WAL-MART: The High Cost of Low Prices

AhnimusAhnimus Posts: 10,560
edited November 2007 in A Moving Train
WAL-MART: The High Cost of Low Prices
Duration: 1hr 38m
Format: Google Video (Flash Required)
Site: http://www.walmartmovie.com
I necessarily have the passion for writing this, and you have the passion for condemning me; both of us are equally fools, equally the toys of destiny. Your nature is to do harm, mine is to love truth, and to make it public in spite of you. - Voltaire
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments

  • bingerbinger Posts: 179
    Frontline did an episode on it in 2004.
    Watch it here.

    http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/view/
    I want to point out that people who seem to have no power, whether working people, people of color, or women -- once they organize and protest and create movements -- have a voice no government can suppress. Howard Zinn
  • AhnimusAhnimus Posts: 10,560
    binger wrote:
    Frontline did an episode on it in 2004.
    Watch it here.

    http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/view/

    Cool man I'll check that out. Thanks :)
    I necessarily have the passion for writing this, and you have the passion for condemning me; both of us are equally fools, equally the toys of destiny. Your nature is to do harm, mine is to love truth, and to make it public in spite of you. - Voltaire
  • ryan198ryan198 Posts: 1,015
    Pretty decent...I prefer the Corporation b/c while it's easy to pick on Wal-Mart, all for profit corporations rely on the need to exploit.
  • worldworld Posts: 266
    I just dont shop at Wal-Mart because only smelly scumbags shop there. The people in there are disgusting.
    Chicago '98, Noblesville '00, East Troy '00, Chicago '00, Champaign '03, Chicago '03, Chicago1 '06, Chicago2 '06, Milwaukee '06, Chicago1 '09, and Chicago2 '09
  • miller8966miller8966 Posts: 1,450
    world wrote:
    I just dont shop at Wal-Mart because only smelly scumbags shop there. The people in there are disgusting.

    very true...the mullets are in full swing at walmart
    America...the greatest Country in the world.
  • ryan198ryan198 Posts: 1,015
    world wrote:
    I just dont shop at Wal-Mart because only smelly scumbags shop there. The people in there are disgusting.
    It must be nice to have that privilege, some people don't.
  • worldworld Posts: 266
    ryan198 wrote:
    It must be nice to have that privilege, some people don't.

    The same people who dont have the privilege to shop elsewhere sure do have the privilege to buy spinners, subwoofers, and spoilers for their pieces of shit in the parking lot.
    Chicago '98, Noblesville '00, East Troy '00, Chicago '00, Champaign '03, Chicago '03, Chicago1 '06, Chicago2 '06, Milwaukee '06, Chicago1 '09, and Chicago2 '09
  • ryan198ryan198 Posts: 1,015
    world wrote:
    The same people who dont have the privilege to shop elsewhere sure do have the privilege to buy spinners, subwoofers, and spoilers for their pieces of shit in the parking lot.
    why do you pick on those peope rather than the really rich people who don't have the decency to pay those people a living wage but can throw million dollar parties on their yaghts b/c of the work the people with the spinners in the parking lot do for them.
  • worldworld Posts: 266
    ryan198 wrote:
    why do you pick on those peope rather than the really rich people who don't have the decency to pay those people a living wage but can throw million dollar parties on their yaghts b/c of the work the people with the spinners in the parking lot do for them.

    If you do a job of what a monkey can do, then you get payed like it.
    Chicago '98, Noblesville '00, East Troy '00, Chicago '00, Champaign '03, Chicago '03, Chicago1 '06, Chicago2 '06, Milwaukee '06, Chicago1 '09, and Chicago2 '09
  • ryan198ryan198 Posts: 1,015
    world wrote:
    If you do a job of what a monkey can do, then you get payed like it.
    I'm pretty sure a monkey could run 8 businesses into the ground...like our president. Does that imply that he shouldn't have been compensated the way he was. If so how do you reconcile your theory with the irony of a class based system which rewards rich lazy idiots by making them president, and then punishes poor hard working people by making fun of their cultural values?
  • JaneNYJaneNY Posts: 4,438
    world wrote:
    I just dont shop at Wal-Mart because only smelly scumbags shop there. The people in there are disgusting.

