Seattle Walmart worker Sara Gilbert said she had taken the decision to go on strike to protest the fact that she could only make around $14,000 dollars a year. Despite working as a customer service manager, she said, her family remained reliant on food stamps and other benefits. “I work full time at the richest company in the world,” she said.
craptcha wrote:Saw this [quote=craptcha]Saw this earlier today:
Seattle Walmart worker Sara Gilbert said she had taken the decision to go on strike to protest the fact that she could only make around $14,000 dollars a year. Despite working as a customer service manager, she said, her family remained reliant on food stamps and other benefits. “I work full time at the richest company in the world,” she said.
Exactly. Just another example (of far too many) where taxpayers are subsidizing the profits of very well-off corporate entities. Funny how CNBC, Fox News, etc. never explain who is *really* benefiting from these “welfare” programs.
The net benefit to the individual shareholders/owners and executives totally dwarfs (exponentially) the net benefits to the individual recipients (working poor) of these programs.
Coronita
November 16, 2012 @
3:28 PM
I reluctantly voted yes…The I reluctantly voted yes…The caveat is I only go there to pick up Mobil 1 0w-40 European Formula oil, when neither Oreilly or Autozone has it on sale.
Diego Mamani
November 16, 2012 @
3:35 PM
I shop there, on average, I shop there, on average, once every two years. Certainly not a “NO,” but hardly a “YES” either.
outtamojo
November 16, 2012 @
3:41 PM
Do they pay workers time and Do they pay workers time and a half for Holidays?
spdrun
November 16, 2012 @
3:52 PM
No. And none within 10 miles No. And none within 10 miles so far, so it would actually take effort to do so 🙂
I’ve been to a WalMart in NJ when I needed a motorcycle battery at 10 pm (long story). But despite them saying on the phone that one was in stock, they couldn’t actually find it.
Furthermore, the store was in a massive state of chaos, goods all over the floor, with completely unhelpful zomboid associates. Put it this way: at least one of them was lucky that he only was yelled at by me.
This was one of the few times that going to a store to pick up a simple item has actually enraged me.
an
November 16, 2012 @
3:57 PM
When I used to live in When I used to live in Oceanside, I go to Walmart a lot more often due to convenience and price since there were 3-4 Walmart around me. Now, only when I need oil. On average, they’re cheaper than Target. There’s no reason for me to pay more for the same product.
If “Sara” thinks her pay is too low, why doesn’t she apply to Target or some other place that pay more?
Something is not adding up, since Washington State’s minimum wage is $9.04/hr. There’s no way her wage is $14k/year when the minimum was is $9.04/hr. Just making minimum wage would put her at ~$18-19k. So, if she’s making $14k, Walmart must be breaking the law. Why doesn’t she and her coworker call somebody from the government and say Walmart is not paying minimum wage? Can’t they also sue Walmart for breaking State’s law?
spdrun
November 16, 2012 @
4:00 PM
You’re assuming that she’s You’re assuming that she’s (officially) 40hr/wk.
an
November 16, 2012 @
4:02 PM
She said she’s working full She said she’s working full time. Which has to be 36h+/wk.
all
November 16, 2012 @
4:31 PM
She could be paying for She could be paying for medical through Walmart. There was a story about the rates going up few days ago. I generally blindly follow whatever my wife says. Two redlines that I put down are “boys don’t sit to pee” and “no shopping at Walmart”.
spdrun
November 16, 2012 @
4:40 PM
Agreed about Walmart, but Agreed about Walmart, but boys *should* learn to sit to pee in private bathrooms. Public bathroom with a urinal or dirty stall — go to town, but teaching a kid to splatter the floor (inevitable) when they’re a guest is just foul.
Especially in a carpeted bathroom 🙂 Yecccccch – bad manners 101.
barnaby33
November 16, 2012 @
5:25 PM
So what I’m seeing from this So what I’m seeing from this thread is that you all have some justification for occasionally shopping at Wally World. Funny as my variant is shotgun shells.
Seems we are all straight up mercantilist when it comes to buying things with our pay, but demand high wages and good conditions for ourselves.
Walmart is just the latest symptom of a race to the bottom, a highly visible one that is the interaction of too many people, misplaced expectations and labor/environment arbitrage.
I don’t dislike Walmart so much as the people who shop there.
Josh
Coronita
November 16, 2012 @
7:06 PM
barnaby33 wrote:So what I’m [quote=barnaby33]So what I’m seeing from this thread is that you all have some justification for occasionally shopping at Wally World. Funny as my variant is shotgun shells.
Seems we are all straight up mercantilist when it comes to buying things with our pay, but demand high wages and good conditions for ourselves.
Walmart is just the latest symptom of a race to the bottom, a highly visible one that is the interaction of too many people, misplaced expectations and labor/environment arbitrage.
I don’t dislike Walmart so much as the people who shop there.
Josh[/quote]
+1. I think the clientele of people there are way out there. For that alone I try to avoid them.
an
November 16, 2012 @
8:19 PM
flu wrote:barnaby33 wrote:So [quote=flu][quote=barnaby33]So what I’m seeing from this thread is that you all have some justification for occasionally shopping at Wally World. Funny as my variant is shotgun shells.
Seems we are all straight up mercantilist when it comes to buying things with our pay, but demand high wages and good conditions for ourselves.
Walmart is just the latest symptom of a race to the bottom, a highly visible one that is the interaction of too many people, misplaced expectations and labor/environment arbitrage.
I don’t dislike Walmart so much as the people who shop there.
Josh[/quote]
+1. I think the clientele of people there are way out there. For that alone I try to avoid them.[/quote]
Damn, so that’s what people think about me.
zk
November 17, 2012 @
7:32 AM
I don’t see the big deal I don’t see the big deal about shopping at Walmart. I go there 2-3 times a month. Sure, sometimes some of the customers are poor or strange or colorful or mutants. What the hell do I care? Stuff is inexpensive there, and you can find most everything you need. Sure, the people who work there are people who can’t manage to get not-minimum-wage jobs. What do I care? It’s not that hard to find the stuff myself.
I went there yesterday and got: A new battery for my car, two bags of glue sticks for rc airplane repair, a box of good n plenty, and some gum. Those same items would’ve cost probably $10-$20 more somewhere else. Why would I go somewhere else?
Obviously shopping at Walmart has taken on a stigma. Why should I care?
scaredyclassic
November 17, 2012 @
7:59 AM
they sold me some bad apples. they sold me some bad apples. i should have looked more carefully.
i made up for it w a solid deal on kitty litter.
Coronita
November 17, 2012 @
9:39 AM
squat250 wrote:they sold me [quote=squat250]they sold me some bad apples. i should have looked more carefully.
i made up for it w a solid deal on kitty litter.[/quote]
Costco did the same thing to me one time. I took it back and got an exchange.
Reality
November 17, 2012 @
1:24 PM
Occasionally I’ll shop at Occasionally I’ll shop at Walmart but not often. I prefer Target.
It has nothing to do with the Walmart employees being underpaid. They’re adults and don’t have to work there. Walmart shouldn’t be a career destination anyway unless you are in management or work at the corporate HQ.
UCGal
November 17, 2012 @
1:47 PM
I haven’t bought anything at I haven’t bought anything at Walmart in more than a decade. It’s right up there with best buy for horrible customer service.
I did go into a Walmart on thanksgiving day in Lexington, KY about 7 years ago. Didn’t buy anything. We needed OUT of my mother in law’s house for sanity purposes. Kids were small and stir crazy, it was snowing so park playgrounds were out. It was literally the only place open. It was depressing. Haven’t been back in a Walmart since.
paramount
November 17, 2012 @
8:03 PM
I’m not surprised that so I’m not surprised that so many here don’t shop at wal mart.
Wal Mart is primarily where the poor and middle class shop.
The shelves in the grocery section of the temecula wal mart are often cleared out by sunday night.
The wal mart in temecula is a good place to experience the rawness and brutality of lower/middle America.
I shop there regularly.
In late October I visited the Wynn Las Vegas after walking through the shopping areas of the Venetian and Palazzo. I saw $30k watches (through bullet proof glass mind you), steaks starting at $200, men in suits smoking big cigars.
The contrast is a rude awakening: I clearly did not win the ovarian lottery.
mike92104
November 17, 2012 @
8:05 PM
All the time. (Mainly All the time. (Mainly because they are open at 3am)
Coronita
November 17, 2012 @
9:02 PM
paramount wrote:I’m not [quote=paramount]I’m not surprised that so many here don’t shop at wal mart.
Wal Mart is primarily where the poor and middle class shop.
The shelves in the grocery section of the temecula wal mart are often cleared out by sunday night.
The wal mart in temecula is a good place to experience the rawness and brutality of lower/middle America.
I shop there regularly.
In late October I visited the Wynn Las Vegas after walking through the shopping areas of the Venetian and Palazzo. I saw $30k watches (through bullet proof glass mind you), steaks starting at $200, men in suits smoking big cigars.
The contrast is a rude awakening: I clearly did not win the ovarian lottery.[/quote]
Paramount,
The rare times that I’ve been to walmart, I noticed that prices in the produce section really isn’t *that* cheap. In fact, in certain cases it’s a lot more expensive…I think comparing walmart regular prices to a grocery store’s regular price, then it’s probably cheaper. But if you just shop “better” at normal grocery stores, it actually comes out better than going to walmart or even costco at times for that matter. Costco, isn’t exactly the cheap leader too.
Target’s produce section is a ripoff btw….Yet I also see people shop there too.
So, my conclusion is you got a lot of people not necessary wealthy that don’t know how to shop…
That said. I can understand why they do well. And why target does well.
I can also understand why JCP is sucking wind, why Kmart is sucking wind (which takes the king of crap imho), and Sears is sucking wind…
paramount
November 17, 2012 @
9:34 PM
flu wrote:
The rare times [quote=flu]
The rare times that I’ve been to walmart, I noticed that prices in the produce section really isn’t *that* cheap. In fact, in certain cases it’s a lot more expensive…[/quote]
I often shop for the same items from week-to-week, and just today I was shocked by the price increase of many items I frequently buy.
