One of the biggest beacons of artificially imposed order is going to be facing the Supreme Court in the United States over its treatment of female employees. The company is being accused of systematic discrimination ranging from issues of pay equity and being passed over for promotions, to being segregated on company trips. It's remarkable that Wal-Mart has been accused of many things ranging from destroying small businesses to slavery, most of which has been substantiated, and yet they continue to grow with the support of the masses behind them. Why is that? The most likely answer is ignorance. Or most people hold contempt for other human beings bordering on true evil.
Most people justify shopping at Wal-Mart by citing the prices. In some cases, this might make sense. The things that Wal-Mart sells that are true necessities are food and clothes. The clothes tend to be very cheap and the food tends to be 1-2 cents cheaper than a grocery store. Almost everything else they sell is consumerist junk that nobody needs. Yes it's such a big deal to get that XBOX for a few cents less. In many cases, Wal-Mart isn't any cheaper. So many people who shop there do so exclusively and will overpay for all kinds of things while believing they are getting a deal. The real question is: Do Wal-Mart shoppers consider the whole price?Ignorance. Sometimes the only way to have faith in humanity is to believe that they are morons who think about nothing except food and television. The alternative is that the humble Wal-Mart shopper picks up that discounted thing-a-ma-bob and says to themselves "this is an excellent price, well worth knowing that women were raped and forced to have abortions so that I could get such a good price" or "I'm comfortable knowing that this is made from wood taken from a protected habitat and an endangered species may go extinct if people continue to buy these products". Having faith in humanity means believing that if they knew what they were paying for, they would spend their money on something else. But then you have to confront why so many people are ignorant about something that has been so well documented. Most people ARE aware that Wal-Mart gets at least some of its products from sweat shops. Unfortunately, most people believe that the worst qualities of sweat shops are long hours, little pay, and a lack of air conditioning. They tend not to know about the rape, murder, slavery, and extortion, for example.
Wal-Mart is an embodiment of destructive order, and people wait in line for their turn to pay the machine. As with so many things, ignorance is the enemy. When someone you know shops at Wal-Mart, ask them if it was worth the price. Then ask them if they knew that God is a Crazy Woman.
Are you seriously accusing walmart of raping women? What products do they sell that are made with the rape of women or wood of protected habitats?
ReplyDeleteI love that my groceries are cheaper and that video games are usually 5 bucks cheaper. Maybe you make enough money to not need to count pennies, but not all of us do.
I dislike Wal-Mart for the same reason I dislike Zellers: they treat their employees badly, and assume that full-time work is 28 hours a week on minimum wage. Which is enough money to get by if you have absolutely no debt and live in a rented room in a bad area of town. The company as a whole makes more money in a day than I'll ever see in my lifetime; they can afford to pay their employees better and stop being such asswipes when it comes to human dignity as respect.
ReplyDeleteAnd to Anonymous: if you have to count your pennies enough that you really want your video games cheaper than normal, go buy something second-hand. And that's if you absolutely NEED video games. I like games as much as the next person, but last time I checked, they're not as essential to a decent life as, say, rent money, or groceries. That's where my counted pennies go when times are hard. Not to Wal-Mart where I can get a new video game for $5 less than somewhere else.
ReplyDeleteI would say that you missed why most people shop at Wal-Mart: Convenience. More of what I need (want) in one place with less stops and less looking around. Also, its not that people don't know about the evil that Wal-Mart does (if only vaguely) its that they don't care because its at arms length from them. There is a tipping point in peoples minds where that matters and Wal-Mart does a great job of staying on the apathetic side of that tipping point.
ReplyDeleteI would love to know facts, such as how does raping women involve Wal Mart? How does Wal Mart use almost extinct wood when many of the furniture products are press board?
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