[Pages 152-155]
No name
says greedy and monopoly more loudly than Walmart. No name has done more to
lower the wages for every single American and destroy the retail economy of
virtually every town in America more than Walmart. In the metaphorical
gun we referenced above, no bullet, as in a dollar, could be handed to any name
more deadly to America than Walmart. If left untouched as
the monopoly they are: Walmart will march the American retail economy into the
sea along with every formerly middle-class American. They are ground zero of a massive
economic vortex sucking the life out of all average Americans and the number
one economic hurricane eating up an ever greater percentage within 70 percent
of the U.S. economy. As the largest U.S. private employer with more than 1.6
million workers, Walmart creates a race to the bottom in wages, standards of
living, upward mobility and opportunity for all Americans.1 Stronger
than any other single force that exists within our U.S. economy — their negative impact
upon the economic landscape of America simply cannot be overstated!
What
started out as an American success story to be admired, has now morphed into a monster
and bully to be hated and despised. Starting out as a department store similar
to Kmart, they grew into a Big Box behemoth that has taken over America and much of the entire world. They
expanded into the grocery store industry and are literally killing out entire
chains and the same is true for drug store chains. Now they are into tires and
automotive, auto and home insurance, car sales, banking and even optometry, not
to mention the supplier of restaurant supplies, meats, and merchandise to mom
and pop convenience stores. What they will takeover next and suck down the
Walmart toilet — one can only imagine —
but what is not in doubt is that they have the money and the political clout to
kill off anything in their path. If they take over China, that’s good for America, but if they’re left unchecked they
will finally take over the entire American retail landscape and nothing
could be worse for everyone living in this nation!
Their
concept is to pave the planet into a parking lot, build a cheap cinder block
box with no frills or architectural and cultural appeal whatsoever. Lay concrete
or tile floor on concrete, drop some lights from the ceiling and call it a
store. Once a proponent of “buy American,” they now source from all over the
world — most especially China — buying in massive volumes to get
the cheapest, most absolute bottom dollar price for everything they resell. When
Walmart buys, unlike participating in the give and take free enterprise system,
they dictate the price. Via their worldwide network of buyers and number
crunchers . . . they know before they make a purchase offer what the bottom of
the barrel price is for any product imaginable. If you don’t sell to them at
that price, they walk away and do everything in their power to destroy your
company by locking you out of any future business in addition to fueling all
your competitors with business to put your business under for good. With their
monopoly and monetary power in the marketplace, they have the power to destroy
almost any business or supplier industry that refuses to dance to their tune
and they don’t hesitate for a moment to use that power every single day. If
evil exists in corporate America . . . its name is Walmart!
From a purely
logistical perspective, they are a model of efficiency beyond what the average
American can fathom. Warehouses and distribution centers throughout America all tied together via computerized
purchasing, inventory systems, cash registers — all the way down to hand held
devices used by retail clerks. As soon as the doors close at the end of the
day, the Walmart and Sam’s Club army go into restocking action like mighty ants.
Forget about hand carts and little boxes, they roll out the next day’s products
via forklift on massive pallets as they dazzle and crisscross the store in an
absolute frenzy. It’s all monitored and watched via cameras in the sky that are
probably tied into some secret viewing room in all of the Walton’s family
mansions. When your net worth is in excess of $100 B, you can’t take any
chances on “slackers” not giving it their all. In return for all their hard
work, Walmart employees receive lousy pay, lousy benefits, lousy retirement and
a plantation-owner work environment. Walmart is all about exploitation of every
worker, most especially against women as evidenced by the failed class action suit
that went to the Supreme Court and failed of course . . . yet American women
walk through the doors of Walmart every single day? By the time a Walmart
worker reaches retirement if they are allowed to hang on that long — many are
virtual cripples from years spent on uncarpeted concrete floors and who picks
up that tab? Not Walmart, the American taxpayer via Medicaid. I defy America to find one single Walmart employee
that actually likes their job. Some in senior management like the money, but
beyond that, they all hate every minute within the confines of their workplace.
If that is not the truth . . . then ask yourself why Walmart constantly runs
commercials with “happy faced” employees touting how much they love their
company? Do you see anyone else in corporate America running such commercials? As
Shakespeare wrote, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks” and if Walmart
wasn’t an absolute hell hole prison to work within, they wouldn’t need to be
running commercials trying to convince America that working at a Walmart doesn’t
completely suck!
As of 2011,
the average Walmart slave earned 14.5 percent less than other workers in large
retail companies.2 If Walmart implemented an across the board $12
minimum wage for all employees, it would cost the company a mere $3.2 B per
year.3 That sounds like a lot of money, but for Walmart it is spare
change, just a measly 1 percent of their overall annual $305 B in sales. The
Walton family would have to cut back on their caviar perhaps, but the positive
impact upon the American economy would be absolutely huge and as for Walmart’s bottom
line, it wouldn’t even register on the radar screen.
