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I have always done my best, except for automobiles in the 70's, to buy American. As these products have become less available they have also become more expensive. At this point I cannot find a source of American made clothing so I am forced to buy from across the western, or southern, ocean. I do it because there is no alternative.
In any case I try to buy cloths from LL Beans outlet stores, shoes from the New Balance seconds shop in Lawrence, MA and used American built station wagons anywhere I can find them. I am particularly fond of mid 90's Buicks. I buy most of my tools from Sears or, increasingly, Lowes. Good stuff at reasonable prices.
I am satisfied with buying "less than the best" because "good enough is good enough" and I am basically a frugal person. The money saved is spent on good coffee from Vermont coffee Roasters and presents for my lady from Vermont Teddy Bear Co. Now there are high quality goods.
I have never agreed shopped at Wal-mart although I did peruse a store to see what was going on. I would never go near any of the produce or the deli ever! My principal problem with Wal-mart is their self serving domination of a particular market. This gives them monopoly power as buyers of both merchandise and labor. I would like to see the federal courts break up Wal-mart (and most other chains) into, at most state wide associations or individual stores and for the federal labor Department essentially force the unionization of the entire retail industry.
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Which reminds me of ATT, they are once again getting bigger and bigger. Aren't they a Union shop?
Breaking it up didn't do much in the long run. Competition is a better tool to keep monopolies down.
The principal task of any business management is to control as much of their market as possible. Partial monopoly is not a good as full monopoly domination but far more profitable than any "free" market. In a free market your competitors are always cutting the margin. Management’s job is to maximize ether short term or long term profit returns. One way is to cut margins, preferably with another source of profit available, below profitable and see which company lasts longer.
Wal-mart with its huge market is able to force suppliers to cut prices (and quality) to Wal-mart but not to any other customers and then under price any local markets. This is simple market distorting monopoly power and is illegal in this country. It should, along with its cohorts, be broken up and its market distorting power destroyed.
Imported goods should be subject to tariffs designed to eliminate any profit derived from slave, or just cheap, labor and non existent environmental cleanup costs. I would not have these tariffs apply to cost savings derived from capital items like building cars with more production robots or in better manufacturing management. This is a legitimate area for industrial and capital competition.
It is also time to put a complete halt to corporate union busting and avoidance operations. Corporations are creatures of the state to protect investors and as creations of the state are subject to anything the state, not just the stockholders, tell it to do. I would have the government tell them to stop preventing union organization. As most companies, under this pressure, would eventually be unionized the effect on prices would be minimized because of the previously implemented monopoly busting. Prices would remain completive but profits would probably decrease.
I would like to see all the workers of the world organized to protect their fundamental right to be treated decently and for the total elimination of slavery.
As far as I am concerned 1angrytaxpayer can just get out of the way or be run over as we organize the Workers of The World.
30 years ago it was K mart that was the big behemoth moving in and chasing the little guy out. They just weren't that successful because they were never run as efficiently as they could have been. 40 years ago it was Sears. Then it was Ames, Wal Mart, and of course, Target.
Wal mart got all the bad press beacuse they were run extraordinarily efficiently and lowered prices to run the other big retailers out. Which they did. The little guys couldn't compete on Wal marts terms, many closed. Others found their niche and survived, even thrived. Offer good customer service, selection that Wal Mart can't match, and you could hold your own even if you were a little higher priced. Offer poor service, poor selection and your customers would abandon you.
I buy alot of things at Wal mart. But I buy more things at other stores. Pet supplies. Clothes. Electronics. Garden supplies. Hardware. Some local stores get my business, others don't. I go out of my way to support some local stores, others I don't care if they close. Its all on how they're run. One's a pet store. They have higher prices, but also have at least 20 times the selection Wal Mart does. Another local hardware store sold me a mower. I went back to order a part that broke. I was told they don't handle the parts, see a local garden shop that repairs them. I also payed $40 more there for the same mower I could have got at a big box hardware store. I thought better service and it being local was worth the extra money. Well the service wasn't any better there. So I wrote this place off. If they go out of business, its THEIR fault, no one elses.
Wal-mart with its huge market is able to force suppliers to cut prices (and quality) to Wal-mart but not to any other customers and then under price any local markets. This is simple market distorting monopoly power and is illegal in this country. It should, along with its cohorts, be broken up and its market distorting power destroyed.
I suppose,once again,it's all the fault of the 'big guy'
Forget the fact that these 'forced' corporations all made the decision that they wanted the larger market WalMart offered even if the result was lower quality products being put out under the umbrella of their previous good reputation.
Even though they were "forced" the sell to WM at disastrous prices.
An example of "we lose money on every unit but we'll make it up in quantity" ???
Just think.....if a lot of these companies made the decision to tell WM to stuff it, their quality products may have continued to be available at OTHER stores....keeping their reputation for quality intact as well as their profits.
Since nobody much on this board will shop at WalMart. Can we assume you would have been customers?
I did not say it was anybody else's fault or responsibility. In fact, I'm fine with my life, as are my neighbors. You missed the point of my post: I wasn't complaining about my life. I was giving an example--through certain facts about my life--of how expensive it is to live in many parts of the country now. The house I live in is a typical house for middle-class people in this part of the country.