I also shop at Costco weekly and the same goes for Costco – prices on many staples is up up up!
moneymaker
November 20, 2012 @
6:11 AM
paramount wrote:flu [quote=paramount][quote=flu]
The rare times that I’ve been to walmart, I noticed that prices in the produce section really isn’t *that* cheap. In fact, in certain cases it’s a lot more expensive…[/quote]
I often shop for the same items from week-to-week, and just today I was shocked by the price increase of many items I frequently buy.
I also shop at Costco weekly and the same goes for Costco – prices on many staples is up up up![/quote]
I noticed the same thing, Milk just went through the roof @ Costco. I do go to Walmart on occassion, it is a great place to buy RV supplies. Not for me personally but I hear it is also a great place to pick up women!
CDMA ENG
November 17, 2012 @
9:26 PM
JohnAlt91941 [quote=JohnAlt91941]Occasionally I’ll shop at Walmart but not often. I prefer Target.
It has nothing to do with the Walmart employees being underpaid. They’re adults and don’t have to work there. Walmart shouldn’t be a career destination anyway unless you are in management or work at the corporate HQ.[/quote]
Depends. I some areas, especially in the south, they ran all of the mom and pop shops out of business and people were left few alternatives. Walmart chose communities where it can dominate and destory local business. They purposely do this and drive the price for labor down.
Ironically Sam Walston would have been appaled by his kids behavior as this is completely contrary to what he believed.
Overall the success of Walmart general show that ppl don’t give a shit about people further than thier own pocket book.
And yes I do shop there occansionally but generally avoid it out of disgust.
CE
Oh… and in some place like the rural south… And Wasilla Alaska… Walmart is THE cultural center and hangout on Saturday night… Unbelievable but true…
zk
November 17, 2012 @
10:52 PM
CDMA ENG wrote:
Overall the [quote=CDMA ENG]
Overall the success of Walmart general show that ppl don’t give a shit about people further than thier own pocket book.
[/quote]
I don’t buy this at all. If you’re worried about the people who make minimum wage at Walmart, you’re worried about the wrong people.
If you’re more worried about other people than your own pocket book, try this:
Give as much to charity as you give now except, additionally: Shop at Walmart. Give the money you save to a charity that helps real poor people. People who live in parts of the world where living like minimum-wage Walmart employees is an impossible dream: All the food you can eat. Chocolate. Ice Cream. Running hot and cold water. Heat and maybe even air conditioning. A warm bed with a mattress and pillows and clean sheets. Television. Internet access. A car.
Yeah, we need to worry about these people when people are starving to death, millions are dying of malaria, and little girls are being sold.
CA renter
November 18, 2012 @
12:18 AM
zk wrote:CDMA ENG [quote=zk][quote=CDMA ENG]
Overall the success of Walmart general show that ppl don’t give a shit about people further than thier own pocket book.
[/quote]
I don’t buy this at all. If you’re worried about the people who make minimum wage at Walmart, you’re worried about the wrong people.
If you’re more worried about other people than your own pocket book, try this:
Give as much to charity as you give now except, additionally: Shop at Walmart. Give the money you save to a charity that helps real poor people. People who live in parts of the world where living like minimum-wage Walmart employees is an impossible dream: All the food you can eat. Chocolate. Ice Cream. Running hot and cold water. Heat and maybe even air conditioning. A warm bed with a mattress and pillows and clean sheets. Television. Internet access. A car.
Yeah, we need to worry about these people when people are starving to death, millions are dying of malaria, and little girls are being sold.[/quote]
It’s true that people in different parts of the world are suffering greatly, but most of the lower-level workers at Walmart do NOT have all the food they can eat, many cannot afford to heat their homes, and forget about affording A/C. They probably have a hand-me-down bed (probably mattresses on the floor) with dirty sheets because they cannot afford to launder their linens regularly at the laundromat (where cost inflation has also been rampant). Most of the WM employees cannot afford a safe car, much less the insurance for one, and they may or may not have internet/cable.
There is a stereotype around here that poor people are “living it up.” That simply is not true. Back when I was working my way through college, I couldn’t afford milk, so lived on Top Ramen and macaroni & cheese made with water instead of milk. Then there were the 49 cent chicken sandwiches at AM/PM. My roommates and I had turned the gas off to the furnace because we couldn’t afford high gas bills. And all of this was decades ago, long before cost inflation ramped up against declining wages. The income for the same position I had back then is about the same, NOMINALLY, while rent, food, gas, etc. is all much, much higher. If poor people in the U.S. are “living it up,” they are either drug dealers, pimps/hookers, thieves, or somehow managing to get access to credit that they have no business using.
zk
November 18, 2012 @
1:14 AM
CA renter wrote:
It’s true [quote=CA renter]
It’s true that people in different parts of the world are suffering greatly, but most of the lower-level workers at Walmart do NOT have all the food they can eat, many cannot afford to heat their homes, and forget about affording A/C. They probably have a hand-me-down bed (probably mattresses on the floor) with dirty sheets because they cannot afford to launder their linens regularly at the laundromat (where cost inflation has also been rampant). Most of the WM employees cannot afford a safe car, much less the insurance for one, and they may or may not have internet/cable.
There is a stereotype around here that poor people are “living it up.” That simply is not true. Back when I was working my way through college, I couldn’t afford milk, so lived on Top Ramen and macaroni & cheese made with water instead of milk. Then there were the 49 cent chicken sandwiches at AM/PM. My roommates and I had turned the gas off to the furnace because we couldn’t afford high gas bills. And all of this was decades ago, long before cost inflation ramped up against declining wages. The income for the same position I had back then is about the same, NOMINALLY, while rent, food, gas, etc. is all much, much higher. If poor people in the U.S. are “living it up,” they are either drug dealers, pimps/hookers, thieves, or somehow managing to get access to credit that they have no business using.[/quote]
This is patently ridiculous. If you’re working full time at minimum wage and can’t afford all the food you can eat, including chocolate and ice cream, then you’re doing something wrong.
You can rent a room, utilities included, in some parts of the country for $300 or less. Internet access is free at your local library. You don’t even need your own computer.
I didn’t say anything about a “safe” car. I said a car. I meant a 1987 Buick.
I didn’t say anything about cable, either.
Not sure what you mean by “living it up,” but if you mean the life I described, they you most definitely do not have to be a drug dealer, thief, or credit abuser to live that life. Not by a long shot.
zk
November 18, 2012 @
1:31 AM
CA renter wrote: The income [quote=CA renter] The income for the same position I had back then is about the same, NOMINALLY, while rent, food, gas, etc. is all much, much higher. [/quote]
Minimum wage now is $7.25/hr. $8/hr in CA. So, assuming the employer isn’t breaking the law, you were making at least $7.25/hr back then.
Not sure when you were in college, but if you were making $7.25/hr full time at least 20 years (you said decades) ago and were eating Ramen and turning off the heat, then you were doing something quite horribly wrong.
CA renter
November 18, 2012 @
1:45 AM
zk wrote:CA renter wrote: The [quote=zk][quote=CA renter] The income for the same position I had back then is about the same, NOMINALLY, while rent, food, gas, etc. is all much, much higher. [/quote]
Minimum wage now is $7.25/hr. $8/hr in CA. So, assuming the employer isn’t breaking the law, you were making at least $7.25/hr back then.
Not sure when you were in college, but if you were making $7.25/hr full time 10 or 20 years ago and were eating Ramen and turning off the heat, then you were doing something quite horribly wrong.[/quote]
This was ~20+ years ago, and I was probably working an average of 25-32 hours/week when in college.
That 1987 Buick is going to cost you a fortune in maintenance and gasoline costs, BTW. If you’re lucky enough to find a room for $300/month, it’s in the one of the most dangerous areas of the most dangerous cities. I was paying more than that in a “bad, but not the worst” neighborhood back then.
Have you ever had to live in a high-cost city/state on minimum wage for an extended period of time? I have. Nobody is “living it up” on minimum wage in the urban parts of Southern California.
One more thing…I did not have much debt. Didn’t take any student loans, but also didn’t qualify for grants, etc. While you could claim that college is a “luxury,” how do you expect people to move beyond those minimum wage jobs if they cannot afford an education (without taking on debt!) of some sort.
zk
November 18, 2012 @
2:44 AM
CA renter wrote:
This was ~20 [quote=CA renter]
This was ~20 years ago, and I was probably working an average of 25-32 hours/week when in college. [/quote]
Hmm. You base your argument on being broke while working at a low wage job, but don’t mention that you weren’t working full time. Not sure I get that. Kinda ruins your argument.
[quote=CA renter]
That 1987 Buick is going to cost you a fortune in maintenance and gasoline costs, BTW. [/quote]
Maybe. If you drive it a lot. Maybe not if you don’t. Maybe you’ll have to fix it yourself sometimes. Still beats living in Somalia.
[quote=CA renter]
If you’re lucky enough to find a room for $300/month, it’s in the one of the most dangerous areas of the most dangerous cities. I was paying more than that in a “bad, but not the worst” neighborhood back then.
[/quote]
Not true. In less than a minute on Craigslist, I found a room near the University of Akron (the first city I checked, as I suspected it would be cheap there) for $290/mo, utilities included.
Have you ever had to live in a high-cost city/state on minimum wage for an extended period of time? I have. Nobody is “living it up” on minimum wage in the urban parts of Southern California.
[/quote]
I didn’t say anything about the urban parts of Southern California.
[quote=CA renter]
One more thing…I did not have much debt. Didn’t take any student loans, but also didn’t qualify for grants, etc. While you could claim that college is a “luxury,” how do you expect people to move beyond those minimum wage jobs if they cannot afford an education (without taking on debt!) of some sort.[/quote]
So you were paying for college, too? Of course you were broke.
And where did I say I expect people to move beyond minimum wage jobs?
Your whole argument completely fails to counter what I was saying.
