catapult magazine

The week of November 16th, PBS will air Is Walmart Good For America? on Frontline.

Wouldn’t a better question be “Is Walmart Good For the World?”?

thanks for the info, jeff. we’ll be meeting tomorrow night with our local group that’s discussing the question, “Is Wal-Mart (or any big box retailer) good for Three Rivers?” though i do like your version of the question better. i’m sure this program will be an important resource.

to check your local listings, go here:

http://www.pbs.org/tvschedules/

you’ll have to know the channel or call letters of your local PBS station.

Yes, I did not mean to question evaluating the impact of Walmart on local communities, whether that be environmental, economic, sociological or aesthetic.

I was really wondering what effect Walmart has outside of North America. Are the jobs created in developing nations allowing the peoples in those countries to improve their lives in terms of basic needs? To what extent do the suppliers of Walmart utilize fair trade practices in developing countries? As Christians, how would that factor into our evaluation? (i.e. What if Walmart actually was a benefit to the less fortunate in developing countries, yet had a deleterious effect in our communities?)

Is anyone aware of articles that discuss the global dimension of Walmart?

(And thanks to the vg-r’s for the nice resource listing at WorldFare)

I ran across another article on the subject: Is Wal-Mart Good For Us?, by David Batstone.

Anything to report from Three Rivers, Kirstin?

well…i’m certainly learning a lot about local politics and the ways in which a very small amount of power can be corrupting. it’s amazing how tangled and complex local politics can be and how all of our idolatrous tendencies are exposed when a contentious issue arises.

in spite of two hours of public comments on why this development might not be the best thing for our area, the first of many approvals has been completed for Wal-Mart to come to town, which, unless an unforeseen miracle occurs, will probably happen.

however, our little group of critical citizens has jump-started a lot of great discussion. in fact, there’s going to be an article in our local paper tomorrow about “big box” development issues. i see large retail development as a passing trend—in fact, the communities who were prime targets for that development ten or twenty years ago are trying to reclaim that small town feel with new pedestrian-only outdoor shopping centers and mixed-use zoning (Frankfort, Illinois and West Palm Beach, Florida, for example). these forward-thinking communities are on the cutting edge of community development and in another twenty years, we’ll be trying to imitate them again by going back to what we had.

what continues to amaze me in countless discussions is how many people are willing to hold up free market capitalism as the highest good in community development. over and over again, I hear comments like, “We shouldn’t tell people how they can do business” or, “If people didn’t want Wal-Mart, they wouldn’t shop there.” to some degree these things are true, but the most devastating part of all of this is watching our decision-makers give higher priority to an economic theory than they do to actual people. but i have faith that this will change (and is already, i think, though not in our community yet).

so here i am, trying to balance the shaping of public opinion with practical action by running a fair trade store. it’s very interesting and very exhausting all at once. there’s the long answer. thanks for asking, laryn.

by the way, check out http://www.cultivatethreerivers.com for our newly styled web site.

I read an article in the Post today which (for some reason) interested me in the Wal-Mart issue again, so I wrote up a short item on my site.

“…Look behind that yellow smiley face and see what’s really happening to workers…that poor guy making $15, $16 an hour, now he’s [going to be] making a fraction of that, $7, $8 an hour, working 32 hours a week; a meager health care plan that he’s got to pay for now, token health care plan; no pension; no future…That’s what’s happening [behind] that big, yellow smiley face.”
-Jon Lehman, Former Wal-Mart store manager (quoted in the PBS item)

makes $285 billion in sales around the world each year in more than 5000 stores. Each year they account for about 2% of the GDP in the US. Lately they’ve been a pretty big punching bag for a lot of people, with a few stalwart defenders (including themselves). Most of the defense-of-Wal-Mart arguments I hear have to do with their legendary low prices (economy of scale) and their efficiency (which revolutionized our economy). It’s great that they are so efficient and have come up with new ways of streamlining business. But business is about more than efficiency—it’s also about people (or it should be). And it’s great that they are keeping the prices low. But to get their low prices, they’re often forgetting about people again. And prices aren’t the only thing they’re keeping down…

Here’s my full post:
Wal-Mart: Prices aren’t the only thing they’re keeping down

Some of you may also have heard about the employees at a Walmart store not far from here who voted to form a union a few months ago—the only store in North America to do so. Recently Walmart announced that the store will be closing and the followed up with a public relations bombardment on TV and in newspapers claiming their employees love the company. I don’t think people buy it. Here’s a link:
http://www.dsausa.org/lowwage/walmart/2005/close%20union%20store.html

Wow…great links all around. I used to work for Wal-Mart a few years ago. The whole experience was pretty miserable. Anywho, I remember people were talking about how our local Wal-Mart was going to revitalize the community. 15 years later and there’s just a giant Wal-Mart and lots of empty stores surrounding it.

in the comments on my site, my evil father-in-law responded:

Immediatly upon reading your blog I had to go to Walmart to observe the evil empire in action. As I pulled into the nearly full parking lot I realized what an immense task you have in convinving the American public to voice their disgust with Walmart tactics by taking their dollars and spending them elsewhere. Given the ignorance of all those folks shopping in Walmart I fully expected to see W stickers on every bumper but here were suprinsingly few displayed on the older model cars that seemed to dominate the parking lot.

Upon entering the store I was greeted by Jean with a cherry “Welcome to Walmart”. I wondered if she was hypnotized, psychologically brainwashed or under the influence of a foreign substance. She seemed to be appreciative that Walmart would hire a great grandmotherly type who probably has few other job prospects to supplement her meager social security check. Perhaps if FDR had set up private retirement accounts she would not have to be employed but then again, maybe she would miss the smiles and and the “thank you” she receives as she nudges a shopping cart in the direction of each entering shopper.

Absent mindedly taking a cart when I had no intention of shopping I headed off to see Victor in the Vision Center. I met Victor a few months ago when I purchased new eyeglasses. I apologize for shopping at Walmart but it seemed to be a good ideal to be able to go for my fitting after work hours rather than take time off but perhaps conviniece is as sinful as saving money. Anyway, Victor intrigued me because one does not often meet a early 20s disabled Native American who works in the medical field. In fact, I think he is the first Native American and the first disabled person who has ever assisted me in any medical office. I wondered why Walmart hired Victor. He certainly was not Walmart efficient as he bumped around in his electric mobility cart. I wanted to ask him if he was working for $7 an hour but he had the day off. I would think Walmart would put him on commission so as to avoid wage and hour laws…[i:94192f66ac](to read the complete response, click here)[/i:94192f66ac]

what do you think about this type of argument? he’s got a point (though by focusing on a few specific cases he ignores most of the points of the original post).