Thread: Wal-Mart vs. The Morons

Originally Posted by LAM

constantly changing tax and bankruptcy laws, using monetary policy and trade agreements and having politicians change legislation at state and federal levels to strictly benefit big corporations isn't capitalism it's fascism.

Just thought that needed to be spotlighted.

Originally Posted by Chubby

I call it Mao Mart.

Good one.

Cheap, low qaulity goods that are made in China.

"Prosperity."

Originally Posted by troubador

Those are two great examples of corrupt government. Wal-Mart shares some of the blame for accepting the money but it's the government who created/allowed the system to be what it is.

But this is Wal-Mart's business strategy.

The specific strategy of Wal-Mart, and it's studied in MBA programs.

Love them or hate them, their business model works. There have been cases of certain store managers forcing employees to clock out and continue working. But, that's not exclusive to wal mart. I've had mates that worked at other retail chains, where they will promote you to a mgr position. Then, you're working 60-75 hours/week and your pay comes out to $3-$4 per hour. I think people just love to hate on Wmart because they're so big and profitable.

In reality, it looks like they're not really doing anything that other retail chains aren't currently doing. They just do it much more efficiently. Ultimately, they do create jobs in many rural, impoverished parts of the world, where many locals wouldn't have jobs otherwise. It's not necessarily a good or bad thing, just business. I'm not praising them, and I don't think any private organization should be getting subsidies from tax payers, especially a giant profitable company like Wmart. But, I can't see where there presence has been all bad, particularly in some of the poor countries where they have set up shop. Even a shitty job is better than no job for many.

Originally Posted by Big Smoothy

But this is Wal-Mart's business strategy.

The specific strategy of Wal-Mart, and it's studied in MBA programs.

I understand that but you can't legislate that Wal-Mart or anyone else change their moral beliefs or desires. The decisions are made by the government so that's where the fault lies. Wal-Mart can't simply decide that they will be subsidized; it takes someone in the government to allow it.

I've heard that hemp prohibition is a good example of how corrupt big business (petroleum) was able to lobby to get rid of hemp as a fuel source and ultimately competition. Even if this were true, who allowed it to happen? We should expect a business to follow some moral code but not the public servants? The determining factor is that it could not have happened without corrupt politicians; they were the ones with their finger on the trigger so to speak; big business just egged them on. Don't blame a corporation for adhering to a system that was created by government.