There have lately been a
number of blogs concerning Wal-Mart.
As a codicil I should mention that I am married to a
much younger, beautiful and intelligent wife – who is a raving far-left
liberal. Myself, I range between far-left
liberal and centrist libertarian, and my perspective of any situation is
usually tempered by pragmatic reality.
In my wife’s view Wal-Mart is
the great Satan; but, we often risk our immortal souls and shop there.
We live on a small retirement
income that is just above the poverty line, so we budget our expenditures and
shop at Wal-Mart to save money. I drink wine (sometimes in quantity) and we
buy Carlos Rossi by the gallon for our wine
of the table. At Wal-Mart a gallon
of wine will cost me twelve dollars, while at the local grocery store it is
fifteen. Can goods are, on the average,
fifteen cents a can cheaper. We buy
paper products, bird food, house wares, ink-cartridges for my printer,
hardware, etc. all at considerable savings
The biggest complaints I
usually hear from my wife is that Wal-Mart buys its products from China
A friend of mine works at Wal-Mart making ten
dollars and fifty cents an hour for a four p.m. to eleven p.m. shift. He is
fifty years old and did not complete high school. Until two years ago he worked seasonally as
a manual laborer for a construction company that paid him ten dollars an
hour. He is legally blind in one eye and
now suffering with medical problems.
Realistically, if we did not have a Wal-Mart here - where could he find
employment?
This type of employment has
always been here: in the textile mills of the north-east and the farm lands of
the South people have worked long hours for low pay. Today, just like Burger King, Pizza Hut,
Duncan Doughnuts, gas stations and many local stores in this area, Wal-Mart doesn't pay a living wage or offer benefits. They do, however, offer employment to many
people who would otherwise be unemployed.
So we need to be careful what
we wish for – change is always a double edged sword. If Wal-Mart bought and sold American products
and offer full time employment and a living wage, most of the people who work
there would no longer have a job, and Wal-Mart products would be too expensive
for most of us to afford.
Could Wal-Mart change its
business plan and be more humanitarian?
Yes.
Will it cut its profits and
pay smaller dividends to its investors in order to offer more benefits to its
employees? No
This doesn't mean that
Wal-Mart workers shouldn't ask for better pay and benefits – and I support
their strike.
But, sometimes you have to
dance with the devil.
the Ol’Buzzard