Here is
what America doesn’t yet get: the more than 30+
million Americans who comprise the working poor, whether they work at Walmart
or McDonald’s don’t come free. The billions spent on welfare, social services,
aid to dependent children, emergency room healthcare, crime prevention,
Medicare, Medicaid, the county old folks home, etc. come out of tax dollars
that America pays to subsidize the bottom line
of Walmart and companies like Walmart. “Low prices” on the front end, but
humongous costs on the backend are all paid for by U.S. taxpayers. While austerity measures
are being utilized to strip the entire safety net from the working poor a.k.a.
Walmart employees, the Walton family is laughing all the way to the bank. Instead
of the Walton family getting the blame, however, ‘it’s those sorry ass poor
people’ that are forced to wear the scarlet letter of government red ink. America always blames the victims and it is
never a greedy aristocracy family like the Waltons of Arkansas who have
exploited the working poor to the tune of well over $100 B that pay or take the
blame.
If Walmart
were forced to pay a $12 minimum wage — the people in our nation that call
themselves “good Americans” — who shop at Walmart would have to come up with a lousy
45 cents extra per shopping trip to cover the difference.4 For a
consumer who spends approximately $1,187 per year at Walmart, it works out on
average of $12.49. How many Walmart shoppers can’t afford $12.49 per year to
reverse the downward vortex wage flow that is Walmart?5 Pay now, or pay later, it’s coming out
of our wallet either way via taxes or the cash register. Why should the
American people subsidize the riches of the Walton family?
A growing
percentage of Americans detest the mega-rich, such as the Walton family, want
to tax them, etc., but the majority will still pull their car into a Walmart or
Sam’s Club parking lot to save a few nickels and dimes while supporting slave
labor, the demise of their local community and control of America by the mega-rich. To those
Americans, you should hang your head in absolute shame, for you are no better
whatsoever than the mega-rich you purport to detest. You are the problem with America!
The
following bullet points are just a sampling of what you support when you shop
at Walmart:
• The company has
recently cut two of its longstanding benefits by eliminating their profit
sharing program and, as of 2011, no new employees will receive an extra dollar
an hour for time worked on Sundays.6
• As of 2007, fewer than
half of the company’s employees actually were insured under the company
healthcare plan — between just 41 and 46 percent.7
• In 2008 an internal
Walmart memo was uncovered that outlined an aggressive plan to attack employee
benefit expenses by making long-term employment unattractive in order to create
a workforce that would be younger and cheaper.8
Equipped
with the lowest cost possible via buying power and logistical efficiency on a
global scale, Walmart operates as a predator within every community and retail
industry in which it infects. You name it, mom and pop grocery stores, sporting
goods, low end jewelry, clothing, tools, electronics, toys, computers, office
supplies and almost every other retail entity that once thrived in America . . . squashed, intimidated, on the
ropes or already out of business due to Walmart. Walmart landing in any
community is like a retail bomb with nearly every other competitor business
blown out of the water. Nothing missed, nothing wasted and all done on such a
scale that no retailer, much less some small business owner, can come close to
matching them on price. It’s just not possible! Now that they have destroyed
small town America, they’re looking to expand and focus more on urban areas
within the U.S. and their top targets are New York, Chicago, Boston and San
Francisco.9 When they arrive and takeover, if not stopped, the
average wage of every employee in almost all retail arenas will stall for good
and the starting wage for retail employees will drop like a rock. Thousands of new
working poor will wear the Walmart ankle shackles enslaved for life into
poverty and hopeless existence. To get a better idea of what Walmart is about,
consider just a few of the bulleted highlights gleaned from their 2010 annual
report:
• Walmart spent an average of $65.75 million
every day over the past year on advertising.10 No wonder Americans
are so indoctrinated with the Wal-Mart culture. Walmart’s advertising budget
was up 14% in 2010.
• In 2010 Walmart’s CEO, Mike Duke, was paid
$19.2 million in direct salary, stocks, and other benefits and in 2009 made
$28.4 million.11
• By May 2011, Walmart will have 952.2 square
feet of retail space and more stores outside the U.S. than inside. Counting
all Walmarts and Sam’s Clubs, the U.S. total is 4,304 stores,
while the International store count is now 4,112.12
• Net sales at Walmart in
2010 grew by only 1% — the worst gain in the company’s history. Their own greed
and success is now killing the goose that has been laying their golden eggs. The
company is relying on sales outside America to keep the company
growing. International sales, which hit $100 billion this year, now make up
roughly 25% of the company’s net sales.13
More than
anything, more than all the bullet points above, the No. 1 reason Walmart must
be stopped is the money funnel it provides to the Walton family. With $100 B in
net worth, they own Congress, run roughshod over every community in which they
operate, bend every rule of business ethics and dominate the American economic
landscape like Nazi storm troopers. If you can’t do anything else for your
nation and your local community, at a minimum, never cross the threshold of a
Walmart or Sam’s Club. With the current trends and your money [if you continue
to put it into to pockets of the Walton family] Walmart will own the Earth and
your children and their children will have no choice but to work in the
Walton’s slave labor camp. The choice is up to you . . .
Breakout Resource(s):
Walmart Watch
How a Higher Wage
Standard Would Impact Walmart . . .