I laid out a list of basics one could afford on minimum wage:
All the food you can eat. Chocolate. Ice Cream. Running hot and cold water. Heat and maybe even air conditioning. A warm bed with a mattress and pillows and clean sheets. Television. Internet access. A car.
You added: Cable. A not-bad part of town. A “safe” car that you don’t have to fix yourself. A very nice part of the country. An urban part of that part of the country. Working 25-32 hours a week instead of 40. Paying for college so that you can move beyond minimum wage.
I agree that you can’t have all the stuff you said on minimum wage. You can, however, have the stuff I said you can have. Maybe I wouldn’t call that “living it up,” But maybe that’s because my view of “living it up” has been skewed by living in the USA my whole life. “Living it up” is, I suppose, a relative term. And relative to millions of people in the world, that truly would be “living it up.” Living it up in a way that would no doubt seem utterly fantastic to them.
If you described that life to a 12-year-old girl who’d been sold into prostitution in Nepal and told her that she could have that life but wouldn’t be able to go to college and move beyond that life she’d be like… “What? Beyond that? There’s a beyond that?”
God Dammit, we are some spoiled motherfuckers.
spdrun
November 18, 2012 @
9:07 AM
That 1987 Buick is going to
That 1987 Buick is going to cost you a fortune in maintenance and gasoline costs, BTW. If you’re lucky enough to find a room for $300/month, it’s in the one of the most dangerous areas of the most dangerous cities. I was paying more than that in a “bad, but not the worst” neighborhood back then.
I had an entire studio apartment in an “ok” area of Philly 10 years ago for $290/mo. Here’s a room for $375/mo roughly in the same area (Southwest of Zoo of Penn).
I drive a 1980’s car — cost me $2500 and I’ve paid maybe $50/mo on average for maintenance. It makes close to 40 mpg if driven carefully. Buick? Pfffft – pick up an old diesel Merc for ultimate indestructibility and ability to survive E.M.P. from atomic war.
PS – I *wish* that my carrying charges + taxes before mortgage would be as low as some of the apts in Filthydelphia rent for!!
CDMA ENG
November 18, 2012 @
9:15 AM
zk wrote:CDMA ENG [quote=zk][quote=CDMA ENG]
Overall the success of Walmart general show that ppl don’t give a shit about people further than thier own pocket book.
[/quote]
I don’t buy this at all. If you’re worried about the people who make minimum wage at Walmart, you’re worried about the wrong people.
If you’re more worried about other people than your own pocket book, try this:
Give as much to charity as you give now except, additionally: Shop at Walmart. Give the money you save to a charity that helps real poor people. People who live in parts of the world where living like minimum-wage Walmart employees is an impossible dream: All the food you can eat. Chocolate. Ice Cream. Running hot and cold water. Heat and maybe even air conditioning. A warm bed with a mattress and pillows and clean sheets. Television. Internet access. A car.
Yeah, we need to worry about these people when people are starving to death, millions are dying of malaria, and little girls are being sold.[/quote]
Also locally with the Hauer House a private individual that take care of some of the difficult physical and mentally challenged childern I have ever seen.
Also why would I save a little extra money to give to charity? A hundred or so dollars a year? I do that now by supporting my nieghbors’ business instead of making the Walstons richer.
There is an excellent documentary that was made about Walmart called “Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price”. Watch it then comment on all of this. Essentialy anywhere they go they leverage the tax base, leaving it broke, to increase thier profit margin.
The premise is that the true cost is not shown. When you count the cost of a decrease in local tax base coupled with a increase in working class poor dependent of the goverment the cost overall are the same but just leveraged through the local tax base.
Have some heart will you. Just becuase most of the people on this blog are talented, smart, people does not give you the right to say the people at Walmart deserve what they “get” (meaning thier station in life).
Not everyone in this life is given the same opportunties and while I completely HATE unions and the ideas of them this is why they occur. This company could afford to pay a decent wage and they chose not too.
Have a little compassion for your own country men too.
As to your last statement. I can’t save the world. Niether can you but I can make little changes beyond my borders… And larger ones within them. Best place to start changing the world always has been within your own back yard.
End of Rant.
CE
zk
November 18, 2012 @
12:04 PM
CDMA ENG wrote:
I do that [quote=CDMA ENG]
I do that already so don’t lecture me.
Also locally with the Hauer House a private individual that take care of some of the difficult physical and mentally challenged childern I have ever seen.
[/quote]
Glad to hear that you’re giving to worthy causes. But your “I do that already” was in response to my “Give as much to charity as you give now except, additionally: Shop at Walmart. Give the money you save to a charity that helps real poor people. “ You had previously said, “[I] generally avoid [shopping at Walmart] out of disgust.” Not sure how you reconcile those two statements.
[quote=CDMA ENG]
Also why would I save a little extra money to give to charity? A hundred or so dollars a year? I do that now by supporting my nieghbors’ business instead of making the Walstons richer.
[/quote]
If you have to ask that, I must not be explaining myself very well. My point, from the beginning, has been that children in Cambodia need the money a lot more than your neighbors do.
[quote=CDMA ENG]
There is an excellent documentary that was made about Walmart called “Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price”. Watch it then comment on all of this. Essentialy anywhere they go they leverage the tax base, leaving it broke, to increase thier profit margin.
The premise is that the true cost is not shown. When you count the cost of a decrease in local tax base coupled with a increase in working class poor dependent of the goverment the cost overall are the same but just leveraged through the local tax base.
[/quote]
At no point have I said I agree with what Walmart is doing.
[quote=CDMA ENG]
Have some heart will you. Just becuase most of the people on this blog are talented, smart, people does not give you the right to say the people at Walmart deserve what they “get” (meaning thier station in life). [/quote]
Now you’re just making stuff up. Show me where I said the people at Walmart deserve what they “get.” Who “deserves” what is a very deep and large question and not really related to this discussion. In my opinion, we’re animals produced by nature and none of us deserves anything different from what a cat or a flea or a microbe deserves. In any case, people who work at Walmart, when compared to all the humans who ever lived, have more than most of them do/did.
[quote=CDMA ENG] Not everyone in this life is given the same opportunties [/quote]
True. And just being born in America in the late 20th century is an opportunity that scores us luckier than most.
[quote=CDMA ENG]
and while I completely HATE unions and the ideas of them this is why they occur.
[/quote]
Not sure how you can hate the idea of unions and at the same time rant about a corporation treating its employees poorly in a manner that having a union would go a long way towards fixing.
[quote=CDMA ENG]
This company could afford to pay a decent wage and they chose not too.
[/quote]
Are you suggesting that all corporations pay what wage they can afford to pay rather than the wage that the market demands? If not, what is the point of that statement?
[quote=CDMA ENG]
Have a little compassion for your own country men too.
[/quote]
Honestly, except for the mentally ill, who our country shamefully ignores, most of my countrymen don’t need my compassion.
[quote=CDMA ENG]
As to your last statement. I can’t save the world. Niether can you but I can make little changes beyond my borders… And larger ones within them. Best place to start changing the world always has been within your own back yard.
[/quote]
I wholeheartedly disagree with those last two sentences. How do you figure you can make larger changes here than in Cambodia? Giving an extra hundred bucks a year to your neighbors via shopping at their business might allow them to, for instance, upgrade their cable a little bit. An extra hundred bucks a year for a child in Cambodia will obviously make a far greater difference than that. In fact, it could be the difference between life and death.
And what makes you think that your own back yard is the best place to start changing the world? That may have been true a hundred years ago (or it may not have). But I would say that it’s definitely not true today.
[quote=CDMA ENG]
End of Rant.
[/quote]
End of logic and reason. Until my next post.
CDMA ENG
November 18, 2012 @
3:41 PM
zk wrote:CDMA ENG wrote:
I do [quote=zk][quote=CDMA ENG]
I do that already so don’t lecture me.
Also locally with the Hauer House a private individual that take care of some of the difficult physical and mentally challenged childern I have ever seen.
[/quote]
Glad to hear that you’re giving to worthy causes. But your “I do that already” was in response to my “Give as much to charity as you give now except, additionally: Shop at Walmart. Give the money you save to a charity that helps real poor people. “ You had previously said, “[I] generally avoid [shopping at Walmart] out of disgust.” Not sure how you reconcile those two statements.
[quote=CDMA ENG]
Also why would I save a little extra money to give to charity? A hundred or so dollars a year? I do that now by supporting my nieghbors’ business instead of making the Walstons richer.
[/quote]
If you have to ask that, I must not be explaining myself very well. My point, from the beginning, has been that children in Cambodia need the money a lot more than your neighbors do.
[quote=CDMA ENG]
There is an excellent documentary that was made about Walmart called “Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price”. Watch it then comment on all of this. Essentialy anywhere they go they leverage the tax base, leaving it broke, to increase thier profit margin.
The premise is that the true cost is not shown. When you count the cost of a decrease in local tax base coupled with a increase in working class poor dependent of the goverment the cost overall are the same but just leveraged through the local tax base.
[/quote]
At no point have I said I agree with what Walmart is doing.
[quote=CDMA ENG]
Have some heart will you. Just becuase most of the people on this blog are talented, smart, people does not give you the right to say the people at Walmart deserve what they “get” (meaning thier station in life). [/quote]
Now you’re just making stuff up. Show me where I said the people at Walmart deserve what they “get.” Who “deserves” what is a very deep and large question and not really related to this discussion. In my opinion, we’re animals produced by nature and none of us deserves anything different from what a cat or a flea or a microbe deserves. In any case, people who work at Walmart, when compared to all the humans who ever lived, have more than most of them do/did.
[quote=CDMA ENG] Not everyone in this life is given the same opportunties [/quote]
True. And just being born in America in the late 20th century is an opportunity that scores us luckier than most.
[quote=CDMA ENG]
and while I completely HATE unions and the ideas of them this is why they occur.
[/quote]
Not sure how you can hate the idea of unions and at the same time rant about a corporation treating its employees poorly in a manner that having a union would go a long way towards fixing.
