Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Just to clarify a point you made in your post. Nowhere does the bible teach that money is evil or that great riches are evil. The bible is very clear on the matter and the quote you used is missing one very important word.
The LOVE of money is the root of all maner of evils.
There is a world of difference between these two thoughts.
My Black friday drivel:
I never got past the first 15 pages of the bible, mainly because of boredom.
However, if I had known of the single word omission, I would have corrected my bible-thumping christian friends, why is it always I wished I knew then what I know now?
As a child attending the catholic church until the age of about 16 years old, I then realized that christianity itself was a farce. It was in my mind, do as I say, not as I do for most, if not all parishoners, true hypocrites. I now view all religious teachings as mythical, there never was a god, and there never were the characters as portrayed in the bible. It was written by someone and revised and people followed because instead of falling back on self reliance and their peers, people use religion as a crutch to get them through hard times. The bible, and other writings were probably meant to try to keep human beings on the straight and narrow path of righteousness. Any deviation of such is and was viewed as sin, and people were probably put to death either for believing and non believing, man can be very barbaric to it's own kind. Which is one of the reasons I am a non believer.
Unethical and non-christian like activities have been around since the beginning of time. We trust each other too much to do the right thing.
One of my favorite movies is Jubal. In one scene, one of the cowboys says to another: "he sure don't rope cattle like no christian" during the roundup season, men working the range forget how to be human beings and act worse than animals for survival.
People say fight plutocracy and the evil rich, these types have been around for ever since I can remember. Back in the old days of "black friday" or the day after thanksgiving, my father would call retail establishments "greedy bast*rds", and as a youngster, I always wondered what he meant.
When I became old enough to work for my pay, and live on my own, pay rent, car, insurance, food, clothing and life's necessities, it didn't take me long to figure out who the evil greedy bast*rds were. I thought K-Mart fit the description when they helped put wiebolt's and other iconic department stores out of business. I had a very detrimental view of large retailers, but realized it was the new normal. Kmart Founder?s Life Begins, Ends Here | Business, Kresgeville, S.S. Kresge | Monroe County Historical Association
Yes, the evil empire of the rich corporate dogs are here to stay, and they're here to nip at the poor workingman's heels.
You really should not throw stones at what you perceive as "dumb". You have bought the propaganda and actually believe that Walmart is benevolent. Don't make peiple that know better laugh. The crap from China is inferior, of that there is no doubt. Workers in China are doing so in conditions that Walmart prefers as it allows them to sell the junk at cheap prices. People in the USA that are ignorant think that they are getting a good deal, so that lower wages are more readily accepted as the new norm.
Your rage while defending Walmart is absurd and in truth, if you don''t understand how this vicious cylcle in industry from the manufacuring right thru to the marketing is dragging consumer's and worker's expectations into the crapper. How long before child labor is accepted and expected here again by Corporate America and the fools that don't see thru the BS? Don't tell me...you also believe in trickle down voodoo.
Again, why aren't the more generpus to their workers if they are soooooooooo charitable???
Yeah, this corporation is filled with saints.
You have been instructed and programmed to think that unions are the enemy...nothing more.
no one ever claimed the company was filled with saints, but I think I know a little more about WalMart than you., In fact I know I do. Blaming WalMart for creating poor people is crazy, thinking only poor people work there or shop there is just as nuts. No one is going to force you to shop at any big box store (which btw, all all very similar) but they do serve a purpose and they do not create poverty. Retail, like the food industry and the travel industry are not known for paying top salaries to hourly employees. They are also jobs that are normally held by uneducated people and those starting out in the working world.
Home Depot pays good salaries and allows the employees to participate in profit-sharing (i.e. shares).
Where are you getting the idea Home Depot pays good salaries? I don't know about the rest. Also their workers are not just checkers, but actual salespeople who know something aboutg the dept they work in. They are slightly different from the normal WalMart worker. I am gernalizing of course.
I notice you didn't address the main point of my post --- that the current Walton heirs are not working. Why don't you address that? They sure didn't "make something" of themselves. They inherited it.
Where on Gods Green earth did you get the idea, the Walton family does not work? Some of the older ones, who are retirement age do not. Does Soros work or how about Bill Gates or Buffett? if you are saying, they do not work in the stores, of course not, why would they? Even owners of small businesses often do not actually do the manual work after the company has grown and can support itself. That is what capitalism is all about.
As for not many jobs in some rural areas, this is true, but should retailers feel the need to pay the emplyees more because of this? I don't think so. As my youngest daugther would say, if there are no jobs, move someplace where there are more, get some training and stop bitching...
being sued is not being guitly. Anyone can sue anyone, for anything...It means nothing. Often companies settle outside rather than fight it. In fact personal suits are often settled that way. I know....
'Walmart earned $16 billion last year (it just reported a 9 percent increase in earnings in the third quarter of 2012, to $3.6 billion), the lion's share of which went instead to Walmart's shareholders -- including the family of its founder, Sam Walton, who earned on their Walmart stock more than the combined earnings of the bottom 40 percent of American workers.
