Wal Mart Usually Scummy Corp. Does 1 Thing Right by Turning on Christian Fascists

[Ron Burgundy]

Not the point. The point is Walmart employs a lot of low skilled, inexperienced people and pays them accordingly. Some gain work experience and move on to better things. Some become management at Walmart. Few stick around as sales associates for the long term. They are willing to absorb turnover in favor of keeping labor costs low. The entry level jobs they provide aren't intended to be lifetime careers.

That's part of the problem. There no low-skilled jobs where people can make a living any more because they've all been shipped to China. The demand for unskilled labor is decreasing while the supply of unskilled labor is increasing.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

We rarely disagree on these things, but here I must.

If the Chinese are manipulating their currency, what are we comparing it with? Obviously the USD.

So then look around the rest of the world, and note that the Remnibi/yuan has held much better value against the greenback than most others over the past year. It would actually seem, to most in the world, that the US has been manipulating its currency to the great benefit of her people so they can profit off the backs of laborers in many foreign lands. This is called US dollar hegemony and understanding this will help individuals across political spectrums understand, even a little bit, why so many people in so many countries really don't like Americans. Have a look.

Help me out here then because I should think they'd be happy if we buy their stuff. I think that China keeps their prices artificially low in order to keep everyone working.

 

[Troglodyte]

As does the internet. Time marches on. I'm not unsympathetic to the Mom and Pop's. Grew up in that world and it had its charms and benefits......but it's not the present, for better or worse.

I'm not expecting it to change, just making a point to those here who don't see any downside Walmarts (and the like) ever increasing footprint.

 

[oneforthebus]

I'm not expecting it to change, just making a point to those here who don't see any downside Walmarts (and the like) ever increasing footprint.

I don't think anyone fails to see the downside...but it's not the root of all evil like some people think.

Throughout history people have done things bigger, better, faster and cheaper and put slower less efficient people out of business. It's called progress, and there will always be winners and losers.

Walmart's had declining sales for a few years now though. There's only so far most people are willing to compromise on quality and service in favor of price. The one near me is horrid...half of the shelves are empty most of the time.

 

[coupon]

keep dragging your cop hating bullshit into other threads and you will be outside looking in

isn't elfie just expressing an opinion?

 

[Ron Burgundy]

I don't think anyone fails to see the downside...but it's not the root of all evil like some people think.

Throughout history people have done things bigger, better, faster and cheaper and put slower less efficient people out of business. It's called progress, and there will always be winners and losers.

Walmart's had declining sales for a few years now though. There's only so far most people are willing to compromise on quality and service in favor of price. The one near me is horrid...half of the shelves are empty most of the time.

Virtually every retailer in business starts out low priced and gradually raises their prices and quality and after a while someone else comes in at the lower end to replace them with cheaper stuff and lower prices. Where I live Aldi's, Dollar Tree, and Dollar General are rockin' and rollin'.

 

[SteelChip]

I don't know about the rest of the country but we are getting Dollar Generals on every vacant lot they can buy. I live 25 miles from town and we just got a Dollar General store..actually I'm happy because we can now get a lot of staples without driving into town.

 

[Confluence]

Help me out here then because I should think they'd be happy if we buy their stuff. I think that China keeps their prices artificially low in order to keep everyone working.

In international economic theory, when the terms of trade favor a certain partner, the currency is supposed to adjust to even that out over time. Net imports being negative over a long period should substantially weaken currency -- and it does for almost every country in the globe, save the US. Why? 7 aircraft carriers certainly help, as does cognizance as the reserve currency. But the largest factor is petro-dollar recycling, figured out long ago by the US President who has (arguably) had the greatest net economic benefit on US citizens -- Richard Nixon. Maybe you haven't noticed, but every time someone talks seriously about trading oil in non-US dollars, regime change comes about shortly (this explains the actions of 41 and 43, and also demonstrates why fracking is ok now and for a long time into the future; interestingly, reducing offshore drilling globally significantly enhances both US and OPEC present production. Offshore drilling in Nigeria is severely curtailed because of Surprise! government instability, and across the water in Brazil, look at Petrobras -- wow)

This chart should splain the Yuan performance:

Could you imagine how low the Yuan would be if Chinese slave labor didn't make all them Apples? China STFU on the oil so long as the US doesn't care about its internal labor....and the US keeps importing!

If you want to start on USD hegemony, google is your friend -- but you should expect an audit soon!

When it ends, it is gonna hurt like hell...

