America is going to HAVE to boycott Wal-Mart...Or else...

reply to post by TrueAmerican


There is nothing we can do about this. It is too difficult to break this wally world habit.

America is going to HAVE to boycott Wal-Mart...Or else

I go probably two or three times a year. WalMart provides jobs and low priced goods.
I'm not going to boycott the few times a year I go there. Count me out of a boycott at this point.

Originally posted by KaiserSoze

The biggest obstacle to overcome is the average American consumer, they are largely idiots. Wal-Mart has told them they have "the low price" and people assume it is the lowest price so they don't compare.

I take offense to that. Not everyone has a Krogers, or any other option. Their option is Wal-Mart or bankruptcy.

I know the prices of most products in every grocery store within 20-30 miles from my house. I have an entire binder full of prices. I read all of the local ads online before making my grocery list. I know what is cheaper at Wal-Mart and what isn't because I am not an idiot who just blindly believes Wal-Mart has the lowest prices cause they told me so. Even so, many things ARE cheaper at Wal-Mart compared to the other stores available to me. I've done all the price checking.

Plus, if you want to get technical, Wal-Mart does price match so you really could do all you're shopping there for the same prices at other stores if you wanted. I choose not to. If another store has it cheaper then I give them my business rather than letting Wal-Mart ride their coat tails.

Originally posted by TrueAmerican
Came across this interesting article which raises some good points. A LOT of good points. Despite the apparent legal sanctity with which Wal-Mart has built a vast empire, it is literally killing American jobs and manufacturing:

EDIT: Well I can't source the link, because ATS automated link police terminated it, but if you search for the term:
"Is Wal-Mart Destroying America? 20 Facts About Wal-Mart That Will Absolutely Shock You"

You will find it.

EDIT 2:
here is one link on the story:
world.hawaiinewsdaily.com...

Haven't you watched South park you have to destory the heart.

Here are some highlights from the article:

Unfortunately, the vast wealth that Wal-Mart is sucking out of our communities is not put back into our communities. The profits are funneled out to Wal-Mart executives and shareholders. We may enjoy the low prices, but very little of the money that we give to Wal-Mart gets recycled in our local areas.

We are losing millions of good jobs that cannot be replaced. If you can believe it, the United States has actually lost an average of about 50,000 manufacturing jobs a month since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001.

Last year, the U.S. trade deficit with China was the biggest trade deficit that one nation has had with another nation in the history of the world, and Wal-Mart played a huge role in that.

In fact, Wal-Mart has actually been forcing some U.S. manufacturers to pack up and move overseas.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Check out the article for lots more.

We have GOT to end this huge trade deficit with China. No question about it. It'd be one thing if Wal-Mart were offering mostly good paying jobs to American communities, but the fact is a lot of people who work at Wal-Mart are on welfare:

In the old days, you could actually support a family selling electronics or running a general store. But you can't support a family working at Wal-Mart. The vast majority of the jobs that Wal-Mart creates are very low paying. Large numbers of Wal-Mart employees are actually on welfare, and this is part of the reason why we have seen such an explosion in the number of the working poor in America.

Now I'm all for capitalism, but when a country like China uses their slave labor from billions of Chinese to undercut prices to the point of killing American labor and manufacturing, then it most indeed IS time for WAR! Economic war. NO more shopping at Wal-Mart for me. The end. Bye bye Wal-Mart. And any other retailers who are on the Chinese product train too. At some point you just have to pull the plug when it gets so far out of hand that the effects are too great to overlook.

EARN my business, Mr. Merchant. SHOW me a sign out front that says:
"We only deal in American made goods. And any profits this company makes are mostly put into employee wages, reinvestment, or are spent back into the local community. Our books are open to the public, and posted on our website. Support America."

Spread this far and wide. Please.

edit on Thu Jul 5th 2012 by TrueAmerican because: (no reason given)

You have to fight these people to keep them out of your town. If this town can do it, so can others.

After two years of opposition, Wal-Mart has withdrawn plans to open a supercenter in Hamilton, Montana.

news.bookweb.org...

Everyone knew if they got their big box built, it would ruin that town and all of the wonderful mom and pop shops that have flourished there for many years. People do really well there with their small businesses, and it's because they fought like hell to keep big box out!

Originally posted by Bramble Iceshimmer


As far as the so called Mom & Pop local stores most seem, at least to me, to be doing you a favor just letting you in the door. A quick poll of friends will find you a mechanic, plumber, etc. for a more reasonable rate than a store front.

I have never experienced this! We have some of the best mom and pop shops up here. They take good care of their customers and everyone is exceptionally friendly and that is what keeps the people coming back. Same with our local cafe's.

