Why do we as a country still shop at Wal-Mart?

[Jill]

My point is economics. Walmart is THE competition for many retailers and their competitive pricing is good for the consumers. Walmart's job isn't to make it easier for the Mom and Pop businesses to stay around. Their job is to make money for their investors and to do it, they offer some impossible to beat pricing to consumers. Competition is a good thing for the CONSUMER

I just dont see where Walmart encourages competition. They come in and undercut every store around them until they go under and then gradually bring the prices back up.

I still remember when airlines and utilities were split up for being monopolies. Walmart is fast on its way to becoming a monopoly imo.

It is hard to shop other places especially if you live in rural areas. And gas prices dont help that either. Its such a hard spot to be in

 

[Charley]

Competition is good to a point. It is no longer good when it creates a market for foreign products that drives American manufacturing out of business and puts so many American workers out of the job market. That is part of what is causing our dollar to drop in value and increasing the price of foreign products..namely oil (because our dollar is not strong or worth what it was a few years ago).

 

[Jill]

Well, my opinion as I said before is that there is not a good future for American manufacturing. We're in a global economy and the reality is there are millions of workers in the world who will do the job for a tiny fraction of what American workers wll do it for. That's really only half the equation. The other half is that the American public in general will not PAY the cost it would require if these products were made by high cost American workers.

 

[Charley]

Yup, Jill...you are looking at what is good for the "Jill's" of the world not necessarily what is good for America.

 

[Jill]

Okay, you must be right. It's not at all a valid point of view that we're in a global economy. Everything I said is to promote me and all us other Jill's.

 

[bingo]

Yup, Jill...you are looking at what is good for the "Jill's" of the world not necessarily what is good for America.

Guess I am proudly another Jill of the world (whatever that means) somehow I don't think I will take it how I am guessing it was meant though!

I can think of much worse things to be then a "Jill" and much bigger issues effecting our country today but that is just my opinion of course!

 

[Shari]

Made in China.... has anyone seen where they make those things?

People barely get enough money for food.. they live in what I would call a dump..they work out of their house and the "Companies" pick said items up to ship to the USA. Most of it is not done in a big nice factory.

Just like those children in the middle east that were forced to make rugs and they became bent and broken by the time they were 16 years old.

If that is what Global economy is all about... I want none of it.

Or that companies sends our jobs to other countries. Then they spend fortunes to right all the mistakes. I know.. my Husband is in the Tech business. They would end up saving billions if they just use good workers in the US. Instead of spinning their wheels in other countries where they have less control of the end product.

I find people that think it is ok..to send American jobs overseas..has never lost his or her job because of that. Do not know how it feels and what hardships it causes to families. Seems like there is no pride in America left in this day in age. Just so long as people get what they want cheap.. they do not care.

And belive me.. I very much know first hand how hard it is to be poor and barely able to feed ones family. Spent years in that state, after hubby got out of the Navy. Goodness.. even when he was in the first half of his 20 years. His pay was under the poverty line.

 

[Jill]

Not wanting to be part of a global economy is like saying you're tired of breathing air. I'm not saying it's good, or it's bad -- it just IS.

 

[kaykay]

As Americans we fought years ago for workers rights and to get our children out of factories and into school. So no Americans will not sit in sweat shops making 17 cents an hour or send their children to work in them. This is just a small excerpt of a Dateline investigation on how Walmart can sell clothes so cheap. If you just google walmart and bangladesh you will get hours of reading on the realities of what a "global economy" does to other countries and our own.

I. Wal-Mart told NBC Dateline:

“We strongly believe that our business—and the wages and benefits we provide, have

helped improve the lives of many thousands of workers in many parts of the world.”

The Truth: Wal-Mart is the largest producer in Bangladesh. According to the U.S. State

Department, the official minimum wage in Bangladesh’s garment export sector has fallen eight

percent between 2000 and 2004, dropping to 22 cent an hour. As we have seen, Wal-Mart does

not even pay this, with most workers sewing Wal-Mart garments earning just 13 to 17 cents an

hour. Furthermore, at the same time wages were falling in Bangladesh, the cost of living

increased by 17.5 percent. Coupled with the wage decrease, the Bangladeshi garment workers

have lost 25.5 percent of their purchasing power since 2000. They are going backward.

If Wal-Mart has its way, the workers in Bangladesh are about to be driven even deeper into

misery. Fortune Asia reported on May 16, 2005 that, “In January, Wal-Mart and other

retailers demanded that exporters cut prices by 12 percent or find themselves without new

orders.” On top of that, Wal-Mart wants its Bangladeshi contractors to start paying for “any

duties imposed by importing nations,” which in the case of the U.S. ranges from 18 to 22

percent. The workers in Bangladesh could see their wages, already at starvation level, plummet

by another 34 percent. A young woman sewing Wal-Mart garments for 13 cents an hour may

soon find herself earning just 8.5 cents an hour.