Is this about to change? Despite decades of failed unionization attempts, Walmart workers are planning to strike or conduct some other form of protest outside at least 1,000 locations across the United States this Friday -- so-called "Black Friday," the biggest shopping day in America when the Christmas holiday buying season begins.
At the very least, the action gives Walmart employees a chance to air their grievances in public -- not only lousy wages (as low at $8 an hour) but also unsafe and unsanitary working conditions, excessive hours, and sexual harassment. The result is bad publicity for the company exactly when it wants the public to think of it as Santa Claus. And the threatened strike, the first in 50 years, is gaining steam.'
Wow, for starters I don't shop on black friday, nor is Walmart my favorite place to shop anyway. BUT, who is this jerk, he sounds like dare I say a communist? or something? (I can't think of a better word). SO WHAT if the family that started Walmart makes a lot of money, hello they should. So what if the shareholders make money, they took a risk, they should get their reward. It's hilarious that he brings up they are non-union when the union brass has been ripping off the workers for eons. Low wages? Sorry, but Walmart workers are not going to make the same as say a skilled auto-worker or chef. If they want a couple of more dollars an hour they might try for a job at the grocery store or Macys. Unsanitary? I'd venture to say maybe one out of every 20 stores might be on the shabby side (far far less than the Krogers I walk into). Sexist? Really? File a lawsuit. Seriously, if you don't like your job just quit, go work somewhere else, leave the place alone if it's not for you. Bad publicity? With the dumbed down public we have now, maybe so. With their great prices I doubt it will have much effect. I just love it when some idiot tells me what to do. I was going to stop at Target while on the road this weekend and pick up a few things. Now, I'm going to stop at Walmart.
Wow, for starters I don't shop on black friday, nor is Walmart my favorite place to shop anyway. BUT, who is this jerk, he sounds like dare I say a communist? or something? (I can't think of a better word). SO WHAT if the family that started Walmart makes a lot of money, hello they should. So what if the shareholders make money, they took a risk, they should get their reward. It's hilarious that he brings up they are non-union when the union brass has been ripping off the workers for eons. Low wages? Sorry, but Walmart workers are not going to make the same as say a skilled auto-worker or chef. If they want a couple of more dollars an hour they might try for a job at the grocery store or Macys. Unsanitary? I'd venture to say maybe one out of every 20 stores might be on the shabby side (far far less than the Krogers I walk into). Sexist? Really? File a lawsuit. Seriously, if you don't like your job just quit, go work somewhere else, leave the place alone if it's not for you. Bad publicity? With the dumbed down public we have now, maybe so. With their great prices I doubt it will have much effect. I just love it when some idiot tells me what to do. I was going to stop at Target while on the road this weekend and pick up a few things. Now, I'm going to stop at Walmart.
Don't you realize, based on some of these liberal postings, shareholders are not expected to make a profit or not We just need to turn our country over to the government to run, as they take their orders from unions.
I notice you didn't address the main point of my post --- that the current Walton heirs are not working. Why don't you address that? They sure didn't "make something" of themselves. They inherited it.
Since your main point is incorrect, why should anyone address it?
The Walton heirs have created their own companies, they have numerous charities, they sit on literally dozens of boards. Sam Walton taught his children to WORK. Your "understanding" of what they do is based on misinformation.
Are they wealthy? Yes. That's what happens in an American Success Story. Sam Walton starts out with virtually nothing. He marries a solid middle-class girl. He borrows some money from his father-in-law to get started, in his case in retail. When his wife's parents die, he uses her modest inheritance to open his first store. He recognizes an unfilled niche in retail, the rural market, and he capitalizes on it to build a successful chain of stores. He makes a fortune. And the friends and employees who started out with him make fortunes too. When he dies, he leaves an impressive estate. His children use the money to open their own businesses, or to expand businesses. His children use the money to endow the arts and education for their communities. His children use the money they were left to make more money. If Gates had children, that's what would happen with his kids. It happened with the Rockefellers.
The criticism of Wal-Mart is a meme. Retail work is not a lucrative profession. It doesn't matter if you work at Wal-Mart, Lowes, Macy's, K-Mart, Home Depot, Target, Dillards, or Nordstrom's. If you're a clerk at a retail store, any retail store, chances are you're not making much more than minimum wage. Wal-Mart does NOT pay its workers less than other retailers. While there are regional differentiations in pay scales around the country, Wal-Mart pay is competitive and in-line with other retailers in those same regions. And Wal-Mart has always offered its employees stock at reduced prices, and it's insurance/benefits packages have been similar to other retailers.
Rather than the Cost of Wal-Mart, the studies should be entitled the Cost of RETAIL. Because the problems with Wal-Mart are simply the problems of the retail industry. And for those of you who think the big bad Wal-Mart should be replaced with mom-and-pop's, think again. Mom-and-pop stores paid even lower wages, with much fewer benefits, and charged their customers significantly higher prices. Mom-and-pop stores are not an improvement over Wal-Mart economically, though they may be aesthetically more appealing.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
