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http://www.walmartmovie.com/facts.php/

Go watch this one: http://www.walmartmovie.com/ ... your opinion of their environmental track record will bounce back down in no time.

"Does the world not benefit from cheaper access to code? Does the basic truth that competition makes things better not apply to the world of programming?"

It depends on the cost.
Case in point:

WAL-MART: The High Cost of Low Price
http://www.walmartmovie.com/

You should really check this movie out - Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices

The other end of the magnet shows that we buy crap.

I don't believe you!

Now excuse me while I head out to Wal-Mart...

and not have to go into a Wal-Mart?

Which is the biggest factor really. Wal-Mart has dirty stores, over-worked part time employees who could give a shit about the customer (despite all of Wal-Mart's motivational training bull crap), and their parking lots are becoming centers of criminal activity. The documentary, Wal-Mart: High Cost of Low Price, documents rapes, murders, robberies, and other violent crimes occurring in Wal-Mart parking lots, caught on cameras that were set up not to make customers safe in the parking lots, but rather to spy on union organizing activities in and around the store.

ironically, Wal-Mart has repeatedly refused to install security cameras and better lighting in their parking lots for the protection of their customers. this is despite the fact that Wal-Mart parking lots are notoriously dangerous places at night and have been the scenes of many crimes, including robberies, thefts, purse-snatchings, abductions & kidnappings, carjackings, armed assaults, stabbings, shootings/drive-bys, sexual assaults/molestations/rapes, as well as multiple murders.

though, reportedly, they have tons of cameras inside their stores to catch shoplifters. so you should be safe so long as you stay in the store and keep shopping.

ironically, Wal-Mart has repeatedly refused to install security cameras and better lighting in their parking lots for the protection of their customers. this is despite the fact that Wal-Mart parking lots are notoriously dangerous places at night and have been the scenes of many crimes, including robberies, thefts, purse-snatchings, abductions & kidnappings, carjackings, armed assaults, stabbings, shootings/drive-bys, sexual assaults/molestations/rapes, as well as multiple murders.

though, reportedly, they have tons of cameras inside their stores to catch shoplifters. so you should be safe so long as you stay in the store and keep shopping.

Never mind the shitty wage. What about getting the regular work breaks theyre legally entitled to? What about getting paid for the hours theyve worked?
 
Walmart is notorious for exploiting vulnerable employees.
 
  Go watch Walmart- the high cost of low price.

I still can't say anything nice about them...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20367400/?GT1=10252
http://www.walmartmovie.com/
http://wakeupwalmart.com/

On the flip side of that coin, can you afford to pay 20-50% more for your consumer goods? According to the US census bureau: In 2005, 37.0 million people were in poverty. I guess your plan involves re-employing those people in all of the jobs that went overseas when manufacturers outsourced?

Yes- that's the entire point. The reason these people are in poverty is because the traditional "high paying American manufacturing jobs" simply aren't available.

But that would mean that the US doesn't get to screw third world countries with one-sided trading agreements.

Also good. You don't really think those cheap prices ACTUALLY made it to the consumer, did you? Of course not- they ended up as profit for the top .1% of Americans- who now earn as much as the bottom 50% combined.

I love your idealism, but really, do you think that the US rich and powerful are going to give up their free ride just like that?

Of course not. First we have to take back our democracy!

Do you think the US consumer is going to give up the purchasing power of the US dollar without complaint?

The US Dollar has been losing purchasing power for 40 years now. Like I said, the cheap prices don't make it to the consumer level, not really- Wal*Mart's margin is often 100-200%, and other "discount stores" are similar or worse.

Yes, but that is NEVER going to happen, so it is rather pointless planning for, or thinking about a world in which it does. The strong prey upon the weak, they can't help themselves, it's in the DNA. Universal equality will never be achieved, because it would take an enormous authoritarian apparatus to enforce it.

So let's build an enormous authoritarian apparatus. If that's what it takes, it's worth it.

Misguided idealism is what gives Socialism a bad name.

Oh, and I thought it was the con artists who gave socialism a bad name.

Can you afford to take a 20% hit to your customer base? Few companies can- that's the magic number that Wal*Mart used to use to encourage manufacturers to move overseas to begin with- it was either lower their wholesale prices or lose 20% of their business as their items were yanked from Wal*Mart's shelves.

How's your plan going so far? Is this a phased approach, or are you going to go cold turkey?

I'd like to see us go cold turkey- unilaterally exit the WTO, NAFTA and CAFTA, and replace them with FAIR TRADE agreements.

Hey, close yourselves off, see how much the rest of us miss you. Oh, could you unwind your colonial empire while you're at it? You know, the military bases, the gun boats, the 1/2 million enforcers you have posted around the world. Thanks.