[quote=CDMA ENG]
This company could afford to pay a decent wage and they chose not too.
[/quote]
Are you suggesting that all corporations pay what wage they can afford to pay rather than the wage that the market demands? If not, what is the point of that statement?
[quote=CDMA ENG]
Have a little compassion for your own country men too.
[/quote]
Honestly, except for the mentally ill, who our country shamefully ignores, most of my countrymen don’t need my compassion.
[quote=CDMA ENG]
As to your last statement. I can’t save the world. Niether can you but I can make little changes beyond my borders… And larger ones within them. Best place to start changing the world always has been within your own back yard.
[/quote]
I wholeheartedly disagree with those last two sentences. How do you figure you can make larger changes here than in Cambodia? Giving an extra hundred bucks a year to your neighbors via shopping at their business might allow them to, for instance, upgrade their cable a little bit. An extra hundred bucks a year for a child in Cambodia will obviously make a far greater difference than that. In fact, it could be the difference between life and death.
And what makes you think that your own back yard is the best place to start changing the world? That may have been true a hundred years ago (or it may not have). But I would say that it’s definitely not true today.
[quote=CDMA ENG]
End of Rant.
[/quote]
End of logic and reason. Until my next post.[/quote]
Your logic your reason. That doesn’t make it fact. Just your opinion.
So what are you list of charties?
CE
zk
November 18, 2012 @
4:02 PM
CDMA ENG wrote:Your logic [quote=CDMA ENG]Your logic your reason. That doesn’t make it fact. Just your opinion.
So what are you list of charties?
CE[/quote]
Some of it is logic. Some of it is reason. Some of it is opinion. Some of it is fact. If you can find flaws in my logic or my reasoning, or factual errors, by all means point them out. Judging by your response, I’m thinking you can’t. Maybe some of it is just my opinion. But at least I can back up my opinions with well-stated, clear, logical reasons. Your disagreements with my opinions are mostly emotional nonsense.
End of rant.
I don’t have a list as I don’t see the need to spread it around. The charity I give to is Maiti Nepal.
Sorry, that was uncalled for, Sorry, that was uncalled for, unnecessarily harsh, and, for at least a two-word section of it, stupid. Rough day at work and I took it out on you. My bad.
UCGal
November 19, 2012 @
9:10 AM
They had a Walmart Associate They had a Walmart Associate and a member of the Warehouse Workers United on “Up with Chris Hayes” yesterday.
One of the things I learned, the warehouse strike that recently occurred forced Walmart to actually start complying with labor law and safety codes. Thinks like providing potable water for the warehouse workers. They’re not just whiny petulant (non) union folks… they want standards brought up to legal code.
They’re not striking over nothing….
no_such_reality
November 19, 2012 @
9:16 AM
Don’t need a union for that Don’t need a union for that UCGal, just three workers and a class action lawsuit.
I have no problem with a Union fighting for basic issues. People shouldn’t have to work unpaid through their break periods. I don’t know though, why they just don’t sue the employer.
UCGal
November 19, 2012 @
4:18 PM
no_such_reality wrote:Don’t [quote=no_such_reality]Don’t need a union for that UCGal, just three workers and a class action lawsuit.
I have no problem with a Union fighting for basic issues. People shouldn’t have to work unpaid through their break periods. I don’t know though, why they just don’t sue the employer.[/quote]
Lawsuits take time and money. Hard to pay lawyers on $8/hour.
The warehouse workers filed complaints with Cal/OSHA in July and Walmart did nothing.
They’ve had a suit filed since spring – it hasn’t gone to court yet.
UCGal wrote:They had a [quote=UCGal]They had a Walmart Associate and a member of the Warehouse Workers United on “Up with Chris Hayes” yesterday.
One of the things I learned, the warehouse strike that recently occurred forced Walmart to actually start complying with labor law and safety codes. Thinks like providing potable water for the warehouse workers. They’re not just whiny petulant (non) union folks… they want standards brought up to legal code.
They’re not striking over nothing….[/quote]
I’m sure that the union guy gave a highly biased view of things. We have to take what they say with a grain of salt. I find it really hard to believe that there’s no potable water at the warehouse. It would actually be more difficult and expensive to provide any water that is not potable.
livinincali
November 19, 2012 @
9:53 AM
zk wrote:
CDMA ENG [quote=zk]
[quote=CDMA ENG]
This company could afford to pay a decent wage and they chose not too.
[/quote]
Are you suggesting that all corporations pay what wage they can afford to pay rather than the wage that the market demands? If not, what is the point of that statement?
[/quote]
If you just look at Walmart’s balance sheet you’d quickly realize that they really can’t afford to pay much more in wages with their current cost structure. Just look at last year’s balance sheet. 446 billion in revenue. 15 billion in profit. The cost of revenue was 335 billion and then there was 85 billion in Selling/Adminstrative costs of which most is salary of the employees that work there. So you have a company that has a profit margin of around 3.5% and you’re saying it’s unfair to it’s employees. Even if you distributed even penny of profits to the employees you’d only be looking at a 15-20% raise.
Walmart could choose to charge more for the goods they sell but did you really improve those minimum wage workers ability to buy goods and services if you have to raise all the prices to maintain a reasonable profit margin.
treehugger
November 19, 2012 @
11:12 AM
Wal-mart makes me Wal-mart makes me uncomfortable, I don’t like mixing with the rabble. I would rather spend more money elsewhere….Although, this weekend I was in Target and thought they had hired a homeless guy to bring in carts! I saw him around the store several times during my visit and he made me very “uncomfortable”.
All kidding aside, my father was one of the General Managers for K-Mart. He retired after 37 years with the company and was making well into the six figures in the 1990’s. He did not graduate from High School and later earned his GED and took a lot of college classes at night, never earned a college degree. He was a talented and hard working man. It was a good career, he started at the bottom in the stockroom. Met my mom while they both worked there. Not sure that kind of American Dream is possible anymore.
Now he is retired and is home annoying my mom!
Coronita
November 17, 2012 @
9:01 PM
AN wrote:flu wrote:barnaby33 [quote=AN][quote=flu][quote=barnaby33]So what I’m seeing from this thread is that you all have some justification for occasionally shopping at Wally World. Funny as my variant is shotgun shells.
Seems we are all straight up mercantilist when it comes to buying things with our pay, but demand high wages and good conditions for ourselves.
Walmart is just the latest symptom of a race to the bottom, a highly visible one that is the interaction of too many people, misplaced expectations and labor/environment arbitrage.
I don’t dislike Walmart so much as the people who shop there.
Josh[/quote]
+1. I think the clientele of people there are way out there. For that alone I try to avoid them.[/quote]
Damn, so that’s what people think about me.[/quote]
No, I think of you that way, even when I don’t bump into you at walmart 🙂
spdrun
November 17, 2012 @
9:15 PM
The problem with Costco is The problem with Costco is that you can only buy so many flats of bulk food before your fridge is full to overflowing.
EconProf
November 18, 2012 @
6:19 AM
zk: shame on you for zk: shame on you for bringing facts and logic to the table!
EconProf
November 18, 2012 @
6:27 AM
To get back to the WalMart To get back to the WalMart subject:
A study some years ago showed that the poor get about a 10-20% lower cost on all that they buy from WalMart as compared to competing stores, on average. The difference would be far greater when compared to the cute little mom and pop neighborhood stores liberals bemoan are put out of business when a WalMart wants to start up in a poor urban neighborhood.
Doesn’t that mean that WalMart has done a lot of good in helping the poor raise their standard of living?
Incidentally, those poor neighborhoods have been abandoned by the Ralph’s, Vons, Lucky’s and other unionized chains with higher labor costs and lower efficiencies in their distrubution system–major factors in their lower prices to consumers.
poorgradstudent
November 19, 2012 @
9:20 AM
Isn’t there like, one Walmart Isn’t there like, one Walmart in San Diego? I’m shocked so many of you shop there, considering we really are more of a Target town.
dumbrenter
November 19, 2012 @
12:37 PM
poorgradstudent wrote:Isn’t [quote=poorgradstudent]Isn’t there like, one Walmart in San Diego? I’m shocked so many of you shop there, considering we really are more of a Target town.[/quote]
There are 3 that I know of in San Diego metro area.
zzz
November 19, 2012 @
1:43 PM
What do people buy at Walmart What do people buy at Walmart or Target? I dont understand why people buy so much stuff there, its really not cheaper in my opinion to buy most things at either place. I would not buy groceries, electronics, or clothing at either place. although I probably will buy a microwave from Walmart.com–need a really small one that will be used infrequently and Walmart had the cheapest options with the best reviews
I don’t shop at Walmart because they don’t carry the “green” cleaning supplies. I go to Target to buy Kleenex, cleaning supplies, hand wipes, dental floss, shower liners, and that’s about it. I buy other household items in bulk at Costco.
all
November 19, 2012 @
1:56 PM
dumbrenter [quote=dumbrenter][quote=poorgradstudent]Isn’t there like, one Walmart in San Diego? I’m shocked so many of you shop there, considering we really are more of a Target town.[/quote]
There are 3 that I know of in San Diego metro area.[/quote]
Four along 78 between Oceanside and Escondido.
zk
November 19, 2012 @
11:00 PM
poorgradstudent wrote:Isn’t [quote=poorgradstudent]Isn’t there like, one Walmart in San Diego? I’m shocked so many of you shop there, considering we really are more of a Target town.[/quote]
I voted yes, with shame, but I voted yes, with shame, but only because no one else carries the synthetic oil I want. I don’t buy anything else there.
It isn’t just the working conditions (which could and should be improved with their profit margins). Walmart is what K-mart eventually became, which is a store where the employees and customers are thoughtless and crude. They may be in a low income bracket, but it’s their behavior that makes them lower class. If you take something off a hook and decide you don’t want it, how hard is it to put it back on the hook? Too hard for many, apparently.
Target is a far more pleasant place to be and worth the extra money.
