I recently made a post explaining my hatred towards one of the largest corporations in the world, Wal-Mart. Everything I stated in the post was entirely anecdotal and based on my own experience. However, I mentioned that I knew there to be a documentary in circulation covering Wal-Mart’s antics and that it was very high on my Netflix queue. I watched the film last night and I wanted to take this post and continue my desired scathing critique of Wal-Mart.
To begin, I wanted to state that I have seen much better documentaries. The people interviewed were unfortunate souls (for the most part) that definitely caused you to feel sorry for them, but their stories were really not that novel in their aspects. This will be explained further later. Additionally, the makers of the film used kitschy graphics with poor aesthetics diminishing the overall value of presentation. Lastly, not one intellectual was interviewed in the film. It would have been nice to hear what a respected economist had to say about Wal-Marts policies… No matter, the movie definitely got its point across – Wal-Mart, family oriented as it claims to be, is simply like every other major company where profit is the bottom line. I can’t say I blame them really, but I still despise them as a company and here is why
First, as well know, Wal-Mart destroys the intricacies of small-town America. I would not be so opposed to its crowding out of these small business if, and this is a big if, Wal-Mart provided a better product, but they simply don’t. The example the documentary showed explained how, before Wal-Mart ended their business, every person in each section of their business i.e. plumbing, electrical, mechanical, was an expert in their craft. Wal-Mart moved in, hired slappies for 7 dollars and hour, and quality diminished. The lack of knowledge the Wal-Mart employees held was unfortunate. I despise quantity over quality
Second, Wal-Mart has seemingly very poor health care options. I realize that this is a bias and a very narrow opinion based solely on the documentary, but some of the things Wal-Mart promoted was pretty absurd. The regional managers of Wal-Mart were actually promoting their employees to seek state medical assistance so that Wal-Mart did not have to cover their costs. Because of this, many of the poor employees simply could not afford health care. My issue is that Wal-Mart makes so much money, they can spare some profit to assist these pitiful people. In the end, it would likely be better for them as a company.
Next, and this was my favorite part, Wal-Mart literally has a Orwellian “Big Brother” type atmosphere created to stop any potential chance of a union forming! The policies they have are comical. They have 24/7 anti-union hotlines, a permanent spy van, and 24/7 spy cameras combating against chance of a union forming. I am not a proponent of unions, but the intellectual level of most of these employee’s does not pose a substantial threat to Wal-Mart in any way.
Being a libertarian, I got pretty hott when they stated that the government grants Wal-Mart 1 billion annually to expand its stores. I am assuming this has a lot to with lobbying in congress, but either way, it is absurd. I hate handouts, even for poor, so it is pretty ridiculous that one of the most profitable companies in the world is even granted a dollar, let alone 1 billion.
Lastly, the movie, towards the end, discusses in-depth the amount of crime that takes place at Wal-Mart, 80% in the parking lot. Terrible things have happened in these parking lots : murder, rape, robbery, stabbings etc… What is worse is that studies have shown that when Wal-Mart post one security guard in a roaming golf cart, crime dropped to zero…zero. Wal-Mart knew this, but they wanted to save that money. Again, pretty shady business practices from a supposed family oriented business.
I have repeated this many times, but Wal-Mart is a private enterprise and in many ways I respect them. However, I just like to think that if I were placed in charge of Wal-Mart, especially if I had their enormous amount of cash reserves, that I would sacrifice a billion dollars a year (or whatever amount) in order to improve the quality of life both for my employees and consumers. A billion may sound like a lot, but Wal-Mart can afford it.
Wal-Mart: The High Price of Low Cost. Check it out