    I do not shop at Wal-Mart anymore, do not want one in my town, and disagree with their policies but that statement is a little harsh. Everyone's human and plenty of decent people shop there for whatever reason, even if I disagree with it. You might find it amusing to know that in a nearby town there is horse and BUGGY parking at the wal-mart because the AMISH shop there.
    R.i.p. Rigoberto Alpizar.
    R.i.p. My Dad - May 28, 2007
    R.i.p. Black Tail (cat) - Sept. 20, 2008
  • worldworld Posts: 266
    ryan198 wrote:
    I'm pretty sure a monkey could run 8 businesses into the ground...like our president. Does that imply that he shouldn't have been compensated the way he was. If so how do you reconcile your theory with the irony of a class based system which rewards rich lazy idiots by making them president, and then punishes poor hard working people by making fun of their cultural values?

    Bush is one person. The majority of the upper class arent similar to our retarded prez.
    Chicago '98, Noblesville '00, East Troy '00, Chicago '00, Champaign '03, Chicago '03, Chicago1 '06, Chicago2 '06, Milwaukee '06, Chicago1 '09, and Chicago2 '09
  • ryan198ryan198 Posts: 1,015
    JaneNY wrote:
    I do not shop at Wal-Mart anymore, do not want one in my town, and disagree with their policies but that statement is a little harsh. Everyone's human and plenty of decent people shop there for whatever reason, even if I disagree with it. You might find it amusing to know that in a nearby town there is horse and BUGGY parking at the wal-mart because the AMISH shop there.
    I'm the same way about Wal-Mart, but some people have little or no respect for others.
  • Hey, I shop at wal-mart sometimes. And guess what. I don't even have a fucking car and I don't have a mullet either. I shop there because as a broke ass college student I can't go to other places where the prices are higher. I'm glad you think I'm disgusting though, it's really enlightens me.
  • ryan198ryan198 Posts: 1,015
    world wrote:
    Bush is one person. The majority of the upper class arent similar to our retarded prez.
    Yes b/c a majority of the upper class got to go to private high schools, Ivy League Colleges, get internships b/c of their connections, and benefit from the class position in which they were born in. On the flip, if you are from the inner city and going to school where your books are from the 1950's, and your teachers are more worried about keeping you alive from day to day what chance have you got? Why wouldn't you spend money on spinners. Further if Bush is one person, don't you think that people with spinners are but a relative minority amongs the 26% of our population that lives in poverty?
  • worldworld Posts: 266
    Hey, I shop at wal-mart sometimes. And guess what. I don't even have a fucking car and I don't have a mullet either. I shop there because as a broke ass college student I can't go to other places where the prices are higher. I'm glad you think I'm disgusting though, it's really enlightens me.

    you disgusting smelly college hippy!! :)

    Actually, when I was at college, I did venture to Wal-Mart every once and awhile. I also bought my beer with whatever coins I could find in my old couch. I tried to rig my couch so that people would sit at the right angle so coins would fall out of their pockets.

    Now that I have a job(which has nothing to do with my college education, my job is a trade that doesnt require any formal eductation) I dont rig my couch, I dont shop at Wal-Mart, and I buy Guiness instead of Busch Light.
    Chicago '98, Noblesville '00, East Troy '00, Chicago '00, Champaign '03, Chicago '03, Chicago1 '06, Chicago2 '06, Milwaukee '06, Chicago1 '09, and Chicago2 '09
  • world wrote:
    you disgusting smelly college hippy!! :)

    Actually, when I was at college, I did venture to Wal-Mart every once and awhile. I also bought my beer with whatever coins I could find in my old couch. I tried to rig my couch so that people would sit at the right angle so coins would fall out of their pockets.

    Now that I have a job(which has nothing to do with my college education, my job is a trade that doesnt require any formal eductation) I dont rig my couch, I dont shop at Wal-Mart, and I buy Guiness instead of Busch Light.

    I can't wait til I can choose where I can shop.
  • I can't wait til I can choose where I can shop.

    me either dude, me either,... 2 more years
    you're a real hooker. im gonna slap you in public.
    ~Ron Burgundy
  • me either dude, me either,... 2 more years

    How old are you?
  • mca47mca47 Posts: 13,298
    world wrote:
    I just dont shop at Wal-Mart because only smelly scumbags shop there. The people in there are disgusting.

    Yeah, I'd rather pay extra and not have to deal with all scumbags, and help out these that do in fact treat their employees like shit.

