Anti-Wal-Mark
- wadE
Per usual: go here
and come back.
To me, it's all about this quote: "What we want is cheap stuff, sold to us efficiently. But
many people fear the encroachment of big business, the destruction of Ma and Pa businesses."
There was a short series in the Strib where a staffer took an eight day sojourn on Northwest
Airlines to see how the strike was affecting travelers. The most insightful thing in that whole
series was relaying that people don't care about service anymore. They just want what is the
cheapest.
It's true, that's all people want; and we're all guilty of it.
All the focus in business it to make things cheaper, with little regard for making things better;
and if making it better means "more expensive", then there is definitely no regard for making it
better.
That isn't an indictment on business (although looking at workforce costs, that is probably quite
apropos as well), as much as it is an indictment on us: the consumer. Businesses are giving us we
want. If we all wanted to pay more for quality, we probably wouldn't flock to places like Wal-Mart,
McDonalds, Home Depot, and the like.
There are other issues when it comes to Wal-Mart, which is really what the article above is
about. It is true that Wal-Mart does bring jobs to areas that are sorely lacking employment
opportunities, but when you pay wages so low that the only place your employees can afford to
shop is Wal-Mart, it's like their setting up their own small company towns across the country (and
world).
Bah... too much food for thought for a Monday... just forget the whole thing and go
here instead...
What do you think? Drop us a line at webmaster@simpleprop.com and give us some
feedback. Maybe we'll even run your letters in future Gambits. 'The Daily Gambit' is updated every weekday.