Regarding Wal-Mart’s commitment to benefits: Over a year ago, we asked Wal-Mart to sign a

simple pledge that any woman sewing Wal-Mart’s garments in Bangladesh finally receive her

legal right to three months maternity leave with full pay. We are talking about maternity

benefits of as little as $27 a month, $81 for the entire three months. To date, 22 companies have

signed the pledge, including Costco, Sears/Kmart, PVH, Levi Strauss, Gap, Liz Claiborne, H&M

and many others. Wal-Mart alone refuses to sign the pledge, and some of the hardest-working

yet poorest women in the world sewing Wal-Mart garments continue to be cheated out of

maternity benefits they so desperately need for the welfare of their infants.

II. Wal-Mart told Dateline:

 

[mininik]

HOW MUCH STUFF DO YOU REALLY NEED?!

Kidding some, but that's kind of like asking how much money do you want to earn? For me, no matter how much it is, "more" is always the answer

But, then, it's my job to make money and in more ways than one

I believe you can be wealthy and not wasteful. You can also be selective.

If not, oh well! It must be nice knowing your wealth is helping support the global economy... of sweatshops:

Perhaps more Americans could afford to shop for goods made in the USA if they weren't out buying $7. lattes three times a day, driving around in their 8 mpg SUVs to buy their trendy throwaway clothing plus bags upon bags of other assorted over-priced and unnecessary crap to stuff into their McMansions...

On the other end of the spectrum, if the rest of 'em could just get up off their dead asses and do something other than make babies to raise welfare money the same could be said there, too.

 

[Charley]

My gosh!! After searching "Walmart Bangledesh" and reading some of the facts. I will not go into Walmart again.

The problem is though that it isn't just Walmart. When I go to buy clothing, it is almost impossible to find anything made in the US; it is all made somewhere in Asia....

 

[kaykay]

Hey look at this site!

american made clothes

I also agree that its this always wanting "more" that leads to so much trouble. I have tried so hard to raise my kids as not constantly wanting and wanting. Its so hard!! We definitely need to live by the less IS MORE. Myself included.

Liz I have recommitted myself to being a more aware consumer and stop taking the easy way out. Thank you for reminding me.

 

[Charley]

Thanks for the link! T-shirts and Jeans....most the time that is all I need. I bookmarked it and will pass the link along!

 

[Shari]

Thank you for the link KayKay. Will add that to my list.

 

[Magic]

Great link for American made clothes, thanks!!

In a small town near here, the Laz-E-Boy manufacturing plant is closing and moving to Mexico, putting 600 people out of work.

This will have a HUGE impact on that town, and the surrounding area. I'll tell you what, I sure won't buy Laz-E-Boy furniture after that!

I realize that it's a Catch-22, people needing to buy things as cheaply as possible to survive, and the dilemma of supporting the awful things that Walmart does.

I personally won't shop at Walmart unless it is absolutely the only place I can buy the item that I need. And maybe I don't really need that item. I USED to, but the more I learned about Walmart the worse I felt about going there to get anything. I watch the ads for the local grocery stores and stock up on non-perishable foods or non-food items when they are on sale, and save money that way. You can get good deals other places besides Walmart (if you have "other places" near enough to get to, anyway)

 

[Jill]

I'm sure you folks are onto something and Walmart is probably going to be having a board meeting this afternoon to discuss which stores to close now that so few will be shopping with them.

 

[Magic]

I'm sure you folks are onto something and Walmart is probably going to be having a board meeting this afternoon to discuss which stores to close now that so few will be shopping with them.

yeah, THAT's not going to happen, lol!

 

[bingo]

Perhaps more Americans could afford to shop for goods made in the USA if they weren't out buying $7. lattes three times a day, driving around in their 8 mpg SUVs to buy their trendy throwaway clothing plus bags upon bags of other assorted over-priced and unnecessary crap to stuff into their McMansions...

Or spend money on luxury's like horse shows, horses, dog clothes, designer doggy hair cuts. Some things we see as a huge part of our lives others see as frivolous as coffee or latte.

It is very easy to see what some are wasting money on however sometimes not so easy when it is you or something very near and dear to your heart.

 

[Magic]

Or spend money on luxury's like horse shows, horses, dog clothes, designer doggy hair cuts. Some things we see as a huge part of our lives others see as frivolous as coffee or latte.

It is very easy to see what some are wasting money on however sometimes not so easy when it is you or something very near and dear to your heart.

This is true. How many "non-horse" people think we are all nuts to spend so much money on hay and grain and vaccinations, trims, etc etc??

I won't condemn people for shopping at Walmart; my own daughter does. But I will be sending her some links, and letting her know more about what Walmart does. What she does with that knowledge is totally up to her. Everybody takes stands on somethings-- it's just that we don't all tend to take a stand on the SAME things.

I wonder how controversial a topic about recycling would be?

 

[Jill]

For the record, I can afford to shop at any store in town, but I will continue to grocery shop at the Walmart closest to me -- which is nice, new, clean and with a great selection. I'll keep buying some housewares there, too. And, I won't be alone. Millions of Americans will too not because they cannot afford to go elsewhere, but because it's a good value for their money and the American public in general demands value.

Right back to it but if "you" do not get that we are in a global economy and that we as a Nation compete globally for jobs, services and sales, then no amount of explaining will clear things up. It's not something I say because I want it to be true, it is just a fact of modern life.

PS anyone reading this who has horses is indulging in an extreme luxury. It's been 100 years since anyone "needed" a horse. Forget the fancy coffees... us with horses are spending big bucks JUST for enjoyment.