I'm lucky, I live in a town that has a Target, a Meijer, and a Walmart. I really don't have to shop at Walmart if I don't want to. Some things are cheaper there but if I can find what I need elsewhere and avoid the lines at Walmart I'll do it. Other folks may not be that fortunate.
I hate Walmart!
by Elsewhere 137 Replies latest jw friends
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Tatiana
Hating Wal Mart is a wierd part of the psychological makeup of many, some sort of cathartic need to hate anything succesful or large. Quite sad actually.
That is just about the most ridiculous thing I have ever read in my life. I won't even dignify it with a rebuttal.
As for the copy and paste...I knew as soon as I read your posts that my opinion matters not in the least to you. You are condescending and do not answer the questions I ask you. You imply that I am making it all up. Even though I spent 4 years seeing it with my own eyes. So, I posted facts. Of course, it's propaganda to you.
I have the perfect solution for everybody. Anybody who hates Walmart is free not to shop there or to work there. If you genuinely hate Walmart more than the alternatives (higher prices, travelling further etc.) then you need never ever set foot in one.
That IS my solution.
I did not make the statement that the working poor are uncouth. The assertion that I made is that they are lazy, and I realize this was a poor generalization. Some are lazy. These are the ones I have no sympathy for. For the ones who can not legitimately handle a more skilled job than Wal Mart, then so be it. That doesn't, however, make his job any more valuable to the community.
I can't understand people who defend these corporations that receive outright welfare payments, and yet say that some poor people are lazy. (Some rich are lazy--see Paris HIlton) Probably would have a cow if a single mother used food stamps to buy a birthday cake, yet don't bat an eye at the welfare Walmart receives. There are many ex-witnesses on this site who did not have the benefit of an education. Some probably working at Walmart with three or four kids, no husband or wife, and don't have time to go to school at night to advance their skills. (Did you not read the part about females filing lawsuits because they are not allowed to advance in the company?) I saw this discrimination every day at my job.
As far as
tax breakswelfare to corporations who don't need them, this is what I'd like to see happen in every state.http://www.newrules.org/retail/news_slug.php?slugid=361
Jul. 19, 2007
Arizona Bans Tax Breaks for Retail Development
For years local business owners and their supporters in the Arizona legislature have tried to put an end to the massive subsidies that cities in the Phoenix metro routinely dole out to chain retail developers. Bills to prohibit the giveaways were introduced in session after session, only to fail.
But this year, in the waning days of the session, lawmakers at last endorsed—and the governor signed—a measure that outlaws subsides for retail projects in Maricopa and Pinal counties, which encompass the Phoenix metro and include two-thirds of the state's population. Under the law, cities that continue to fund retail development will see their share of state revenue reduced by an amount equal to the incentives they give developers.
"It's been a long hard road," said Senator Ken Cheuvront, a small business owner and sponsor of the bill. He has introduced similar measures for years. "The irony was that I wasn't even going to bring it forth this year," he said.
But then two particularly massive and egregious tax giveaways announced in May sparked a wave of public outrage. Phoenix agreed to provide a $100 million tax break for CityNorth, a mixed use project featuring Nordstrom and many other chains in one of the most affluent areas of the valley. Then came "the granddaddy that pushed everyone over the edge," according to Cheuvront: the city of Surprise offered a $240 million subsidy to the shopping center developer Westcor to build Prasada, a massive mixed use development slated to include a mall and a big-box power center.
Cheuvront brought his dormant bill back and, after many twists and turns of the legislative process, it finally passed the Senate 18-8 and the House 36-21 at the end of June.
"We are thrilled," said Stacy Bertinelli, a board member of Local First Arizona, an alliance of nearly 900 independent business owners working to build greater support for locally owned businesses and to eliminate government favors for chains. The group, which was founded in 2003 under the name Arizona Chain Reaction, counts among its members Senator Cheuvront, who owns a restaurant and a construction firm.
Local First Arizona worked hard to help pass the law. "We shepherded the bill and got our members engaged every step of the way," said Bertinelli. The group sent weekly email messages to its members updating them on the bill, urging them to contact legislators, and offering detailed tips on how to communicate effectively.
"Our message was, we're not asking for a handout. Why are you giving large multinational corporations a subsidy to compete against our homegrown businesses?" said Bertinelli. Calls from small business owners were very helpful in convincing lawmakers to pass the bill, said Cheuvront.
Arizona cities have one of the worst records of subsidizing shopping centers in the nation. More dependent on local sales taxes than cities in most other states and facing steep increases in public services costs due to rampant sprawl, municipalities in the Phoenix metro compete fiercely to attract car dealerships, malls, and big-box stores. They often use subsidies and tax breaks to win over developers.