    Around Christmas time is the best. It's like a freakshow in there!! You have all these toothless dirtballs fresh out of their trailers fighting eachother over worthless crap! Ahhh...tis the season.
    :D
  • mca47mca47 Posts: 13,298
    Hey, I shop at wal-mart sometimes. And guess what. I don't even have a fucking car and I don't have a mullet either. I shop there because as a broke ass college student I can't go to other places where the prices are higher. I'm glad you think I'm disgusting though, it's really enlightens me.

    When I was in college I was in the same situation. I pretty much lived from penny to penny. I went to Wal-Mart from time to time too. I just hate it. They are def. corporate cocksuckers, and the people outside of the college kids...in general...at the couple of stores I've been to...were pretty bad.
    Now that I have a job, I haven't been back.
  • NMyTreeNMyTree Posts: 2,374
    world wrote:
    I just dont shop at Wal-Mart because only smelly scumbags shop there. The people in there are disgusting.

    LOL:D Guess what? During the 2003 Tour Pearl Jam stopped at a Wal-Mart in Charlotte, NC and bought a bunch of bikes; which they all rode around the Wal-Mart parking lot for fun. It made the local papers down here.

    LMAO!

    What was that about "only smelly scumbags shop there" ? :D
  • worldworld Posts: 266
    NMyTree wrote:
    LOL:D Guess what? During the 2003 Tour Pearl Jam stopped at a Wal-Mart in Charlotte, NC and bought a bunch of bikes; which they all rode around the Wal-Mart parking lot for fun. It made the local papers down here.

    LMAO!

    What was that about "only smelly scumbags shop there" ? :D

    Where do you think they got their "Grunge" from? :)
    Chicago '98, Noblesville '00, East Troy '00, Chicago '00, Champaign '03, Chicago '03, Chicago1 '06, Chicago2 '06, Milwaukee '06, Chicago1 '09, and Chicago2 '09
  • mca47mca47 Posts: 13,298
    NMyTree wrote:
    LOL:D Guess what? During the 2003 Tour Pearl Jam stopped at a Wal-Mart in Charlotte, NC and bought a bunch of bikes; which they all rode around the Wal-Mart parking lot for fun. It made the local papers down here.

    LMAO!

    What was that about "only smelly scumbags shop there" ? :D

    Hahaha! I didn't know that! That's great!!

    Well, despite having millions of dollars they boys can look like scuzballs from time to time. LOL!
    If you didn't know who Ed (now with his beard and long hair) and Boom were and they were in WalMart...well...
    :D
  • ryan198 wrote:
    It must be nice to have that privilege, some people don't.

    Hey, let's not try to talk about people we are better than alright? We're trying to be open-minded, inclusive, and tolerant here.
  • Liberals are the biggest "classists" of all. Sorry to break up all the making fun of people that you so desperately want to save from Wal-Mart. Hypocritical hippies.
  • AhnimusAhnimus Posts: 10,560
    I don't exactly perceive this as a class problem. More of an economic problem. It's seems to be an accelerant of capitalism.

    If we look at the methodology and how it fits into a capitalist society. We can see the wages going down, the cost of manufacturing going down, the manufacturers profits going down, etc... all the while, the income of the CEO $27,000,000 and rising, the net worth of the owners (The Waltons) 300,000,000,000 or so and the concentration of wealth. The employees of wal-mart gross 1% of the Waltons. That just doesn't seem right.

    So what I see, and what I've always suspected about capitalism is a constant unabatable transformation of wealth and power. There becomes fewer and fewer corporations, larger and larger corporations and a greater transfer of wealth. How long will it take us to reach China status with the Capitlist method? In Capitalism everything is justified and supported by the system. In Communism, which I also dislike, there is someone to blame, the government. You can complain to your government about the standard of living. With Capitalism, we are faced with the dilemma, we can't give more money to the people, the government's income is taxes, if people need the tax money back just to survive we are in serious trouble. We can't blame the corporations because they operate within the guidelines of capitalism. Wal-Mart like any corporation has a panel who's primary responsibility is to increase revenue. Once a corporation has attained a certain supply/demand limit, it's nearly impossible to increase revenue. You can't sell more blankets than people want to buy. You also can't remain competitive if other people sell it cheaper. The only ways to increase revenue would be to sell more or make the product for less or otherwise decrease company overhead (e.g. lay people off). You can't sell more if people won't buy more, that's what supply and demand statements are about. So, if you can't lay people off and there is no increase in demand for your product. Then you have to pay your employees less or try to get the product cheaper. As pathetic as it sounds, Wal-mart and companies like it will make drastic changes to save $0.01 per product sold, because that translates into millions annually.