In regards to air conditioners, op, why rely on walmart for that? I got the best running air conditioner on the cheap by calling a local appliance guy that fixes them for a living. He hooked me up for $150.00 with a unit that cools my entire home. I've had that air conditioner for 4 years and it runs like a charm. I just don't think a lot of people think about reaching out to small business owners anymore, when they think they can run to walmart and get something cheap there. Many years ago, I bought me a Haier brand air conditioner and it ran only 1 summer and wouldn't run again.

reply to post by TrueAmerican


Good post, and I agree that Wal-Mart does impact our nation and the local communities within it, for all the reasons that you have mentioned. Having said that, ask yourself why American made products cost so much more. Overbearing government regulation, corporate taxes, payroll taxes, fees, and the cost of organized labor has all contributed to the loss of American jobs and manufacturing. The bottom line is two things need to happen in order to bring those jobs back to America, get the Mom and Pop shops open again, and get our trade deficit in check. 1) Make it illegal for all labor unions to be involved politically. A labor union's only concern should be the relationship between it's members and the employee of said members. As long as Unions contribute to the very politicians that cause the overbearing regulations and taxes, companies are going to do whatever they need to do in order to avoid dealing with them, and that includes producing their products overseas. Union bosses are no different than Corporate CEO's... they want money. If you think that a Union boss is in it for the "working families" then you are delusional. 2) Very simply, the government needs to step back and mind their own business... stay out of the private sector.

reply to post by TrueAmerican


Walmart? Why worry about Walmart? According to you there should be some MEGA quake(s) right around the corner, remember Yellowstone?

This is kinda dumb if you think about it, its never going to end, just like many other people posted.

Walmart ends another one takes its place, walmart started out small as well.

There is one thing that's always american made is FOOD at walmart. I can see why our nation
is so obese, thats how were supporting USA. I do like shopping for groceries there, dont need to drive
that far, only a few miles away. They do have USA made goods, just need to be aware of them, most
of which are hidden with chinese made goods.

People expect walmart to pay 20$ an hr/ +
benefits for simpleton work, doesn't require a college degree to do. I can see why they pay
minimum wage.

One thing thats always successful in my area is ALWAYS restaurants, I havnt seen any of them go out of business in my area, quite a selection as well.
Now if a mom pop store whatever the heck you call it opens up down here, it might survive 1-5 months and out
of business.

Just like other guy said, USA goods cost more to produce then china goods. Retire,Health,dental,eye,benefits, wages factor into high priced goods, hence why china dont have, cheaper goods. The chinese people
are starting to realize this, their wage/living is getting up there, soon, cost of transporting goods as well is going UP. And then we'll find another country to make our cheap goods and so and soo til we are evenly matched.

I like the idea of american made and have an idea but cruel will save for another time for it.

Demming: “For fundamental change to occur, we must fundamentally change the way we learn.”

This is the reason I decided to give up pursuing an MBA/MSF. That along with being ostracized by my finance professors for subscribing to the Rothbard school of thought.

Wal-Mart intentionally hires part-time employees to cut costs by not provided benefits to said employees. It had also came out that Wal-Mart took health insurance policies out on specific employees to cash in upon death, without approval or knowledge from employee or family members. For lack of a better word Wal-Mart is shady and does not deserve your trust or patronage.

The illusion of choice is one of the root causes plaguing the masses, allowing ‘crony capitalism’ to flourish. Ask yourself if people really need 150 different versions of hot sauce. Surely not. These ‘versions’ of the same product compete with each other by advertising/marketing and not necessarily price or ingredients.

Cars are a perfect example of the above. Surely there are many models and options when it comes to vehicles, yet they all rely (to some extend) on the same fuel source. In a true free market vehicles would compete with each other based largely on fuel sources, do we see the deception yet?

It is more than Wal-Mart. A lot of the small local communities here in the south in a lot of ways did this to themselves by refusing to change with the times. It isn't always about saving a buck but, creating stores that are of interest to the locals. Take for instance our downtown area that is less than 1/2 mile from a college but, what stores cater to those young people? The answer is none of them.

There is a dingy old bar that nobody under 50 goes into, florists, bridal shops, suit store (old men styles) pharmacy, old women clothes etc. The town dropped taxpayer money into an art gallery but, there isn't anything interesting or edgy in there. The only art allowed is old ladies painting crude looking Americana. Nobody is interested in this art gallery. The whole town is caught up in some sort of crumbling prudish 1950's dream/nightmare that nobody cares about. The problem with this downtown area is that even Wal-Mart is more attractive than what the local stores are allowed to sell.