Recent deals include $84 million provided by the city of Mesa for Riverview, a large retail project anchored by Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and Bass Pro Shops, and a $78 million subsidy given to Westcor for a shopping center in the city of Goodyear.
"Investing taxpayer dollars in national retailers is not a good economic model. You never get your money back," contends Kimber Lanning, owner of the music store Stinkweeds and a co-founder of Local First Arizona. New shopping centers invariably reduce sales at existing businesses, which in turn contribute less in sales tax revenue to the city. Plus, it's often only a matter of a few years before the appeal of a new shopping center is eclipsed by an even newer and bigger retail development in another suburb.
"It's really short-sighted," said Lanning. Cities are giving away tax dollars for unsustainable development, she explained, "as opposed to building a city that people are going to want to live in 20 years from now." At about the same time Mesa agreed to the subsidy for Riverview, officials announced that the city's libraries would have to close on Sundays because of budget shortfalls.
With opposition to retail subsidies growing in recent years, the mayors of several cities in the metro announced that they would work together to curb the problem. "The cities said, trust us, we can fix this ourselves," recalled Senator Cheuvront. But the subsidies only grew larger. "Everyone realized that they couldn't be trusted to do that. I look at this [new law] as a way to help them help themselves."
Cheuvront's bill was opposed by suburban municipalities and the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, which argued that tax incentives for big retailers helped "to fuel the economic engine of the state." Central cities, including Phoenix, Tempe, and Scottsdale, opted to remain neutral. "They were getting blackmailed by developers," said Cheuvront. "They realized that this was bad tax policy."
added note...at my huge store, which was NOT a 24 hour store, they were indeed locked in at night. When a stocker got hurt, it took them an hour to find the only manager who was fast asleep way in the back stockroom. He never even heard the pages.
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John Doe
The only people who could possibly be unhappy with that solution are those who don't understand economics and don't respect individual freedoms - but who cares what those morons think?!
Amen brother!!
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owenfieldreams
You can bitch and gripe all day long about walmart, but they are the monster they are because of us--the consumer, and our demand for cheap goods and services. They have merely responded to that demand and filled a need, specifically those of lower income workers, the very people that the Left in this country profess that walmart is hurting. Actually, the truth is just the opposite. Thanks to walmart, working stiffs like myself can stretch our dollars further and buy items at an affordable price. For instance, just the other day I went and bought some grocery items. I payed less than twenty five dollars. A week earlier, I bought the SAME items at a local chain competitor(that's unionized) and payed over FORTY five dollars!
I love walmart and will continue to spend my money there, even though it may not be the politically correct thing to do these days.
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John Doe
your comments are infuriating as usual.
Every job, at every level is valuable. When you and others can see jobs this way America will be a much better place to live. and its inhabitants will be much happier within themselves.
purps
Concern yourself not with whether my comments are infuriating, but whether I speak truth. A job that any slob off the street can be trained to do in 2 hours is not a valuable job on any scale, are you claiming it is? Do you really think unskilled jobs should be highly paid? For instance, do you think a doctor should make no more money than a shelf stocker?
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owenfieldreams
I love walmart. They help lower income folks by providing a means for working stiffs like myself to purchase goods and services at a low, affordable price. Thanks to them, I am able to stretch my dollars farther every month.
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John Doe
That is just about the most ridiculous thing I have ever read in my life. I won't even dignify it with a rebuttal.
I stand behind what I said, and if you can legitimately rebut it I would be most shocked. I don't know how you can continue copying and pasting the crap you are without seeing how biased and slanted it is. Here's a quote that's applicable: "How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four; calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg."--Abraham Lincoln
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purplesofa
Concern yourself not with whether my comments are infuriating, but whether I speak truth. A job that any slob off the street can be trained to do in 2 hours is not a valuable job on any scale, are you claiming it is? Do you really think unskilled jobs should be highly paid? For instance, do you think a doctor should make no more money than a shelf stocker?
John Doe,
I misunderstood your difinition of value. you meant monetary value.
Someday, all the lazy slobs that have valueless jobs should just not work.....lets say for a week.........then lets put value on their jobs and also see how much work the highly skilled people can get done.
purps
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John Doe
Well geez purps, how else should an employer gauge a job's worth besides monetary values?
I think the true value of any job is how easily the person can be replaced. If you can be replaced easily, then you do not have a valuable job. Scarcity is not in your favor. This includes floor maintenance persons all the way up to corporate ceo's. If you do not possess a valuable skill, you learn a skill that makes you valuable. This is the way things should be.
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purplesofa
John Doe
Concern yourself not with whether my comments are infuriating, but whether I speak truth.
Don't believe your own press copy, you may be deceived.
purps