 

[tapeANaspirin2it]

if you've ever shopped around for the cheapest price, then you need to shut your mouth about alleged wage unfairness because you vote for it every time you search out the lowest price.

I kind of wish there were mom and pop groceries and hardware store etc, everywhere. But back when there were, i started shopping at the cheaper chain stores, so i'm not going to be a hypocrite and bemoan them going out of business.

Liberals are the biggest hypocrites. Boo Walmart has items made in China. Now let me blow a load over the new whatever Apple makes. All their stuff is made in the USA right?

 

[Ron Burgundy]

Liberals are the biggest hypocrites. Boo Walmart has items made in China. Now let me blow a load over the new whatever Apple makes. All their stuff is made in the USA right?

I buy Made In USA as much as I can but I don't have $129 for a pair of Bill's Khakis or $224 for a pair of US-made deck shoes.

 

[Vader]

if you've ever shopped around for the cheapest price, then you need to shut your mouth about alleged wage unfairness because you vote for it every time you search out the lowest price.

I kind of wish there were mom and pop groceries and hardware store etc, everywhere. But back when there were, i started shopping at the cheaper chain stores, so i'm not going to be a hypocrite and bemoan them going out of business.

Liberals are the biggest hypocrites. Boo Walmart has items made in China. Now let me blow a load over the new whatever Apple makes. All their stuff is made in the USA right?

Exactly right. I remember in the 70s where I lived everybody had to buy from "mom and pop" stores. They ran the town. They could charge up the *** and nobody could do a damn thing about it. I remember buying a hatchet in the mid 70s for $15. That's highway robbery. But you had to pay it. "mom and pop" robbed the town blind. Wal-Mart came in during the late 70s and changed all that. I don't feel sorry for them at all. Bunch of thieves.

 

[oneforthebus]

Liberals are the biggest hypocrites. Boo Walmart has items made in China. Now let me blow a load over the new whatever Apple makes. All their stuff is made in the USA right?

So true. I guess buying **** made by cheap Chinese labor is ok as long as you're paying out the *** for it.

Not to mention, Walmart and Sam's Club are always compared unfavorably to Costco. Because Costco doesn't sell cheap Chinese made crap? Ok.

 

[oneforthebus]

Exactly right. I remember in the 70s where I lived everybody had to buy from "mom and pop" stores. They ran the town. They could charge up the *** and nobody could do a damn thing about it. I remember buying a hatchet in the mid 70s for $15. That's highway robbery. But you had to pay it. "mom and pop" robbed the town blind. Wal-Mart came in during the late 70s and changed all that. I don't feel sorry for them at all. Bunch of thieves.

I wouldn't say they rob people blind, Having run a mom and pop retail store, I can tell you that I couldn't buy some stuff wholesale for as cheap as some stores were selling it. Economies of scale are huge. The only way a mom and pop store can survive is to provide some specific services and quality a big box store cannot, and charge accordingly. You cannot compete on price.

 

[Vader]

I wouldn't say they rob people blind, Having run a mom and pop retail store, I can tell you that I couldn't buy some stuff wholesale for as cheap as some stores were selling it. Economies of scale are huge. The only way a mom and pop store can survive is to provide some specific services and quality a big box store cannot, and charge accordingly. You cannot compete on price.

That maybe true now. However in the town I lived in many years ago it wasn't true at all. They had no competition at all. The town city council wouldn't allow new business to come in. They controlled everything. They weren't economies of scale. They were small businesses that ran the town via the city council. I knew many of those families and they were filthy rich. I have nothing against anyone making as much as they can. I have issues when a small group of business control everything and don't allow any competition.

 

[Troglodyte]

So it's better to have one huge seller of goods than many smaller ones? Sounds anti free market and anti competitive to me.

 

[oneforthebus]

So it's better to have one huge seller of goods than many smaller ones? Sounds anti free market and anti competitive to me.

There will never be "one huge seller of goods" so that's kind of a silly question. Again, Walmart's business model is changing, as it's in decline. That's the free market at work.

What are you suggesting, that large retailers should be eliminated so that smaller ones don't have to compete with them? That's what you call a free market?

 

[Badcat]

The real message from Elfie and her ilk here is "Capitalistic, anti-Union, facists just swung a little more to the left...WE ARE WINNING THIS SOCIAL WAR"

Therein lies the problem in our society. No one wins in this current environment. We are a divided people swayed by corporations and the elite, using media to inflame opinions of the gullible (See Elfie) and further divide us more. How else do these crooked pieces of **** remain in office after they miserably fail at their public jobs or even following Federal and State laws? Where is the voice of the people crying outrage of the injustice? They're on a ******* Steeler message board talking about the **** they want them to talk about.

