The Linear Canvas

There was a story in the news recently about Wal-Mart managers being told that the Democratic party taking over in the November 2008 election would be bad for all of them. They were advising them to vote Republican instead.

 

This is very typical of their behavior towards their employees. The reasons that I do not buy anything from Wal-Mart or Sam’s Club are because they have abused their employees so much in the past. Stories about locking up their employees in the store while they were working so they could not leave, forcing employees to work overtime for no pay, and passing over women and minorities for job advancement are just some of the reasons that I want nothing to do with them.

I won’t shop at Wal-Mart. I have gone into a Wal-Mart three times in the past four years, but did not buy anything once, bought a wallet in Kentucky, and bought some clothes for my great-niece, who loved Wal-Mart, the other time. Within the last six months, I almost gave in and joined Sam’s Club, just because there is one real close to me. But within a few days I read a news story about Wal-Mart once again abusing its employees in some manner. That put a stop to that.

I had been shopping at Costco, which is very much like Sam’s Club. But the nearest one is really too far away to go to very often. I really like them. They have policies about treating their employees with respect and matching local prevailing grocery store wages, which are typically union. I wish that they would build one closer to me. Having stores like Costco competing with Sam’s Club, forces Wal-Mart to make changes in the way that it treats its employees. Unfortunately there’s not enough of this competition left in the retail business in America today.

I think Wal-Mart is destroying the American middle-class. They are America’s largest employer. Many of their employees though, have to apply for welfare to supplement their wages when working for them. During the years after World War Two, when the American economy expanded so rapidly, the idea that the largest employer is paying predominately wages that required any public assistance would have been unheard of. Now it seems to be acceptable to all.

Just the fact that the majority of their products are only American in name, but not in manufacture, is enough reason to not shop there. The fact that they are trying to manipulate American politics makes this all seem very Orwellian. And I’m sure that’s not an exaggeration in anyway. I’d say it’s probably part of the plan.