Comments on: Capitalism, Folks — Say It With Me

By: Henry Von Ruprecht

Henry Von Ruprecht — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 09:48:20 +0000

Folks, this is not a new concept in the world. Wal-mart has just done it bigger and better than anyone else.–Not only bigger and better, also playing harder and faster with corporate ethics.

Burger joints, cleaning people, sewer scrubbers, and people who do 14-hour days with a shovel and black tar are amongst those that are clearly working harder than their pay returns to them.–Actually, thanks to trade unions, many of those who work harder (accepting, of corse minimum wage workers) have much better benefits and job security than desk jockeys.

They pay minimum wage and above. –Wal*Mart has been successfully sued many times for paying employees under the federal minimum wage.

Too many hours? Nope. Again — as long as they’re paying what they are required by law, no foul.–Wal*Mart has been sued many times for not paying overtime to those workers who’ve worked more than 40 hours in a workweek. Also, its been documented that women and minorities have a noticablly lower percentage of promotion than their white, male counterparts.

You want to fight Wal*mart? Fight the law.–Actually, we should fight the unscrupulous lawmakers who allow Wal*Mart to bend the rules as they see fit.

Capitalism has no moral content. It has no convictions, it has no creed.–Of course capitalism has moral content. If I want customers, it is in my best interest to show people that I’m a good guy. I should take care of my workers to spread good word-of-mouth advertising. Furthermore, by taking care of my employees, they will want to take care of my, i.e. work harder, etc. Wal*Mart is treating people like shit because they can.

Make it expensive to do business in a way that you dislike and you undermine their entire idea. –Yes.

But stop a) trying to get others to boycott the store and b) be vocal about the fact that you’re doing so.–How else does a social movement get going?

By: Kat

Kat — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 20:25:01 +0000

You make some very good points. You're right, Capitalism has no morals. However, it is up to the people who live in the capitalistic society to have morals and discretion. I highly suggest you check out this link: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/view/ It will take you to the PBS special "Is Wal-Mart Good For America?". I learned a lot through that program, which brought me to my conclusions about continuing to shop at Wal-Mart. It's fairly unbiased (It's PBS...) and presents all the facts very nicely.

By: Nathan Pralle's Blog

Nathan Pralle's Blog — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 19:33:17 +0000

Wages and Fresh Fertilizer

First, a disclaimer: I do not normally watch Oprah. I feel a great need to make this statement because I don’t want you, gentle reader, to be confused about my interests and priorities. In general, I find talk shows to…

By: Ayessa

Ayessa — Thu, 05 Jan 2006 01:08:09 +0000

Wow, an entire post about Walley World. I think you state it well when you say, “You shouldn’t go and abuse the customers or the people working there etc…” Now I may be a bit biased being an employee and all. But I have to say that I love working for Wal-Mart. Now the store is alot different than the home office but its still not all that bad. Thanks to Wal-Mart I’ve been given a chance at a very good career in a technical field and I don’t even have a college degree. They have taught me so much and have given me the opportunity to learn in all areas of the business. And my career ladder is only moving up. Which for a single mom of three that is very important. They have worked with me through several life trials and have been very giving and supportive when I needed it most. They basically have given me a chance at a life that I would not of had the chance to have any where else. Through Wal-Mart I’ve also been exposed to many suppliers and have received job offers to go and work with them. But I am a very loyal employee and consider myself a lifer at Wal-Mart. Oh and have you seen the http://www.walmartfacts.com/ site, pretty nifty.
*steps down from her soap box*