Congrats lemmings. Good work! Fall in and go lock step with your spoon fed bullshit.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

The real message from Elfie and her ilk here is "Capitalistic, anti-Union, facists just swung a little more to the left...WE ARE WINNING THIS SOCIAL WAR"

Therein lies the problem in our society. No one wins in this current environment. We are a divided people swayed by corporations and the elite, using media to inflame opinions of the gullible (See Elfie) and further divide us more. How else do these crooked pieces of **** remain in office after they miserably fail at their public jobs or even following Federal and State laws? Where is the voice of the people crying outrage of the injustice? They're on a ******* Steeler message board talking about the **** they want them to talk about.

Congrats lemmings. Good work! Fall in and go lock step with your spoon fed bullshit.

Well, yeah, but the Republicans hate ___________ (insert name of desired special interest group).

 

[Troglodyte]

There will never be "one huge seller of goods" so that's kind of a silly question. Again, Walmart's business model is changing, as it's in decline. That's the free market at work.

What are you suggesting, that large retailers should be eliminated so that smaller ones don't have to compete with them? That's what you call a free market?

Could you be any more condescending?

I'm suggesting that if you had worked for decades to build a small business in a rural town and Walmart came in and obliterated it, you probably wouldn't be defending them.

 

[oneforthebus]

Could you be any more condescending?

I'm suggesting that if you had worked for decades to build a small business in a rural town and Walmart came in and obliterated it, you probably wouldn't be defending them.

Don't see anything condescending at all in that post.

Of course I wouldn't be defending them if I was in that position. I probably wouldn't be too happy with Henry Ford if I was a blacksmith either. That doesn't mean Henry did something evil and wrong.

 

[tapeANaspirin2it]

Could you be any more condescending?

I'm suggesting that if you had worked for decades to build a small business in a rural town and Walmart came in and obliterated it, you probably wouldn't be defending them.

businesses fail all the time when they can no longer compete. It's not just small businesses. Blockbuster video absolutely owned the rental market. Then Netflix came along and instead of Blockbuster adapting to the changing market, they stayed the same until it was too late.

And nobody who was charged late fees shed a tear when Blockbuster went bust.

Starting a business is risky. Most will fail. Just watch Kitchen Nightmares or Bar Rescue to see a bunch of businesses that had some success then lost it. You must constantly evolve as a business to survive.

People act like Walmart won some lottery where they were simply awarded all these stores. They started as a mom and pop just like everybody else. They were just better at it than everybody else.

But it should be no surprise that the party of "you didn't build that" has no concept whatsoever of how businesses grow or die.

 

[Troglodyte]

businesses fail all the time when they can no longer compete. It's not just small businesses. Blockbuster video absolutely owned the rental market. Then Netflix came along and instead of Blockbuster adapting to the changing market, they stayed the same until it was too late.

And nobody who was charged late fees shed a tear when Blockbuster went bust.

Starting a business is risky. Most will fail. Just watch Kitchen Nightmares or Bar Rescue to see a bunch of businesses that had some success then lost it. You must constantly evolve as a business to survive.

People act like Walmart won some lottery where they were simply awarded all these stores. They started as a mom and pop just like everybody else. They were just better at it than everybody else.

But it should be no surprise that the party of "you didn't build that" has no concept whatsoever of how businesses grow or die.

Blockbuster had the ability to compete. Small businesses can't compete against big box stores. There is no innovation that is going to help them. There's really nothing they can do but slowly go out of business. I realize this is the way it is and it's been happening for a while, but I don't pretend there's no downside to it.

You can disagree with anti-capitalist liberals, but that doesn't mean they don't have a valid point about small businesses inability to compete against the Walmarts of the world.

 

[SteelChip]

Blockbuster had the ability to compete. Small businesses can't compete against big box stores. There is no innovation that is going to help them. There's really nothing they can do but slowly go out of business. I realize this is the way it is and it's been happening for a while, but I don't pretend there's no downside to it.

You can disagree with anti-capitalist liberals, but that doesn't mean they don't have a valid point about small businesses inability to compete against the Walmarts of the world.