November 16, 2012 @ 3:14 PM
Saw this earlier
Saw this earlier today:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/nov/15/walmart-walkout-action-black-friday
November 16, 2012 @ 3:30 PM
craptcha wrote:Saw this
[quote=craptcha]Saw this earlier today:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/nov/15/walmart-walkout-action-black-friday%5B/quote%5D
Exactly. Just another example (of far too many) where taxpayers are subsidizing the profits of very well-off corporate entities. Funny how CNBC, Fox News, etc. never explain who is *really* benefiting from these “welfare” programs.
The net benefit to the individual shareholders/owners and executives totally dwarfs (exponentially) the net benefits to the individual recipients (working poor) of these programs.
November 16, 2012 @ 3:28 PM
I reluctantly voted yes…The
I reluctantly voted yes…The caveat is I only go there to pick up Mobil 1 0w-40 European Formula oil, when neither Oreilly or Autozone has it on sale.
November 16, 2012 @ 3:35 PM
I shop there, on average,
I shop there, on average, once every two years. Certainly not a “NO,” but hardly a “YES” either.
November 16, 2012 @ 3:41 PM
Do they pay workers time and
Do they pay workers time and a half for Holidays?
November 16, 2012 @ 3:52 PM
No. And none within 10 miles
No. And none within 10 miles so far, so it would actually take effort to do so 🙂
I’ve been to a WalMart in NJ when I needed a motorcycle battery at 10 pm (long story). But despite them saying on the phone that one was in stock, they couldn’t actually find it.
Furthermore, the store was in a massive state of chaos, goods all over the floor, with completely unhelpful zomboid associates. Put it this way: at least one of them was lucky that he only was yelled at by me.
This was one of the few times that going to a store to pick up a simple item has actually enraged me.
November 16, 2012 @ 3:57 PM
When I used to live in
When I used to live in Oceanside, I go to Walmart a lot more often due to convenience and price since there were 3-4 Walmart around me. Now, only when I need oil. On average, they’re cheaper than Target. There’s no reason for me to pay more for the same product.
If “Sara” thinks her pay is too low, why doesn’t she apply to Target or some other place that pay more?
Something is not adding up, since Washington State’s minimum wage is $9.04/hr. There’s no way her wage is $14k/year when the minimum was is $9.04/hr. Just making minimum wage would put her at ~$18-19k. So, if she’s making $14k, Walmart must be breaking the law. Why doesn’t she and her coworker call somebody from the government and say Walmart is not paying minimum wage? Can’t they also sue Walmart for breaking State’s law?
November 16, 2012 @ 4:00 PM
You’re assuming that she’s
You’re assuming that she’s (officially) 40hr/wk.
November 16, 2012 @ 4:02 PM
She said she’s working full
She said she’s working full time. Which has to be 36h+/wk.
November 16, 2012 @ 4:31 PM
She could be paying for
She could be paying for medical through Walmart. There was a story about the rates going up few days ago. I generally blindly follow whatever my wife says. Two redlines that I put down are “boys don’t sit to pee” and “no shopping at Walmart”.
November 16, 2012 @ 4:40 PM
Agreed about Walmart, but
Agreed about Walmart, but boys *should* learn to sit to pee in private bathrooms. Public bathroom with a urinal or dirty stall — go to town, but teaching a kid to splatter the floor (inevitable) when they’re a guest is just foul.
Especially in a carpeted bathroom 🙂 Yecccccch – bad manners 101.
November 16, 2012 @ 5:25 PM
So what I’m seeing from this
So what I’m seeing from this thread is that you all have some justification for occasionally shopping at Wally World. Funny as my variant is shotgun shells.
Seems we are all straight up mercantilist when it comes to buying things with our pay, but demand high wages and good conditions for ourselves.
Walmart is just the latest symptom of a race to the bottom, a highly visible one that is the interaction of too many people, misplaced expectations and labor/environment arbitrage.
I don’t dislike Walmart so much as the people who shop there.
Josh
November 16, 2012 @ 7:06 PM
barnaby33 wrote:So what I’m
[quote=barnaby33]So what I’m seeing from this thread is that you all have some justification for occasionally shopping at Wally World. Funny as my variant is shotgun shells.
Seems we are all straight up mercantilist when it comes to buying things with our pay, but demand high wages and good conditions for ourselves.
Walmart is just the latest symptom of a race to the bottom, a highly visible one that is the interaction of too many people, misplaced expectations and labor/environment arbitrage.
I don’t dislike Walmart so much as the people who shop there.
Josh[/quote]
+1. I think the clientele of people there are way out there. For that alone I try to avoid them.
November 16, 2012 @ 8:19 PM
flu wrote:barnaby33 wrote:So
[quote=flu][quote=barnaby33]So what I’m seeing from this thread is that you all have some justification for occasionally shopping at Wally World. Funny as my variant is shotgun shells.
Seems we are all straight up mercantilist when it comes to buying things with our pay, but demand high wages and good conditions for ourselves.
Walmart is just the latest symptom of a race to the bottom, a highly visible one that is the interaction of too many people, misplaced expectations and labor/environment arbitrage.
I don’t dislike Walmart so much as the people who shop there.
Josh[/quote]
+1. I think the clientele of people there are way out there. For that alone I try to avoid them.[/quote]
Damn, so that’s what people think about me.
November 17, 2012 @ 7:32 AM
I don’t see the big deal
I don’t see the big deal about shopping at Walmart. I go there 2-3 times a month. Sure, sometimes some of the customers are poor or strange or colorful or mutants. What the hell do I care? Stuff is inexpensive there, and you can find most everything you need. Sure, the people who work there are people who can’t manage to get not-minimum-wage jobs. What do I care? It’s not that hard to find the stuff myself.
I went there yesterday and got: A new battery for my car, two bags of glue sticks for rc airplane repair, a box of good n plenty, and some gum. Those same items would’ve cost probably $10-$20 more somewhere else. Why would I go somewhere else?
Obviously shopping at Walmart has taken on a stigma. Why should I care?
November 17, 2012 @ 7:59 AM
they sold me some bad apples.
they sold me some bad apples. i should have looked more carefully.
i made up for it w a solid deal on kitty litter.
November 17, 2012 @ 9:39 AM
squat250 wrote:they sold me
[quote=squat250]they sold me some bad apples. i should have looked more carefully.
i made up for it w a solid deal on kitty litter.[/quote]
Costco did the same thing to me one time. I took it back and got an exchange.
November 17, 2012 @ 1:24 PM
Occasionally I’ll shop at
Occasionally I’ll shop at Walmart but not often. I prefer Target.
It has nothing to do with the Walmart employees being underpaid. They’re adults and don’t have to work there. Walmart shouldn’t be a career destination anyway unless you are in management or work at the corporate HQ.
November 17, 2012 @ 1:47 PM
I haven’t bought anything at
I haven’t bought anything at Walmart in more than a decade. It’s right up there with best buy for horrible customer service.
I did go into a Walmart on thanksgiving day in Lexington, KY about 7 years ago. Didn’t buy anything. We needed OUT of my mother in law’s house for sanity purposes. Kids were small and stir crazy, it was snowing so park playgrounds were out. It was literally the only place open. It was depressing. Haven’t been back in a Walmart since.
November 17, 2012 @ 8:03 PM
I’m not surprised that so
I’m not surprised that so many here don’t shop at wal mart.
Wal Mart is primarily where the poor and middle class shop.
The shelves in the grocery section of the temecula wal mart are often cleared out by sunday night.
The wal mart in temecula is a good place to experience the rawness and brutality of lower/middle America.
I shop there regularly.
In late October I visited the Wynn Las Vegas after walking through the shopping areas of the Venetian and Palazzo. I saw $30k watches (through bullet proof glass mind you), steaks starting at $200, men in suits smoking big cigars.
The contrast is a rude awakening: I clearly did not win the ovarian lottery.
November 17, 2012 @ 8:05 PM
All the time. (Mainly
All the time. (Mainly because they are open at 3am)
November 17, 2012 @ 9:02 PM
paramount wrote:I’m not
[quote=paramount]I’m not surprised that so many here don’t shop at wal mart.
Wal Mart is primarily where the poor and middle class shop.
The shelves in the grocery section of the temecula wal mart are often cleared out by sunday night.
The wal mart in temecula is a good place to experience the rawness and brutality of lower/middle America.
I shop there regularly.
In late October I visited the Wynn Las Vegas after walking through the shopping areas of the Venetian and Palazzo. I saw $30k watches (through bullet proof glass mind you), steaks starting at $200, men in suits smoking big cigars.
The contrast is a rude awakening: I clearly did not win the ovarian lottery.[/quote]
Paramount,
The rare times that I’ve been to walmart, I noticed that prices in the produce section really isn’t *that* cheap. In fact, in certain cases it’s a lot more expensive…I think comparing walmart regular prices to a grocery store’s regular price, then it’s probably cheaper. But if you just shop “better” at normal grocery stores, it actually comes out better than going to walmart or even costco at times for that matter. Costco, isn’t exactly the cheap leader too.
Target’s produce section is a ripoff btw….Yet I also see people shop there too.
So, my conclusion is you got a lot of people not necessary wealthy that don’t know how to shop…
That said. I can understand why they do well. And why target does well.
I can also understand why JCP is sucking wind, why Kmart is sucking wind (which takes the king of crap imho), and Sears is sucking wind…
November 17, 2012 @ 9:34 PM
flu wrote:
The rare times
[quote=flu]
The rare times that I’ve been to walmart, I noticed that prices in the produce section really isn’t *that* cheap. In fact, in certain cases it’s a lot more expensive…[/quote]
I often shop for the same items from week-to-week, and just today I was shocked by the price increase of many items I frequently buy.
I also shop at Costco weekly and the same goes for Costco – prices on many staples is up up up!
November 20, 2012 @ 6:11 AM
paramount wrote:flu
[quote=paramount][quote=flu]
The rare times that I’ve been to walmart, I noticed that prices in the produce section really isn’t *that* cheap. In fact, in certain cases it’s a lot more expensive…[/quote]
I often shop for the same items from week-to-week, and just today I was shocked by the price increase of many items I frequently buy.
