Solid Snake Hates: Walmart

[Monkeydad]

Originally Posted by Mattyk

Tyranny

Apathy

[MTK]

Originally Posted by Monkeydad

Apathy

Tyranny
Cruel and oppressive government or rule.
A nation under such cruel and oppressive government.

Do we live in the same country?

[Chico23231]

I dont have a problem with walmart, but usually the experience of getting in and out is a pain the ass. I have one right by work so ill jump in to grab things that are reasonably priced...this year i switched back to charcoal bbq-ing only, got a new weber grill and set up cheap. I re-uped by beach supplies at walmart and did it on the very cheap with towels, chairs, sun block etc. I usually go in and grab bathroom and pet stuff for good deals. I have no qualms about shopping there.

Ive bought deals online too and shipping was fast. Bought earlier in the year a 47 LG smart tv $100 cheaper than Best buy , arrived in 3 business days...not bad.

[mredskins]

Originally Posted by Chico23231

I dont have a problem with walmart, but usually the experience of getting in and out is a pain the ass. I have one right by work so ill jump in to grab things that are reasonably priced...this year i switched back to charcoal bbq-ing only, got a new weber grill and set up cheap. I re-uped by beach supplies at walmart and did it on the very cheap with towels, chairs, sun block etc. I usually go in and grab bathroom and pet stuff for good deals. I have no qualms about shopping there.

Ive bought deals online too and shipping was fast. Bought earlier in the year a 47 LG smart tv $100 cheaper than Best buy , arrived in 3 business days...not bad.

Now you want bash stores I am all about bashing that one. F them!

[mlmdub130]

Originally Posted by mredskins

Now you want bash stores I am all about bashing that one. F them!

I'll second that. Best buy has to be one of the worst stores ever. No one there gives a s about anything and no one there knows anything either, not to mention it is crazy overpriced. I honestly have no idea how Best Buy operates to this day. I hate that place and get irritated at just the thought of going there. And don't even get me started on those friggin geeks.

[Giantone]

Some things about Wal-Mart you might not know.....


Is Wal-Mart Evil? 20 Shocking Facts | EconMatters




Where Wal-Mart Gets Its Products (Graphic Source: Cyncical-C.com & Consumerist, added by EconMatters)
Where Wal-Mart Gets Its Products (Graphic Source: Cyncical-C.com & Consumerist, added by EconMatters) #1 The average U.S. family now spends more than $4000 a year at Wal-Mart.



#2 In 2010, Wal-Mart had revenues of 421 billion dollars. That amount was greater than the GDP of 170 different countries including Norway, Venezuela and the United Arab Emirates.


#3 If Wal-Mart was a nation, it would have the 23rd largest GDP in the world.


#4 Wal-Mart now sells more groceries than anyone else in America does. In the United States today, one out of every four grocery dollars is spent at Wal-Mart.


#5 Amazingly, 100 million customers shop at Wal-Mart every single week.


#6 Wal-Mart has opened more than 1,100 "supercenters" since 2005 alone.


#7 Today, Wal-Mart has more than 2 million employees.


#8 If Wal-Mart was an army, it would be the second largest military on the planet behind China.


#9 Wal-Mart is the largest employer in 25 different U.S. states.


#10 According to the Economic Policy Institute, trade between Wal-Mart and China resulted in the loss of133,000 manufacturing jobs in the United States between 2001 and 2006.


#11 The CEO of Wal-Mart makes more in a single hour than a full-time Wal-Mart associate makes in an entire year.


#12 Tens of thousands of Wal-Mart employees and their children are enrolled in Medicaid and are dependent on the government for healthcare.


#13 Between 2001 and 2007, the value of products that Wal-Mart imported from China grew from $9 billion to $27 billion.


#14 Amazingly, 96 percent of all Americans now live within 20 miles of a Wal-Mart.


#15 The number of "independent retailers" in the United States declined by 60,000 between 1992 and 2007.


#16 According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Wal-Mart spent 7.8 million dollars on political lobbying during 2011. That number does not even include campaign contributions.


#17 Today, Wal-Mart has five times the sales of the second largest U.S. retailer (Costco).


#18 The combined net worth of six members of the Walton family is roughly equal to the combined net worth of the poorest 30 percent of all Americans.


All over the country, independent retailers are going out of business because they cannot compete with Wal-Mart and their super cheap Chinese products. Often communities will give Wal-Mart huge tax breaks just to move in to their areas. But what many communities don't take into account is that the introduction of a Wal-Mart is often absolutely devastating to small businesses....

A study of small and rural towns in Iowa showed lost sales for local businesses ranging from -17.2% in small towns to -61.4% in rural areas, amounting to a total dollar loss of $2.46 BILLION over a 13-year period.

[CRedskinsRule]

Two dozen countries with a higher minimum wage than America’s | The Exchange - Yahoo Finance

my only question regarding this clearly biased article is "what about the other 160+ countries?"

[SolidSnake84]

Originally Posted by CRedskinsRule

Two dozen countries with a higher minimum wage than America’s | The Exchange - Yahoo Finance

my only question regarding this clearly biased article is "what about the other 160+ countries?"

This is a great article. Well written.

I think maybe we as a whole (nation), need to look at everything real close and start to maybe reconsider this notion that America is the best at everything. Don't get me wrong, i love this nation as i hope most citizens do, it's just, without ever having lived anywhere else (outside of USA), i cannot say 100% for sure that this is the best place. I'd like to imagine that there are countries out there that are getting by just fine (Canada comes to mind), where the people have a good quality of life, good jobs, etc....

[SolidSnake84]

And i also want to add that i know we have / enjoy great freedoms here, not taking that for granted for a minute...

But i'm looking at other problems - behind on education, our obesity epidemic, the healthcare problem, the list just seems to go on and on....

[MTK]

We're definitely not the best at everything.

[FRPLG]

There's an economic reason our minimum wage is so low. We keep importing cheap labor. A hallmark of most of the countries with the higher minimum wage is that they have tighter immigration laws. When we allow cheaper labor into our country then we increase supply. Anytime supply goes up...prices go down. Most of the places with the higher minimum wage could naturally support a similar wage without governmental intervention. We can't have it both ways...we can't just raise minimum wage when we have a plethora of labor who happily would work for less. This isn't meant as an anti-immigration pitch more than simply stating the primary reason for low wages,