That is the entire point. With one world standard in labor and environment, there would no longer be a need for all of that crap.

We all know that C-SPAN gets money from cable subscribers (which is why C-SPAN stumps for "cable internet"), not direct government payout, but there's more to it then that. Carl Malamud says that C-SPAN gets tax relief. So someone pays for the things C-SPAN would have to pay for with taxes. Perhaps this means city and state funds are paying for C-SPAN's water, waste treatment, and roads that service C-SPAN's studios. To find out how powerful this is in another context, that of Wal-Mart, I recommend you watch Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price. Tax incentives help businesses decide where to set up shop; towns know this, so they give far more than they should in the hope the business will go there and won't screw them later.

C-SPAN saves considerably because they don't have the same costs as other broadcast firms when they set up an on-location shoot. Here the taxpayer helps C-SPAN again by paying for some of the things C-SPAN uses: cameras in the House and Senate, and building renovations to add more space for media, to name a couple.

C-SPAN is also making money by claiming copyright on the things it records, which allows to commercially license that footage. This copyright power also comes at a price for the public: C-SPAN bullies people out of using this footage without commercially licensing it. If there were no copyright on these works at all, C-SPAN wouldn't be have this bullying power.

So, it seems to me that Malamud's claim is not "flat out, one-hundred-percent, plain wrong" nor do you provide any evidence to refute what he says. Not receiving government funding doesn't acknowledge the myriad other ways in which the public helps C-SPAN pay their bills. Also, it's not a good idea to take a corporation's word at face value because sometimes businesses lie.

I'm not against paying for C-SPAN, but I don't want to pay into a private tyranny. I want them to work for me creating, recording, archiving, and distributing public affairs works that I can do as I like with later. I think this meets all the needs of everyone involved: they get a living wage doing what they do now, I get programming I want with no strings attached.

Finally, the question of who pays for C-SPAN is almost a distraction from a more important question: should C-SPAN be able to assert a copyright on these recordings in the first place? How much of a "public service" is it if we cable subscribers and taxpayers have to comply with restrictive licensing on top of paying C-SPAN's bills? Should we tolerate corporate welfare? Is it in the public's interest when a government official speaks in their official capacity on a copyrighted show?

The problem is that it isnt store managemnet that is the issue. Its head office. As far as it goes, you can google walmart and look past the first few entries, and look a little fuiuther, and start to see how many issues people are having with the store. http://www.walmartworkerscanada.com/ http://walmartwatch.com/ http://www.aflcio.org/corporatewatch/walmart/ http://www.1worldcommunication.org/Walmart.htm (boycot walmart in bangledesh) http://www.labourstart.org/wal-mart/ http://www.walmartmovie.com/facts.php (facts in the movie) i could go on

I suspect reading some of the points of view in this series of postings
the facts will likely be lightly treated...

Here are some interesting articles and other sources of information I've come across that have helped me form my opinion of Walmart.

Do your homework before having an opinion. Google, some judgement and
chosing reputable sources goes a long way.

The Man Who Said No to Wal-Mart
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/102/open_snapp er.html

The Wal-Mart You Don't Know
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.htm l

Wal-Mart
How big can it grow?
http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory .cfm?Story_ID=2593089

Is Wal-Mart Too Powerful?
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_40 /b3852001_mz001.htm

Is Walmart good for America? US Trade with China: Expectations vs. Reality.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walm art/china/trade.html

For those of you that don't read, check out:
Walmart the high cost of low price.
http://www.walmartmovie.com/

Personally I believe the market only works to the benefit of the consumer in the long run when there is true competition. This is something that becomes very difficult when the competition is the size of Walmart and shops in China.

I see Walmart as part of the negative side globalization that is leading to a hollowing out of America, and in the long run is a significant part of what is feeding the trade deficit with China. What makes Walmart so profitable is that in many areas it has little or no competition (small town America) and effectively has almost a monopoly. A monopoly is a form of market failure, and in the long run is never good for the consumer (although its great for the shareholder). In the short term it has lowered prices in many areas, but then its lowered wages too.

Hey but don't take my word for it. Get your own facts, and then make a decision. That's what democracy is about, be an informed citizen, not an opinionated one.

Also, Stallman has a pretty relevant little article.

Also, check out this links.

Hel-Mart

Sprawl Busters

PBS Store Wars- Facts About Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart Blows.com

Wal-Mart Litigation Project

Wal-Mart Movie

Wal-Mart Sucks.org

Wal-Mart Watch

Wal-Mart vs Women

And everyone should take a look at:

http://www.walmartmovie.com/

as well...