I also shop at Costco weekly and the same goes for Costco – prices on many staples is up up up![/quote]
I noticed the same thing, Milk just went through the roof @ Costco. I do go to Walmart on occassion, it is a great place to buy RV supplies. Not for me personally but I hear it is also a great place to pick up women!
November 17, 2012 @ 9:26 PM
JohnAlt91941
[quote=JohnAlt91941]Occasionally I’ll shop at Walmart but not often. I prefer Target.
It has nothing to do with the Walmart employees being underpaid. They’re adults and don’t have to work there. Walmart shouldn’t be a career destination anyway unless you are in management or work at the corporate HQ.[/quote]
Depends. I some areas, especially in the south, they ran all of the mom and pop shops out of business and people were left few alternatives. Walmart chose communities where it can dominate and destory local business. They purposely do this and drive the price for labor down.
Ironically Sam Walston would have been appaled by his kids behavior as this is completely contrary to what he believed.
Overall the success of Walmart general show that ppl don’t give a shit about people further than thier own pocket book.
And yes I do shop there occansionally but generally avoid it out of disgust.
CE
Oh… and in some place like the rural south… And Wasilla Alaska… Walmart is THE cultural center and hangout on Saturday night… Unbelievable but true…
November 17, 2012 @ 10:52 PM
CDMA ENG wrote:
Overall the
[quote=CDMA ENG]
Overall the success of Walmart general show that ppl don’t give a shit about people further than thier own pocket book.
[/quote]
I don’t buy this at all. If you’re worried about the people who make minimum wage at Walmart, you’re worried about the wrong people.
If you’re more worried about other people than your own pocket book, try this:
Give as much to charity as you give now except, additionally: Shop at Walmart. Give the money you save to a charity that helps real poor people. People who live in parts of the world where living like minimum-wage Walmart employees is an impossible dream: All the food you can eat. Chocolate. Ice Cream. Running hot and cold water. Heat and maybe even air conditioning. A warm bed with a mattress and pillows and clean sheets. Television. Internet access. A car.
Yeah, we need to worry about these people when people are starving to death, millions are dying of malaria, and little girls are being sold.
November 18, 2012 @ 12:18 AM
zk wrote:CDMA ENG
[quote=zk][quote=CDMA ENG]
Overall the success of Walmart general show that ppl don’t give a shit about people further than thier own pocket book.
[/quote]
I don’t buy this at all. If you’re worried about the people who make minimum wage at Walmart, you’re worried about the wrong people.
If you’re more worried about other people than your own pocket book, try this:
Give as much to charity as you give now except, additionally: Shop at Walmart. Give the money you save to a charity that helps real poor people. People who live in parts of the world where living like minimum-wage Walmart employees is an impossible dream: All the food you can eat. Chocolate. Ice Cream. Running hot and cold water. Heat and maybe even air conditioning. A warm bed with a mattress and pillows and clean sheets. Television. Internet access. A car.
Yeah, we need to worry about these people when people are starving to death, millions are dying of malaria, and little girls are being sold.[/quote]
It’s true that people in different parts of the world are suffering greatly, but most of the lower-level workers at Walmart do NOT have all the food they can eat, many cannot afford to heat their homes, and forget about affording A/C. They probably have a hand-me-down bed (probably mattresses on the floor) with dirty sheets because they cannot afford to launder their linens regularly at the laundromat (where cost inflation has also been rampant). Most of the WM employees cannot afford a safe car, much less the insurance for one, and they may or may not have internet/cable.
There is a stereotype around here that poor people are “living it up.” That simply is not true. Back when I was working my way through college, I couldn’t afford milk, so lived on Top Ramen and macaroni & cheese made with water instead of milk. Then there were the 49 cent chicken sandwiches at AM/PM. My roommates and I had turned the gas off to the furnace because we couldn’t afford high gas bills. And all of this was decades ago, long before cost inflation ramped up against declining wages. The income for the same position I had back then is about the same, NOMINALLY, while rent, food, gas, etc. is all much, much higher. If poor people in the U.S. are “living it up,” they are either drug dealers, pimps/hookers, thieves, or somehow managing to get access to credit that they have no business using.
November 18, 2012 @ 1:14 AM
CA renter wrote:
It’s true
[quote=CA renter]
It’s true that people in different parts of the world are suffering greatly, but most of the lower-level workers at Walmart do NOT have all the food they can eat, many cannot afford to heat their homes, and forget about affording A/C. They probably have a hand-me-down bed (probably mattresses on the floor) with dirty sheets because they cannot afford to launder their linens regularly at the laundromat (where cost inflation has also been rampant). Most of the WM employees cannot afford a safe car, much less the insurance for one, and they may or may not have internet/cable.
There is a stereotype around here that poor people are “living it up.” That simply is not true. Back when I was working my way through college, I couldn’t afford milk, so lived on Top Ramen and macaroni & cheese made with water instead of milk. Then there were the 49 cent chicken sandwiches at AM/PM. My roommates and I had turned the gas off to the furnace because we couldn’t afford high gas bills. And all of this was decades ago, long before cost inflation ramped up against declining wages. The income for the same position I had back then is about the same, NOMINALLY, while rent, food, gas, etc. is all much, much higher. If poor people in the U.S. are “living it up,” they are either drug dealers, pimps/hookers, thieves, or somehow managing to get access to credit that they have no business using.[/quote]
This is patently ridiculous. If you’re working full time at minimum wage and can’t afford all the food you can eat, including chocolate and ice cream, then you’re doing something wrong.
You can rent a room, utilities included, in some parts of the country for $300 or less. Internet access is free at your local library. You don’t even need your own computer.
I didn’t say anything about a “safe” car. I said a car. I meant a 1987 Buick.
I didn’t say anything about cable, either.
Not sure what you mean by “living it up,” but if you mean the life I described, they you most definitely do not have to be a drug dealer, thief, or credit abuser to live that life. Not by a long shot.
November 18, 2012 @ 1:31 AM
CA renter wrote: The income
[quote=CA renter] The income for the same position I had back then is about the same, NOMINALLY, while rent, food, gas, etc. is all much, much higher. [/quote]
Minimum wage now is $7.25/hr. $8/hr in CA. So, assuming the employer isn’t breaking the law, you were making at least $7.25/hr back then.
Not sure when you were in college, but if you were making $7.25/hr full time at least 20 years (you said decades) ago and were eating Ramen and turning off the heat, then you were doing something quite horribly wrong.
November 18, 2012 @ 1:45 AM
zk wrote:CA renter wrote: The
[quote=zk][quote=CA renter] The income for the same position I had back then is about the same, NOMINALLY, while rent, food, gas, etc. is all much, much higher. [/quote]
Minimum wage now is $7.25/hr. $8/hr in CA. So, assuming the employer isn’t breaking the law, you were making at least $7.25/hr back then.
Not sure when you were in college, but if you were making $7.25/hr full time 10 or 20 years ago and were eating Ramen and turning off the heat, then you were doing something quite horribly wrong.[/quote]
This was ~20+ years ago, and I was probably working an average of 25-32 hours/week when in college.
That 1987 Buick is going to cost you a fortune in maintenance and gasoline costs, BTW. If you’re lucky enough to find a room for $300/month, it’s in the one of the most dangerous areas of the most dangerous cities. I was paying more than that in a “bad, but not the worst” neighborhood back then.
Have you ever had to live in a high-cost city/state on minimum wage for an extended period of time? I have. Nobody is “living it up” on minimum wage in the urban parts of Southern California.
One more thing…I did not have much debt. Didn’t take any student loans, but also didn’t qualify for grants, etc. While you could claim that college is a “luxury,” how do you expect people to move beyond those minimum wage jobs if they cannot afford an education (without taking on debt!) of some sort.
November 18, 2012 @ 2:44 AM
CA renter wrote:
This was ~20
[quote=CA renter]
This was ~20 years ago, and I was probably working an average of 25-32 hours/week when in college. [/quote]
Hmm. You base your argument on being broke while working at a low wage job, but don’t mention that you weren’t working full time. Not sure I get that. Kinda ruins your argument.
[quote=CA renter]
That 1987 Buick is going to cost you a fortune in maintenance and gasoline costs, BTW. [/quote]
Maybe. If you drive it a lot. Maybe not if you don’t. Maybe you’ll have to fix it yourself sometimes. Still beats living in Somalia.
[quote=CA renter]
If you’re lucky enough to find a room for $300/month, it’s in the one of the most dangerous areas of the most dangerous cities. I was paying more than that in a “bad, but not the worst” neighborhood back then.
[/quote]
Not true. In less than a minute on Craigslist, I found a room near the University of Akron (the first city I checked, as I suspected it would be cheap there) for $290/mo, utilities included.
http://akroncanton.craigslist.org/roo/3360400485.html
[quote=CA renter]
Have you ever had to live in a high-cost city/state on minimum wage for an extended period of time? I have. Nobody is “living it up” on minimum wage in the urban parts of Southern California.
[/quote]
I didn’t say anything about the urban parts of Southern California.
[quote=CA renter]
One more thing…I did not have much debt. Didn’t take any student loans, but also didn’t qualify for grants, etc. While you could claim that college is a “luxury,” how do you expect people to move beyond those minimum wage jobs if they cannot afford an education (without taking on debt!) of some sort.[/quote]
So you were paying for college, too? Of course you were broke.
And where did I say I expect people to move beyond minimum wage jobs?
Your whole argument completely fails to counter what I was saying.
I laid out a list of basics one could afford on minimum wage:
All the food you can eat. Chocolate. Ice Cream. Running hot and cold water. Heat and maybe even air conditioning. A warm bed with a mattress and pillows and clean sheets. Television. Internet access. A car.
You added: Cable. A not-bad part of town. A “safe” car that you don’t have to fix yourself. A very nice part of the country. An urban part of that part of the country. Working 25-32 hours a week instead of 40. Paying for college so that you can move beyond minimum wage.