These small towns and churches locally won't allow edgy or interesting stores to function without going through so many loop holes that the benefit of having a store in the area is lost completely. A friend of mine tried to open a store similar to Spencers (mall store) but, the town censored most of his merchandise to the point he was losing customers. He closed that store and re-opened that store in Charlotte NC instead so he wasn't bridled with too many regulations.

The point is that Wal-Mart has poor variety and local stores need to be smart and to fill these niche voids that Wal-Mart or any other large store can't afford to fill and stop trying to fight them head on because that strategy will not work. Our downtown was dead before Wal-Mart and is even more dead these days because they still don't offer anything unique that makes the area attractive to customers. Wal-Mart plays catch up to trends and the stores that ride a wave ahead of them can succeed. Think of all the merchandise and services that I had to order online or drive to a larger city because nobody sells it locally.

Originally posted by ChaoticOrder
reply to post by TrueAmerican

 

The 6 children who inherited the Walmart fortune from their father own more wealth then the bottom 30% of Americans - that's 90 million people.

yeah..and isn't it great that the republicans want to give those 6 children more tax breaks...and then cut food stamps, healthcare, money for education, for those bottom 90 million... the republicans want america to become a 3rd world country, it's so obvious, but, no one will talk about it.

Originally posted by Mapkar
reply to post by Infi8nity

 

The problem is, we are so accustomed to "low prices" that even if we could bring back the small stores no one would buy anything because the prices would be higher.

Not to mention lack of quality of workmanship for the most part. Its the labor that is a big hurdle.

The China problem is already being changed. The article is a little off target. China raised there minimum wage around 50% last I looked which was around 6 months ago. China has put Unions in every company with more than a hundred employees. And walmart threw a fit when they raised there prices to cover these cost.

But never fear. Walmart has a best bud who will take care of them. Hillary Clinton. And she spends USAID money for Walmart like it grows on trees. But why does nobody say anything? Well Mitt was running the Walmart Mexico branch and bribing Mexican Officals to get Walmart in the door. Strange just today he said theres great opportunities in Mexico for US businesses. But im sure thats only because most of his family lives there. You know in all the places you here about drug wars gone wild. Seems his family loves the war zones in Mexico. Places like Juarez and Sinaloa. Hell Sinaloa Cartel shoud give you a hint of where thy are from. The same place that Romney's Mormon family memebers live. Any Connections? Maybe thats why he loves the money laudrying baks all over the world. And the drug cartels also loves usiing horses to laundry money to. Mitt loves writing off all his taxes through horses. Any connections?

But back to why China is out of Walart. Because Hillary is using US tax dllars throgh USAID to move the Walmart supply chain to South America. Heres a thread where I asked why is nobody saying anything about this fact?
www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by TrueAmerican


OP, it sounds to me like your anger should be directed at China and DC not Walmart. Walmart plays by the rules...it's China that's running sweat shops and driving away manufacturing. 

As far as their wages, Walmart is one of the largest employers in the world. As a company it is entitled to set it's own wages. It's not our place to dictate wages. If you don't like what they pay then don't work there. 

The biggest people who whine about Wall Mart are people who belong to unions because Wall Mart doesn't allow unions. Unions smell money, and the only purpose of a union is to take money away from people any way it can.

reply to post by TrueAmerican


I've been telling people this in my home town for the last couple of years because a new one is coming to town. They don't listen. All they wan't is cheap prices. It'll be pretty much what is going to be left arround here. It's a damn shame 'cuz I'll probably won't have a choice but to go there once in a while.

Originally posted by MrSandman
Did anybody here about Wal-Mart forcing US manufacturers overseas because it was too expensive to sell American made products? If your making a product in America and are not selling it at Wal-Mart your losing a lot of business so many of them did move overseas.

That's exactly right. Levi's packed up and headed overseas because they HAD to get into the Walmart market, and Walmart is big enough that they dictate the price they will pay for Levi's. Levi's could not afford to sell Walmart jeans at that price with American manufacturing, so they packed up and moved overseas.

reply to post by TrueAmerican


I can't stand the place.

Cheaply made stuff, Long lines. Lazy employees.
I avoid shopping there unless I absolutely have to.

Originally posted by seabag
reply to post by TrueAmerican

 

As far as their wages, Walmart is one of the largest employers in the world. As a company it is entitled to set it's own wages. It's not our place to dictate wages. If you don't like what they pay then don't work there. 

And, I don't say this in support of everything Walmart does, but that is actually one corporation that invests in its employees. If you want to move up the career ladder at Walmart, they will support you all the way. They won't just give it to you, but if you have the drive and the work ethic, you can make decent money for non-degreed work.