Small business can hold their own to a degree but if they don't continually adjust to the competition, eventually they will fail. Ace Hardware uses customer service and positioning their stores in rural areas to stay afloat ( barely ) while Radio Shack completely ignored the power of the internet and tried to stay with the same products in newer looking stores. There are many people that hate to shop in "Big Box" stores because it takes too long to get in and out and will pay more for the convenience ( like 7-11 ) but without a viable alternative, they have no choice.

Without a visionary leader, all small businesses will eventually fail. It is the nature of the beast. My retired AT&T buds live high on mega retirement bucks from the phone haydays but nowadays the (land line) telephone is dieing alongside the postal carrier.

Gotta go..my beeper just went off.

 

[oneforthebus]

Blockbuster had the ability to compete. Small businesses can't compete against big box stores. There is no innovation that is going to help them. There's really nothing they can do but slowly go out of business. I realize this is the way it is and it's been happening for a while, but I don't pretend there's no downside to it.

Nobody said there's no downside. Progress always has winners and losers.

I ran a retail florist for years. This was topic number 1 at all of our trade association meetings, when all of the grocery stores started selling flowers and our walk-in business vanished. Unfortunately some moms and pops are unwilling to change what they've been doing for the last 30 years, accept that they are never going to get the 5.00 cash and carry customer back and focus on services they could provide that grocery stores couldn't. You CAN compete with big box stores, what you CAN'T do is compete with them on price or volume. We adjusted our focus to upscale special events and amazing customer service...we charged accordingly. Raise delivery prices? Some moms and pops were shocked and appalled at what we charged. Turn away a wedding? No, I'm not going to "work within your budget" if it's going to cost me money. We targeted people who were willing to pay more and we lost people who were looking for a deal. We decided we'd rather have 10 customers all who make us money than 50 customers who all lose us money. There are a lot of nice moms and pops running businesses out there who just do not understand how to run a business and turn a profit.

 

[Tim Steelersfan]

You can disagree with anti-capitalist liberals, but that doesn't mean they don't have a valid point about small businesses inability to compete against the Walmarts of the world.

Good Lord. I AM going to sound condescending, when I read tripe like this. You sound like the stereotypical Liberal - crying and boo-hooing over reality. The jaguar eats the rabbit - "Save the rabbit!"

It's simple Darwinism. Remember, that is how the world actually does work - the strong survive. When you start altering the world to "ensure" the weak survive, you mess with the natural order and bad stuff happens.

So yeah - the anti-capitalist Liberals do have an unarguable point - small businesses can't compete with the Walmarts of the world? SO WHAT??? What does that matter? They shut down, those people find other jobs, and life EVOLVES. If we go all anti-capital and force measures that allow the Mom & Pops to survive, we mess with the evolution. Bad things happen that you and I pay for at the register.

I grew up in a small town, and still have family there, where there are 2 Mom & Pop hardware stores competing for each other. Nearest big box is 30 miles away, so they make a living because they are local and convenient. I Love, love love visiting those stores when I'm in town - 100 year old buildings, you can find things with price tags on them that they've never sold from 30 and 40 years ago. Character, culture. It's great. I hope they last forever, but I know they won't.

This town of mine also used to have JR's grocery and another family run grocery. Till Food Lion came to town. Put them out of business. Guess what? Everyone in town is A-OK with it - they get lower food prices and typically the shelves are always stocked.

I have very tight friends that run the town's newspaper and the next county's newspaper. Owners and publishers of it. I stay in their home a week a year and hunt with them. They've made a mint from the business, but guess what? That big, bad ole' Internet is pushing them right to the curb. There's no family business to hand down to the kids. And guess what? Those kids are finding other jobs, good jobs, and moving on.

Evolution is the way of the world. Stop being so "anti-evolutionary" in your "anti-capitalistic" viewpoint. It's as moronic as protecting the delta smelt and diverting enough fresh water for all of Silicon Valley into the ocean - stupid policy for a bleeding heart cause that in the end just hurts all of us.

Let the market forces work themselves out as Darwin said they would. Walmart should have put those small businesses out of business. And someone should put Walmart out of business for being a horrible big box retailer that supplies the market with crap. And eventually some business should put THAT business out of business with a better model.

Liberals scream at us alll about Progress, right? In this instance, Progress really translates into Prevent Progress. Prevent a better business model from retiring an out-dated business model. Prevent improvement for the sake of protecting Mom & Pop stores.

You Libs make my head hurt to be honest. Progress doesn't mean Progress at all. Pick a different word please. May I suggest Stagnate?