    This is the capitalist society. I used to work for a call centre, two actually. First off, the call centres are typically paid by the contract for seconds of time spent on the phone. So as employees of a typical call centre, like Teletech, you are required to spend at least a certain amount of time available to take calls or on calls. A washroom break period is granted for people needing to use the washroom, this is typically 2 minutes per day. These companies claim that if every employee was 1 second in excess of those 2 minutes, they would lose millions each year. Additionally no time should be spent in aftercall or between calls, the agent is required to answer a call automatically immediately after the previous call. The first caller says "bye", hangs up their phone and the agent immediately receives a tone notifying them of an incoming call, at this point they begin their script. Several calls that I took were billing related, though specifically I was general customer service for Nextel. A lot of people called in to argue the amount of their bill, I can recall several occasions where the disputed amount was as low as $0.02. This is how capitalism works for a lot of people. They tend to accumulate great wealth, while others, perhaps more generous or forgiving with their earnings remain at a constant net worth.

    Most people aren't crunching their bank statements and making projections about their future earnings. They aren't fine tuning every aspect of their life to be the richest and most wealthy they possibly can be. Most people are satisfied with the necessities and desire a few material posessions. I know very few people, save my ex-girlfriend, that want to be multi-millionaires, own several cars, boats, houses and host million dollar parties. The system caters to those people, not the average folk. It's designed for the people that dedicate their lives to getting there. It's cost is very high, as they accumulate more and more wealth it's at other's loss. It's the only way they can make more money, is to pay you less, sell you crappier stuff, lie, cheat and steal.

    A good artist copies, a great artist steals.
    ~Steve Jobs
    Apple Computers
    I necessarily have the passion for writing this, and you have the passion for condemning me; both of us are equally fools, equally the toys of destiny. Your nature is to do harm, mine is to love truth, and to make it public in spite of you. - Voltaire
  • Wal-Mart is a monopoly, but the people who shop there aren't disgusting slobs or anything of the sort. Keep in mind where you are. You are in a Pearl Jam forum. We don't put others down here that can't defend themselves.

    Everyone wants to point the finger, place the blame. Wal-Mart is not the only bad guy here. You also have to look at employees in our American businesses. It seems we as Americans want more and they want it for less. Employee health care benefits, pension plans, 401k, etc; but they don't want to pay the high premiums so this ends up costing the company dearly each fiscal quarter. Now, think about this. A company doesn't have to handle a larger sum of the premiums for their employees but they do, why? Because a happy work force is an efficient work force. But this causes problems with the profit margins, so a company will lay off a few workers to start, next year comes around, premiums go up, in order to keep workers happy the company will continue to pay their share of the premiums to keep everyone happy but in the meantime they lose more money. So now they need to cut costs, so they decide to get manufacturing materials through China instead of their American counter parts, this causes a loss of jobs. Now annual raises come up, premiums go up again, so a company decides to provide early pensions to shave a little off the top, now the work force is too small to meet the demand of the consumer. The company can't hire more workers because profit margins are too low and doing so would cause the company to possibly shut down. So, that in mind let's take TV's as an example. If you could manufacture the same quality TV in China for the price of the glass with a Chinese workforce that doesn't require the health insurance, pensions and 401k what would you do?

    The problem isn't just Wal-Mart, sometimes you have to look at yourselves and ask yourself, "Am I asking for too much?"
    Have you ideas on how this life ends?
    Checked your hands and studied the lines
    Have you the belief that the road ahead, ascends off into the light?
    Seems that needlessly it's getting harder
    To find an approach and a way to live
    Are we getting something out of this all-encompassing trip?
  • NMyTreeNMyTree Posts: 2,374
    I'm not exactly fond of Wal-Mart, their business model and how they treat employees. In fact you'll never see me defending Wal-Mart. But.....


    The Elitist attitute in this thread, regarding Wal-Mart shoppers, is unbelievable.

    I can't wait till one of the Elitists show up spouting equal rights, or defending radical Muslims, or preaching love and peace; it's going to be hilarious.

    Good job snobs.
  • even flow?even flow? Posts: 8,066
    Wal-mart shows its true colours when you are in the store and if you can find somebody to help you look for what you need. They can't help you find what you need. Top notch employees I tell you. But the prices are cheap. Right! Have you really compared the prices?
    You've changed your place in this world!
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