I agree that you can’t have all the stuff you said on minimum wage. You can, however, have the stuff I said you can have. Maybe I wouldn’t call that “living it up,” But maybe that’s because my view of “living it up” has been skewed by living in the USA my whole life. “Living it up” is, I suppose, a relative term. And relative to millions of people in the world, that truly would be “living it up.” Living it up in a way that would no doubt seem utterly fantastic to them.
If you described that life to a 12-year-old girl who’d been sold into prostitution in Nepal and told her that she could have that life but wouldn’t be able to go to college and move beyond that life she’d be like… “What? Beyond that? There’s a beyond that?”
God Dammit, we are some spoiled motherfuckers.
November 18, 2012 @ 9:07 AM
That 1987 Buick is going to
I had an entire studio apartment in an “ok” area of Philly 10 years ago for $290/mo. Here’s a room for $375/mo roughly in the same area (Southwest of Zoo of Penn).
http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/roo/3402691809.html
I drive a 1980’s car — cost me $2500 and I’ve paid maybe $50/mo on average for maintenance. It makes close to 40 mpg if driven carefully. Buick? Pfffft – pick up an old diesel Merc for ultimate indestructibility and ability to survive E.M.P. from atomic war.
PS – I *wish* that my carrying charges + taxes before mortgage would be as low as some of the apts in Filthydelphia rent for!!
November 18, 2012 @ 9:15 AM
zk wrote:CDMA ENG
[quote=zk][quote=CDMA ENG]
Overall the success of Walmart general show that ppl don’t give a shit about people further than thier own pocket book.
[/quote]
I don’t buy this at all. If you’re worried about the people who make minimum wage at Walmart, you’re worried about the wrong people.
If you’re more worried about other people than your own pocket book, try this:
Give as much to charity as you give now except, additionally: Shop at Walmart. Give the money you save to a charity that helps real poor people. People who live in parts of the world where living like minimum-wage Walmart employees is an impossible dream: All the food you can eat. Chocolate. Ice Cream. Running hot and cold water. Heat and maybe even air conditioning. A warm bed with a mattress and pillows and clean sheets. Television. Internet access. A car.
Yeah, we need to worry about these people when people are starving to death, millions are dying of malaria, and little girls are being sold.[/quote]
I do that already so don’t lecture me.
http://aogaah.org/page01a.html
Also locally with the Hauer House a private individual that take care of some of the difficult physical and mentally challenged childern I have ever seen.
Also why would I save a little extra money to give to charity? A hundred or so dollars a year? I do that now by supporting my nieghbors’ business instead of making the Walstons richer.
There is an excellent documentary that was made about Walmart called “Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price”. Watch it then comment on all of this. Essentialy anywhere they go they leverage the tax base, leaving it broke, to increase thier profit margin.
The premise is that the true cost is not shown. When you count the cost of a decrease in local tax base coupled with a increase in working class poor dependent of the goverment the cost overall are the same but just leveraged through the local tax base.
Have some heart will you. Just becuase most of the people on this blog are talented, smart, people does not give you the right to say the people at Walmart deserve what they “get” (meaning thier station in life).
Not everyone in this life is given the same opportunties and while I completely HATE unions and the ideas of them this is why they occur. This company could afford to pay a decent wage and they chose not too.
Have a little compassion for your own country men too.
As to your last statement. I can’t save the world. Niether can you but I can make little changes beyond my borders… And larger ones within them. Best place to start changing the world always has been within your own back yard.
End of Rant.
CE
November 18, 2012 @ 12:04 PM
CDMA ENG wrote:
I do that
[quote=CDMA ENG]
I do that already so don’t lecture me.
http://aogaah.org/page01a.html
Also locally with the Hauer House a private individual that take care of some of the difficult physical and mentally challenged childern I have ever seen.
[/quote]
Glad to hear that you’re giving to worthy causes. But your “I do that already” was in response to my “Give as much to charity as you give now except, additionally: Shop at Walmart. Give the money you save to a charity that helps real poor people. “ You had previously said, “[I] generally avoid [shopping at Walmart] out of disgust.” Not sure how you reconcile those two statements.
[quote=CDMA ENG]
Also why would I save a little extra money to give to charity? A hundred or so dollars a year? I do that now by supporting my nieghbors’ business instead of making the Walstons richer.
[/quote]
If you have to ask that, I must not be explaining myself very well. My point, from the beginning, has been that children in Cambodia need the money a lot more than your neighbors do.
[quote=CDMA ENG]
There is an excellent documentary that was made about Walmart called “Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price”. Watch it then comment on all of this. Essentialy anywhere they go they leverage the tax base, leaving it broke, to increase thier profit margin.
The premise is that the true cost is not shown. When you count the cost of a decrease in local tax base coupled with a increase in working class poor dependent of the goverment the cost overall are the same but just leveraged through the local tax base.
[/quote]
At no point have I said I agree with what Walmart is doing.
[quote=CDMA ENG]
Have some heart will you. Just becuase most of the people on this blog are talented, smart, people does not give you the right to say the people at Walmart deserve what they “get” (meaning thier station in life). [/quote]
Now you’re just making stuff up. Show me where I said the people at Walmart deserve what they “get.” Who “deserves” what is a very deep and large question and not really related to this discussion. In my opinion, we’re animals produced by nature and none of us deserves anything different from what a cat or a flea or a microbe deserves. In any case, people who work at Walmart, when compared to all the humans who ever lived, have more than most of them do/did.
[quote=CDMA ENG] Not everyone in this life is given the same opportunties [/quote]
True. And just being born in America in the late 20th century is an opportunity that scores us luckier than most.
[quote=CDMA ENG]
and while I completely HATE unions and the ideas of them this is why they occur.
[/quote]
Not sure how you can hate the idea of unions and at the same time rant about a corporation treating its employees poorly in a manner that having a union would go a long way towards fixing.
[quote=CDMA ENG]
This company could afford to pay a decent wage and they chose not too.
[/quote]
Are you suggesting that all corporations pay what wage they can afford to pay rather than the wage that the market demands? If not, what is the point of that statement?
[quote=CDMA ENG]
Have a little compassion for your own country men too.
[/quote]
Honestly, except for the mentally ill, who our country shamefully ignores, most of my countrymen don’t need my compassion.
[quote=CDMA ENG]
As to your last statement. I can’t save the world. Niether can you but I can make little changes beyond my borders… And larger ones within them. Best place to start changing the world always has been within your own back yard.
[/quote]
I wholeheartedly disagree with those last two sentences. How do you figure you can make larger changes here than in Cambodia? Giving an extra hundred bucks a year to your neighbors via shopping at their business might allow them to, for instance, upgrade their cable a little bit. An extra hundred bucks a year for a child in Cambodia will obviously make a far greater difference than that. In fact, it could be the difference between life and death.
And what makes you think that your own back yard is the best place to start changing the world? That may have been true a hundred years ago (or it may not have). But I would say that it’s definitely not true today.
[quote=CDMA ENG]
End of Rant.
[/quote]
End of logic and reason. Until my next post.
November 18, 2012 @ 3:41 PM
zk wrote:CDMA ENG wrote:
I do
[quote=zk][quote=CDMA ENG]
I do that already so don’t lecture me.
http://aogaah.org/page01a.html
Also locally with the Hauer House a private individual that take care of some of the difficult physical and mentally challenged childern I have ever seen.
[/quote]
Glad to hear that you’re giving to worthy causes. But your “I do that already” was in response to my “Give as much to charity as you give now except, additionally: Shop at Walmart. Give the money you save to a charity that helps real poor people. “ You had previously said, “[I] generally avoid [shopping at Walmart] out of disgust.” Not sure how you reconcile those two statements.
[quote=CDMA ENG]
Also why would I save a little extra money to give to charity? A hundred or so dollars a year? I do that now by supporting my nieghbors’ business instead of making the Walstons richer.
[/quote]
If you have to ask that, I must not be explaining myself very well. My point, from the beginning, has been that children in Cambodia need the money a lot more than your neighbors do.
[quote=CDMA ENG]
There is an excellent documentary that was made about Walmart called “Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price”. Watch it then comment on all of this. Essentialy anywhere they go they leverage the tax base, leaving it broke, to increase thier profit margin.
The premise is that the true cost is not shown. When you count the cost of a decrease in local tax base coupled with a increase in working class poor dependent of the goverment the cost overall are the same but just leveraged through the local tax base.
[/quote]
At no point have I said I agree with what Walmart is doing.
[quote=CDMA ENG]
Have some heart will you. Just becuase most of the people on this blog are talented, smart, people does not give you the right to say the people at Walmart deserve what they “get” (meaning thier station in life). [/quote]
Now you’re just making stuff up. Show me where I said the people at Walmart deserve what they “get.” Who “deserves” what is a very deep and large question and not really related to this discussion. In my opinion, we’re animals produced by nature and none of us deserves anything different from what a cat or a flea or a microbe deserves. In any case, people who work at Walmart, when compared to all the humans who ever lived, have more than most of them do/did.
[quote=CDMA ENG] Not everyone in this life is given the same opportunties [/quote]
True. And just being born in America in the late 20th century is an opportunity that scores us luckier than most.
[quote=CDMA ENG]
and while I completely HATE unions and the ideas of them this is why they occur.
[/quote]
Not sure how you can hate the idea of unions and at the same time rant about a corporation treating its employees poorly in a manner that having a union would go a long way towards fixing.
[quote=CDMA ENG]
This company could afford to pay a decent wage and they chose not too.
[/quote]
Are you suggesting that all corporations pay what wage they can afford to pay rather than the wage that the market demands? If not, what is the point of that statement?
[quote=CDMA ENG]
Have a little compassion for your own country men too.
[/quote]
Honestly, except for the mentally ill, who our country shamefully ignores, most of my countrymen don’t need my compassion.