And here's a great new film/DVD about WalMart:

http://www.walmartmovie.com/

Highly educational and recommended.

Let's keep the evil in perspective:

From: http://www.walmartmovie.com/facts.php/

A WAL-MART Worker may donate money from their paycheck to the CRITICAL NEED FUND, a program to aid other employees in times of crisis, like a fire or tornado.
In 2004, WAL-MART Employees gave OVER $5 MILLION to help fellow workers. The Walton Family gave $6,000

The WALTON FAMILY Has Given LESS THAN 1% of Their Wealth to Charity. Bill Gates has given 58%

I didn't plan it. I'm not the one who decreased the American workforce by half in just 5 years.

Decrease is a little vague...unemoployment rate is 1.2% higher than it was 5 years ago. ( reuters.com)

And with that trade deficit we'll be able to afford to do so exactly how long? We already can't feed our own population.

US per capita income: $40,100

China per capita income: $ 5,600

(Source www.cia.gov)

We aren't exactly hurting compared to the average Chinese, especially considering US citizens only spend 6.4% of their income on food (the lowest percentage of reported countries). (Source ific.org). No one has to starve in the USA; tragically there are those who still do, but there is plenty of food and money to go around. It's a resource allocation problem, not a question of affordability.

Which is bad enough for the common American LABORER- for whom American businesses are already traitors in this war.

You are probably right here that NEITHER US or Chinese laborers will benefit from a price war...

Then you haven't been paying attention to what the Waltons are saying.

I was surprised by a great NPR piece on the upcoming Walmart Movie which suggested that Walmart really does do some things to help common laborers like provide a lot of unskilled jobs, cashes a LOT of checkes, and keep the price of consumer goods down. Allbeit US manufacturing is suffering, it's not only Walmart's fault..."Traitor" is uncalled for...The Walton are mid-western American buisness owners, not anti-patriotic communists.

Which is bad enough- a Wal*Mart every three miles and no other stores at all.

While the loss of small buisnesses and farm owners preceded the fall of the Roman Empire (college history class), maybe in a World Wide Economy the Walmarts allow for more efficient transfer of goods and services.

Or at least they're pretending to- while they destroy jobs here and close our home retail outlets to sell their shoddy goods through traitors to America.

Do you know anyone who has been to China in the last couple of years!?!? Things ARE changing...and if the worst part of your war is the exchange of shoddy goods, then you clearly don't have much experience with a "World War". It should conjure images of hollocaust and depraved trench war fare, not poorly made can-openers and long check-out lines.

Except for China, who has already stated that if we interfere with their next invasion they will nuke American cities.

Do you have a source for that allegation? China wouldn't make that threat, much less carry it out.

I saw Wal-mart: The High Cost of Low Prices this weekend. It was pretty good. I wouldn't call it a documentary. It was more of an investigative journalism piece, like 60 Minutes likes to do, but without all the narration. It also encourages basic activism.

Stuff I learned from the movie:

• Wal-mart intentionally does not hire enough workers for its needs.
• Wal-mart coerces employees into working off the clock.
• Wal-mart managers regularly alter timesheets to remove overtime pay.
• One of the largest and most profitable companies in the world lacks affordable health insurance for its workers. Instead, managers keep lists of local, state, and federal services like Medicaid, WIC, etc. for employees to take advantage of.
• Wal-mart enjoys tens of millions of dollars of direct tax subsidies from state and local entities.
• Wal-mart bought a couple chains in Germany which were already unionized. Their workers enjoy reasonable benefits.
• In one town, Wal-mart was given tax subsidies to build there. Shortly before the subsidy ran out, Wal-mart closed that store and moved a couple miles out of town.
• Wal-mart has left many tens of millions of square feet of empty buildings across the United States.
• The Waltons are selfish pricks who donate very little to charity. Even Bill Gates donates 58% of his income to charity.
• Wal-mart parking lots are subject to unreasonable amounts of crime due to their lacking basic safety precautions.
• Wal-mart is, at best, largely ignorant of environmental regulations and has been subject to a number of large fines.

Criticisms:

• Not enough evidence is presented in the film to support the claim of systemic racial and gender discrimination.
• The credits of towns and cities that successfully rejected Wal-mart repeats the names of the towns and cities which gives the impression of there being more of them than there are.
• One wonders if large parking lot security is lax in general and in need of regulation to protect patrons.

-l

Wal-Mart has the Always Low Prices! (TM) That yellow smiley would really get angry if he didn't get to knock down those Every Day Low Prices constantly! (Google about Wal-Mart's prices, you'll never have any doubt!)