7 comments

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  tsudohnimh

  1 year ago

  I take issue with the idea that competitive pricing is eroding the soul of America. I think Liberalism, Communism and Too-much-governmentism is a much larger threat.
  
  As far as manufacturing in the U.S. I'd say Labor unions have been a much greater detriment than Walmart could ever be. If you are forced to pay $25 an hour starting out and then add 401K contributions plus health care why wouldn't you move manufacturing to China? Perhaps the US should continue to strive for knowledge based jobs and allow markets to regulate themselves.
  
  Labor unions have bargained their way out of a job in many cases and I don't blame Walmart at all.
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  Strong One

  1 year ago

  This is an ever-growing long standing debate about Wal-Mart's super-power status will never end, it's been exponentiating over the past decade. Especially with the state of the economy these days.. .and the penny pinching we're all doing.
  I think it's a matter of perspective. As the struggling consumer.. we have to take advantage and appreciate the 'low-prices'- no matter how it is formulated. The buyer/seller has a tough market and a tough responsibility. I Don't thing there is any easy solution (at least thes days), we as the consumer will have to bow to the low price guru's until something changes in our economy.
  Let me know when that happens.
  :)
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  GregWalters

  1 year ago

  wow...once again, this is not Rocket Science, it's Economics and more specifically it's all about CAPATILISM.
  
  If WalMart sold pet food that killed our dogs or toys laced with child-killing poison - then WalMart would be out of business...er...wait...didn't that...never mind...
  
  ....to the post editor I go to write a rant...
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  ChangeForge | Ken Stewart

  1 year ago

  Ah, now you are striking a chord, my friend... I think "selfish-ism" is eroding the state of America to be frank... the "what's in it for me" attitude with blatant disregard for others well-being.
  
  Walmart is not a detriment to the American way - in fact it actually underscores raw capitalism at work (at least as close as you can get in a regulated economy). I would also agree that Labor unions have ended up causing more problems than they are worth - but it is not the unions themselves - nor government itself - that is the problem.
  
  Remember, these are organizations, groups, of people who run things into the ground. I think that in general those doing their job and working hard are content to keep doing so and do not stand up to a growing minority of people looking out for numero uno.
  
  I have worked with a global company and seen first hand what an economy that is almost solely knowledge-based ends up becoming. Look to the UK... a once great force that has dwindled to a mere shadow of its former glory - not to say that it was all that good, just powerful.
  
  What is funny is that we really aren't pursuing knowledge based jobs... we are outsourcing computer programming to Russia, India, and a few other places and not pushing nearly as many math and science based jobs through college as we once did (speaking of engineering, etc.).
  
  Instead, we look for the easy money - payoff without true work, and thus we are trading our souls sir... It is not Walmart that is the problem... you miss my point, or perhaps I did not make such a point clear... it is us as consumers that are trading our soul for a cheaper price... in my humble opinion.
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  Charles Fishman

  1 year ago

  Ken Stewart, all good questions about Wal-Mart — and more urgent all the time, given the economy. I've actually written a book about Wal-Mart now, which tackles exactly the questions you're talking about.
  
  "The Wal-Mart Effect," http://www.walmarteffectbook.com
  Or...
  http://www.amazon.com/Wal-Mart-Effect-Powerful-...
  
  /Charles Fishman, Fast Company, cnfish@mindspring.com
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  ChangeForge | Ken Stewart

  1 year ago

  Charles, thanks for stopping by... it seems this topic is hotly debated. I first encountered this effect when working with a medium sized business that manufactured commercial food service equipment.
  
  When Walmart first got into the grocery business, I watched them as they became larger than all of the Fortune 500 grocers, our then-current customers, combined. It was amazing to watch, and I quickly realized Walmart had stepped outside of the normal economy and had become and economic market unto itself...
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  alleg171

  4 months ago

  thanks!
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