[quote=CDMA ENG]
As to your last statement. I can’t save the world. Niether can you but I can make little changes beyond my borders… And larger ones within them. Best place to start changing the world always has been within your own back yard.
[/quote]
I wholeheartedly disagree with those last two sentences. How do you figure you can make larger changes here than in Cambodia? Giving an extra hundred bucks a year to your neighbors via shopping at their business might allow them to, for instance, upgrade their cable a little bit. An extra hundred bucks a year for a child in Cambodia will obviously make a far greater difference than that. In fact, it could be the difference between life and death.
And what makes you think that your own back yard is the best place to start changing the world? That may have been true a hundred years ago (or it may not have). But I would say that it’s definitely not true today.
[quote=CDMA ENG]
End of Rant.
[/quote]
End of logic and reason. Until my next post.[/quote]
Your logic your reason. That doesn’t make it fact. Just your opinion.
So what are you list of charties?
CE
November 18, 2012 @ 4:02 PM
CDMA ENG wrote:Your logic
[quote=CDMA ENG]Your logic your reason. That doesn’t make it fact. Just your opinion.
So what are you list of charties?
CE[/quote]
Some of it is logic. Some of it is reason. Some of it is opinion. Some of it is fact. If you can find flaws in my logic or my reasoning, or factual errors, by all means point them out. Judging by your response, I’m thinking you can’t. Maybe some of it is just my opinion. But at least I can back up my opinions with well-stated, clear, logical reasons. Your disagreements with my opinions are mostly emotional nonsense.
End of rant.
I don’t have a list as I don’t see the need to spread it around. The charity I give to is Maiti Nepal.
http://www.maitinepal.org/
November 18, 2012 @ 5:53 PM
Sorry, that was uncalled for,
Sorry, that was uncalled for, unnecessarily harsh, and, for at least a two-word section of it, stupid. Rough day at work and I took it out on you. My bad.
November 19, 2012 @ 9:10 AM
They had a Walmart Associate
They had a Walmart Associate and a member of the Warehouse Workers United on “Up with Chris Hayes” yesterday.
One of the things I learned, the warehouse strike that recently occurred forced Walmart to actually start complying with labor law and safety codes. Thinks like providing potable water for the warehouse workers. They’re not just whiny petulant (non) union folks… they want standards brought up to legal code.
They’re not striking over nothing….
November 19, 2012 @ 9:16 AM
Don’t need a union for that
Don’t need a union for that UCGal, just three workers and a class action lawsuit.
I have no problem with a Union fighting for basic issues. People shouldn’t have to work unpaid through their break periods. I don’t know though, why they just don’t sue the employer.
November 19, 2012 @ 4:18 PM
no_such_reality wrote:Don’t
[quote=no_such_reality]Don’t need a union for that UCGal, just three workers and a class action lawsuit.
I have no problem with a Union fighting for basic issues. People shouldn’t have to work unpaid through their break periods. I don’t know though, why they just don’t sue the employer.[/quote]
Lawsuits take time and money. Hard to pay lawyers on $8/hour.
The warehouse workers filed complaints with Cal/OSHA in July and Walmart did nothing.
They’ve had a suit filed since spring – it hasn’t gone to court yet.
Edited to add link with info about the suits/complaints filed.
http://www.warehouseworkersunited.org/striking-warehouse-workers-seek-investigation-of-high-injury-rates-at-southern-california-warehouse/
November 19, 2012 @ 11:07 AM
UCGal wrote:They had a
[quote=UCGal]They had a Walmart Associate and a member of the Warehouse Workers United on “Up with Chris Hayes” yesterday.
One of the things I learned, the warehouse strike that recently occurred forced Walmart to actually start complying with labor law and safety codes. Thinks like providing potable water for the warehouse workers. They’re not just whiny petulant (non) union folks… they want standards brought up to legal code.
They’re not striking over nothing….[/quote]
I’m sure that the union guy gave a highly biased view of things. We have to take what they say with a grain of salt. I find it really hard to believe that there’s no potable water at the warehouse. It would actually be more difficult and expensive to provide any water that is not potable.
November 19, 2012 @ 9:53 AM
zk wrote:
CDMA ENG
[quote=zk]
[quote=CDMA ENG]
This company could afford to pay a decent wage and they chose not too.
[/quote]
Are you suggesting that all corporations pay what wage they can afford to pay rather than the wage that the market demands? If not, what is the point of that statement?
[/quote]
If you just look at Walmart’s balance sheet you’d quickly realize that they really can’t afford to pay much more in wages with their current cost structure. Just look at last year’s balance sheet. 446 billion in revenue. 15 billion in profit. The cost of revenue was 335 billion and then there was 85 billion in Selling/Adminstrative costs of which most is salary of the employees that work there. So you have a company that has a profit margin of around 3.5% and you’re saying it’s unfair to it’s employees. Even if you distributed even penny of profits to the employees you’d only be looking at a 15-20% raise.
Walmart could choose to charge more for the goods they sell but did you really improve those minimum wage workers ability to buy goods and services if you have to raise all the prices to maintain a reasonable profit margin.
November 19, 2012 @ 11:12 AM
Wal-mart makes me
Wal-mart makes me uncomfortable, I don’t like mixing with the rabble. I would rather spend more money elsewhere….Although, this weekend I was in Target and thought they had hired a homeless guy to bring in carts! I saw him around the store several times during my visit and he made me very “uncomfortable”.
All kidding aside, my father was one of the General Managers for K-Mart. He retired after 37 years with the company and was making well into the six figures in the 1990’s. He did not graduate from High School and later earned his GED and took a lot of college classes at night, never earned a college degree. He was a talented and hard working man. It was a good career, he started at the bottom in the stockroom. Met my mom while they both worked there. Not sure that kind of American Dream is possible anymore.
Now he is retired and is home annoying my mom!
November 17, 2012 @ 9:01 PM
AN wrote:flu wrote:barnaby33
[quote=AN][quote=flu][quote=barnaby33]So what I’m seeing from this thread is that you all have some justification for occasionally shopping at Wally World. Funny as my variant is shotgun shells.
Seems we are all straight up mercantilist when it comes to buying things with our pay, but demand high wages and good conditions for ourselves.
Walmart is just the latest symptom of a race to the bottom, a highly visible one that is the interaction of too many people, misplaced expectations and labor/environment arbitrage.
I don’t dislike Walmart so much as the people who shop there.
Josh[/quote]
+1. I think the clientele of people there are way out there. For that alone I try to avoid them.[/quote]
Damn, so that’s what people think about me.[/quote]
No, I think of you that way, even when I don’t bump into you at walmart 🙂
November 17, 2012 @ 9:15 PM
The problem with Costco is
The problem with Costco is that you can only buy so many flats of bulk food before your fridge is full to overflowing.
November 18, 2012 @ 6:19 AM
zk: shame on you for
zk: shame on you for bringing facts and logic to the table!
November 18, 2012 @ 6:27 AM
To get back to the WalMart
To get back to the WalMart subject:
A study some years ago showed that the poor get about a 10-20% lower cost on all that they buy from WalMart as compared to competing stores, on average. The difference would be far greater when compared to the cute little mom and pop neighborhood stores liberals bemoan are put out of business when a WalMart wants to start up in a poor urban neighborhood.
Doesn’t that mean that WalMart has done a lot of good in helping the poor raise their standard of living?
Incidentally, those poor neighborhoods have been abandoned by the Ralph’s, Vons, Lucky’s and other unionized chains with higher labor costs and lower efficiencies in their distrubution system–major factors in their lower prices to consumers.
November 19, 2012 @ 9:20 AM
Isn’t there like, one Walmart
Isn’t there like, one Walmart in San Diego? I’m shocked so many of you shop there, considering we really are more of a Target town.
November 19, 2012 @ 12:37 PM
poorgradstudent wrote:Isn’t
[quote=poorgradstudent]Isn’t there like, one Walmart in San Diego? I’m shocked so many of you shop there, considering we really are more of a Target town.[/quote]
There are 3 that I know of in San Diego metro area.
November 19, 2012 @ 1:43 PM
What do people buy at Walmart
What do people buy at Walmart or Target? I dont understand why people buy so much stuff there, its really not cheaper in my opinion to buy most things at either place. I would not buy groceries, electronics, or clothing at either place. although I probably will buy a microwave from Walmart.com–need a really small one that will be used infrequently and Walmart had the cheapest options with the best reviews
I don’t shop at Walmart because they don’t carry the “green” cleaning supplies. I go to Target to buy Kleenex, cleaning supplies, hand wipes, dental floss, shower liners, and that’s about it. I buy other household items in bulk at Costco.
November 19, 2012 @ 1:56 PM
dumbrenter
[quote=dumbrenter][quote=poorgradstudent]Isn’t there like, one Walmart in San Diego? I’m shocked so many of you shop there, considering we really are more of a Target town.[/quote]
There are 3 that I know of in San Diego metro area.[/quote]
Four along 78 between Oceanside and Escondido.
November 19, 2012 @ 11:00 PM
poorgradstudent wrote:Isn’t
[quote=poorgradstudent]Isn’t there like, one Walmart in San Diego? I’m shocked so many of you shop there, considering we really are more of a Target town.[/quote]
There are 20 Walmarts in the San Diego area.
http://www.walmart.com/storeLocator/ca_storefinder_results.do?serviceName=&rx_title=com.wm.www.apps.storelocator.page.serviceLink.title.default&rx_dest=%2Findex.gsp&sfrecords=50&sfsearch_single_line_address=92130
November 20, 2012 @ 5:52 AM
I voted yes, with shame, but
I voted yes, with shame, but only because no one else carries the synthetic oil I want. I don’t buy anything else there.
It isn’t just the working conditions (which could and should be improved with their profit margins). Walmart is what K-mart eventually became, which is a store where the employees and customers are thoughtless and crude. They may be in a low income bracket, but it’s their behavior that makes them lower class. If you take something off a hook and decide you don’t want it, how hard is it to put it back on the hook? Too hard for many, apparently.
Target is a far more pleasant place to be and worth the extra money.