I love the wal-mart bashers. They're some of the most clueless people you will ever meet. Sadly, they're completely ignorant to the realities of business, capitalism, and common sense. It's also to bad that most of them just hate wal mart because it's somewhat chic to do so, and they've no clue even what they hate about the place. (Tho, they'll continue to shop there every chance they get.)
The wal-mart attackers are, for the most part, totally clueless, but it doesn't mean we all have to be...
I REALLY love those who want an almost socialist model, in that they want to make sure wal-mart fails to beat out the local competition...why does wal mart beat out the local competition? Is it a result of wal mart's actions? No. It's the result of wal-mart's CUSTOMERS (clearly most Americans aren't ignorant of the facts in regards to wal-mart and the wal-mart bashers are a small minority.) Plus, you have those that complain about the mom and pop shops that wal-mart sometimes forces out of business. 1. these small shops NEVER pay health insurance to their employees, and rest assured a small family owned local business is not paying their workers the same wal-mart will pay them (the local shops pays much less)...AND finally, the local shop doesn't carry the number of products wal-mart carries at the great low prices, which is why consumers will flock to the wal-mart, leaving the local mom and pop shop behind in the dust, which will eventually force them out of business. Wal-mart attackers blame this phenomenon on wal-mart, but clearly it's the result of the consumer who realizes the better value.
Anyhow, to the comments...and these mainly deal with the absurd argument that wal-mart should be forced to offer employees health benefits.
before posting the following comments, I should note that the federal poverty level in the US is a bogus standard that doesn't even begin to make sense. Did you know that a family can live under the "poverty" level and still own their own home? Most US families under the poverty family have 2 or more cars, cable TV, internet access, eat fast food, play video games, and have comfortable air conditioned homes that (as I mentioned) they often times have totally paid off. Does that sound like "poverty" to you? Of course not, and that's why when you hear that someone lives in "poverty" you should realize that the figures used to describe US "poverty" mean nothing.
Also, the comments below were typed out to another site attacking wal-mart, so puncuation wasn't a concern, and it hasn't been proofread, so I'm sure there are typos and such...
is ignorance a liberal trait? (wal-mart attackers are nearly always liberal.)
wal mart is FORCING americans to pay for healthcare (since these people get on public assistance programs for healthcare)...? that defies all logic. wal mart isnt forcing anyone to do anything. (then again, were talking about the same site run by hate-filled kos who attacked the murdered civilian contractors in fallujah.)
these attacks on wal mart are absurd, because youre not really attacking wal mart, youre attacking the tens of millions of americans who shop wal mart everyday (you know, the same ones who are on the lower end of the pay scale that you claim wal mart hurts). do rich people shop at wal mart? sure...are lower income americans the majority of wal marts customer base? yes. why is that? low prices. and how do they hire so many americans (who might have ANY other job iof not for wal mart)? LOW PRICES.
what would be the cause of employee health care for wal mart employees? gosh, lets use our heads for a second and think about this...1. a massive loss of wal mart jobs! and 2. guess what happens to these people when they lose their jobs and have to survive on one income (remember, these are the same low skilled, lower paid workers wal mart is so evil in destroying their poor lives), well what happens is- they get screwed a second time, because now when they shop at wal mart (as most of them do) they pay even more for the products, which leaves them with even less money!
so, are the wal mart attackers completely clueless? yes!
is anyone forcing ANY american to work at wal mart? no. then why do americans work at wal mart (the largest employer!!) when they know there are no benefits? is it maybe because they want to? could that be possible? the majority of wal mart jobs are low skilled positions. which means what? the workers havent the skills to finda better job (hardly wal marts fault that they didnt go to college)...which means, the economy cannot handle high wages or benefits for most of them. thats basic economics. you cant pay workers beyond their skill levels, or the company wont survive, and in time the economy itself wont survive. so, if these same low skilled workers wanted to work somewhere else outside of wal mart, theres very little chance that ANY low skilled jobs they would find would offer them benefits. you cant give good benefits packages to low skilled workers, because then youre paying them far beyond what their skill level fetches on the open market. so, even if they didnt work at wal mart, but instead worked at retail shop down the road, theres little chance theyd even get any health insurance at the retail store either. would wal mart be blamed for this as well?
as far as taxpayers funding the healthcare for these workers...wouldnt the sane argument be to limit who can get on these programs in the first place? the taxpayer who attacks wal mart, complains that these workers are forced into govt programs for health care, yet they dont attack the govt that has such low limits and allows so many people into the programs to begin with.
if we went to the houses of these wal mart employees would we find air conditioned homes with cable tv, internet access, cars they probably pay too much for, fast food a few nights a week, etc? are these wal mart employees really NOT paid enough to buy into private health care plans outside of work, or are americans used to a certain lifestyle and arent willing to limit their intake of products? clearly, we know from stats that most americans (even those living under the federal "poverty" standards) have cable tv, internet access, they rent movies and video games, they have cars (that they sometimes own outright), and homes that they sometimes also own, etc.
in regards to other stores being closed due to wal mart. how is this an attack on wal mart? are we now supporting socialism? this is still a free market economy, yes? shall we force wal mart to fail and not beat out the other stores in town? if thats the complaint, then what youre saying is- you want wal mart to fail and such a failure would mean a loss of jobs (the jobs of the americans you complain are being exploited by wal mart.)
none of these arguments make any sense. no one is forced to work at wal mart, yet theyre the largest employee in the nation. that says a lot- it says that people like working at wal mart and they find theyre jobs at wal mart to be worthy of their time- if not, theyd go out and find other jobs at similiar stores, but they dont in large numbers. a failure for wal mart means a failure for the workers themselbves...and paying out hndreds of millions in health care for employees would mean just that- a majory failure. which would also mean, a loss of jobs, and lower wages, higher prices (which, again, hurt the same people that tend to work at wal mart), etc.
the problem isnt wal mart. the problemS are many- health care that costs too much (thanks to govt regulation which causes stagnation in regards to competition), the high cost of legal protection/insurance for medical professionals, the averages americans attitude toward spending and saving, and many more items that no one who attacks wal mart will even listen to to begin with.