Its expensive because people like you are willing to pay more than you should in an effort to "live the good life". Supply and demand still rules the world. The news this morning ran a story on the falling home prices. Boston is getting tanked. Florida, Nevada, Phx, LA. Tanked! Home prices will continue to fall. The reason they are falling is because people can't afford them now. They could not afford them three years ago either. The median home price will need to fall another $10K before it bottoms out. At that point, the median price / median income ratio will be back to historical average.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MovingForward
Yes, I made a choice to teach. Somebody has to teach, don't they? Apparently, people want good teachers, but they don't want teachers' wages to afford them a comfortable life.
Teaching is an admirable profession. I commend you. I also recognize that teachers earn some of the highest salaries (over their lifetimes) of any profession that does not require an advanced degree.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MovingForward
Everybody wants good teachers for their children and everybody wants their garbage picked up--and would be screaming bloody murder if it weren't--but god forbid we should want a good wage--not just an okay wage-- for our services.
Perhaps your defenition of an "OK" wage is different than other's. Salaries are set by the market. Supply and Demand. In your situation, I am sure that during the course of your home repairs, you shopped around. When you chose the cheaper worker, did you deny the other worker an "OK" wage? Are you any better than Wal-Mart?
Quote:
Originally Posted by MovingForward
Yes, I had to buy. Before it got so expensive that I would never be able to buy.
You bought into the lie.. Be honest - is your home worth as much today as it was when you bought it? One more questions - is your life more comfortable or less comfortable in your home? Was it worth it?
The principal task of any business management is to control as much of their market as possible. Partial monopoly is not a good as full monopoly domination but far more profitable than any "free" market. In a free market your competitors are always cutting the margin. Management’s job is to maximize ether short term or long term profit returns. One way is to cut margins, preferably with another source of profit available, below profitable and see which company lasts longer.
Wal-mart with its huge market is able to force suppliers to cut prices (and quality) to Wal-mart but not to any other customers and then under price any local markets. This is simple market distorting monopoly power and is illegal in this country. It should, along with its cohorts, be broken up and its market distorting power destroyed.
Imported goods should be subject to tariffs designed to eliminate any profit derived from slave, or just cheap, labor and non existent environmental cleanup costs. I would not have these tariffs apply to cost savings derived from capital items like building cars with more production robots or in better manufacturing management. This is a legitimate area for industrial and capital competition.
It is also time to put a complete halt to corporate union busting and avoidance operations. Corporations are creatures of the state to protect investors and as creations of the state are subject to anything the state, not just the stockholders, tell it to do. I would have the government tell them to stop preventing union organization. As most companies, under this pressure, would eventually be unionized the effect on prices would be minimized because of the previously implemented monopoly busting. Prices would remain completive but profits would probably decrease.
I would like to see all the workers of the world organized to protect their fundamental right to be treated decently and for the total elimination of slavery.
As far as I am concerned 1angrytaxpayer can just get out of the way or be run over as we organize the Workers of The World.
A friend called, (I'm starting to not want to answer the phone anymore, the only news is bad news) .. she hasn't had a raise in 3 years, has had her wages and hours cut and now found out that her shift differential has been eliminated, and the company has now taken away paid daysoff.......right back to 1900 for the "World's Greatest Country"
That's right, no money, no 40 hours, no shift differential no vacation, no sick days...no union representation...
A friend called, (I'm starting to not want to answer the phone anymore, the only news is bad news) .. she hasn't had a raise in 3 years, has had her wages and hours cut and now found out that her shift differential has been eliminated, and the company has now taken away paid daysoff.......right back to 1900 for the "World's Greatest Country"
That's right, no money, no 40 hours, no shift differential no vacation, no sick days...no union representation...
Oh no, just another company run by very greedy, nasty people who use the economy as an excuse to screw as best they can another group of human beings continuing their terrorist attack on average Americans and America..
Wal-Mart has a stranglehold on suppliers in this nation, and one of the primary reasons that so many business have closed their doors, and so many Americans have lost their jobs.
Nice try, though. All of your posts in response to mine are sadly lacking in crucial information. Do you work for Wal-Mart? Are you a stock-holder? If neither, then I find it truly bizarre that you feel compelled to defend Wal-Mart. Like it or not, Wal-Mart is horrible for this nation. And I smell a lawsuit down the line which is going to break that strangehold. Enough is enough. Furthermore, if Sam Walton could see what this company is doing to this nation, in his name, I have no doubt that he would shut it down tomorrow.
Bizarre or not, the answer is neither. All of your posts are sadly lacking in crucial unbiased fact-supported information. What I find bizarre is that so many people just take the propaganda put out by the unions and spread it around, without even questioning that information. How many millions have unions spent on this war they've been waging against Wal-Mart? Don't you think you should ask why? When you read a story that's anti-Obama, do you ever pause and wonder what the agenda is behind that story? Who's spreading the story? What do they gain by it? Well, pardon me for being strange that I questioned all the anti-Wal-Mart stories, and took the time to look into those stories, did some research about those studies. And guess what, the stories are generated by union interests. The studies are paid for by union dollars. The movie got its massive distribution courtesy of the unions. Unions are spending millions and millions of dollars, not to attack low-wage employers in general, but to put the spotlight on Wal-Mart. Millions and millions of dollars. Why??????
Wal-Mart is a retailer. They do the same things Target does, the same things Sears does, the same things K-Mart does. Large retailers have always gotten price breaks based on quantities. It was just Sam's idea to really put pressure on those price breaks. And Sam Walton wouldn't shut this company down, he'd come out swinging at the unions who have focused their attacks on his company. Like it or not, Wal-Mart is not horrible for this nation. You've just been indoctrinated to think so, and for some bizarre reason you won't step back and ask questions.
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