”? The employer of one family member? No. The parents in the family, who might be morally compelled to develop more lucrative skills or a plan for abstinence. (Of course, many Walmart workers are single, or have spouses or parents who work as well.)
Recently, a Walmart bigwig got a bit testy and sent out an email noting that The Nation has been paying its interns a monthly stipend of $150 per week, far below the minimum wage.
Normally I’d defend The Nation’s (and the nation’s) internship policies. But for now let’s just chuckle.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
10 replies on “Pot, Kettle; Walmart, The Nation”
Good for thee but not for me.
The Nation
Who decided that a minimum wage job is supposed to feed, clothe, and house a family of four?
Seems more reasonable to conclude that, since the government has driven so many good manufacturing jobs overseas and Walmart is all that is left in the community, that it is more reasonable to move to the North Dakota oil fields where one CAN get a starter job that pays enough to raise a family?
And that perhaps, it is time to vote for anyone that promises to lower the taxes and regulations on job producers.
In there anti Wal-Mart diatribes they never seem to mention how often they get raises or promotions. I’ve heard them talk about one guy who stayed in an introductory position for 20 years. You know he had to have problems and was an extreme exception to the norm. What is the average pay after 2 years of say 200 randomly selected employees including some who received promotions.
Got me hangin’ that WalMart and its like source and provide us great stuff at great prices but cause the pathological “envy institutionalizers” conniption fits and paroxysms of rage and hatred.
Guess it’s no accident Envy is considered the absolute deadliest of the ‘Seven Deadlies.’
Well, I agree with everyone’s comments. My only problem with Walmart is that many of their products are cheap imports from China. I don’t buy goods from China. End of story. I also prefer to support local business. That’s my mindset & I’m sticking to it.
Regarding making purchases from China, I would advise looking at the tags on the clothes and reading the bit that says, “made in.” There are a couple of brands from China but they are not the majority by far. Compared to Target, Walmart carries very few clothing lines from China.
Of course, all purchases from Walmart are voluntary. Whereas worthless wind turbines and solar panels are a forced purchase and are often made in China. So are many of the CFLs which were mandated by congress. So if anyone objects to buying cheep products from China, then oppose renewables, aka “sustainable” energy, CFLs, and oppose legislation that forces citizens to buy expensive, intermittent renewable energy.
Good point, Paulina West! I had not really thought about the fact that China is very much in the “green energy” business.
Like Karen, above, I try to support my local store, which (in my case) is a country store. But the selection there is small, so my choices beyond this local store are basically Costco, Walmart, Safeway, Fred Meyer … all big stores. And all sell imports.
On some items I go for quality over lowest price: paper towels, electronics, vegetables. On others, such as meat, when i do shop in the stores, I try to get as good as I can with as little I can manage to spend.
And as for clothing, I am very happy that the Chinese, Taiwanese, and Thai peoples make as good as clothing as they do for as cheap as I can get them. I don’t earn enough money to afford American-made threads, or shoes. I am not going to go broke propping up America’s few remaining producers in this industry. There’d probably be a lot more manufactures of clothing in America if government weren’t so intrusive into the industry. But maybe Americans can make other things more effectively.
After all, comparative advantage is a principle we all must live by, whether we want to stick to it or not.
That idol of the yuppie lib-progs, Apple, makes most of its Iphones and IPads in China. Before he died, Steve Jobs was petitioned by Obama about all the jobs that they were sending overseas. Mr. Jobs said “those jobs aren’t coming back.”
Manufacturing jobs lost are usually permanently lost. Even if we got “competitive and got our punitive corporate tax rates down to being even, instead of the worst in the world. Even if we got our burdensome regulations down to were this wasn’t the worst place to set up and run a manufacturing plant, it still wouldn’t be enough to justify moving a plant that is built and has a supporting infrastructure elsewhere. In order to justify moving, there has to be a HUGE difference in regulatory burden and taxes to make it worthwhile giving up a going concern. Much like the HUGE difference in benefits that existed that made China such a better place when the jobs were moved.
To bring them back, we would have to be another step better than the Chinese were to us when the jobs were lost.
Besides, the grand plan is to collapse the middle class and our economy. Can’t do that if the middle class has a good job and feels cocky enough to take issue with the govenrment. There will be no middle class in the new world order. There will only be the uber-rich, the privleged politicians who are party members, and the peons. (or peed on’s.)
If I were a retiree, a high school kid, or a college student making around eight bucks an hour, I think I’d be doing OK. THAT is what those jobs are for.
Anyway, my biggest beef with Walmart is still all that money they throw at Communist China.