Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Wal-mart

A recent story I read on CNN.com confirms what many have said for a long time - the walmart corporation is a selfless piece of crap that no one should support. Now I know this has nothing to do with sports, but I think people sometimes need to realize (me included) that there are so many things out there more important than sports score, your favorite team, and teams you hate.
If you have a chance, read this sad story about a woman who worked for Walmart. After leaving work one day, she was in a horrible car accident, not her fault, and suffered horrible brain damage. The truck company involved was sued by this woman's family and received about $417,000 after legal fees. They put that money in a trust fund to pay for the woman's high yearly medical bills. Walmart's insurance policy paid out $470,000 in medical bills up to the point of the lawsuit. But Walmart's insurance policy, in fine print, says that if an employee receives a settlement from an accident, Walmart has the right to recoup any medical expenses back from the injured party. Three years after the accident, that is exactly what those pricks did. So you're now left with a family, who's son was just killed in Iraq, that can barely afford to pay their medical bills because of Walmart essentially took away their settlement, which was to serve as a trust fund, so they could recover $400,000. Mind you, Walmart doesn't have to recoup those past medical expenses, but they chose to anyway. Even during this extreme circumstance. And why? So they could be "fair" to everyone who participates in the plan. Although I often feel that if people don't like the policies of their employer, they should try to change jobs, you often can't say that when it comes to Walmart. The Walmart corporation represents everything that can be wrong with a capitalist society. The normal rules of capitalism don't apply when it comes to Walmart. They normally put any competition around them out of business because they can undercut everyone to the point where no on can compete. In essence, they often create a mini-monopoly in their area, leaving people with little choice in terms of where they can purchase many of their foods, household products and clothes. They use there size to basically create an anti-capitalism, monopoly zone where the capitalism ideals and benefits of consumer choice go out the window. Now this isn't the case in many places, because they area where the store is located actually has more consumers than Walmart can serve, so other businesses can still provide competition, so Walmart doesn't achieve their mini-monopoly effect. But in small towns, where the population is small, the township has little choice but to shop, work, and live by the rules of Walmart. And people in those towns often shop at Walmart because their prices are so low!

Well, for those of use who do have other options, you can do your part. Don't shop at Walmart. I don't know about you, but I'd rather pay more for a product because I know if I did go to Walmart to save a few bucks, it would just be contributing more to those pricks and tell them that what they did to this poor woman is okay. I know my not going there makes little difference to them, but this blog entry is a way for me to try and engage others to do the same. If you decide to boycott Walmart, tell 5 friends about it as well and get them to join you. And then have them ask 5 people to do the same. As I said, I know this is a digression from what I normally write about, but please, copy this blog and ask other to join you in trying to take away $400,000 worth of business to make up for what Walkmart took back from this poor woman and her family.

3 comments:

Chris said...

You always have a choice about where to shop and whether to work. Walmart is in no way anti-capitalism. You said it right in your post - people shop there because the prices are so low! Obviously, the people that shop there feel that paying a lower price is worth the "evilness" of Walmart. Walmart is not holding a gun to anyone's head. If it really was too evil, people wouldn't shop there. This is akin to someone saying that they support organic food, but then buying the non-organic milk at the store because it's cheaper. It's simple - if it's worth it to you, you pay the price. If Walmart really, truly, was unshoppably evil, no one would shop there. The fact is that people are making a judgment that the prices are worth it. The brilliance and beauty of capitalism is that it lets people decide their morals and values for themselves. People are making a decision that the cost savings provided by Walmart are worth everything else that Walmart encompasses. That's hardly anti-capitalism at all - it's the free market at its finest!

Chris said...

In case it's not clear, you also clearly always have a choice of whether to work or not. You might not like the alternative, but in the all-encompassing worldview, you always have some kind of choice.

Also, my comments should not be construed to mean that I love Walmart. If you want to start a boycott, I'm all for it, because that also is what the free market, and capitalism, is all about. Personally, I loathe Walmart, and I think Target does a pretty good job of competing with them. However, at the same time, I support Walmart's right to exist and function as they do. I think they are a piece of crap store, but not because they exploit their workers or are evil.

E. said...

Wal-Mart pays its workers so little that they can barely afford to shop anywhere else. Wal-Mart is running company towns all over the country, the only difference is that they move into the town instead of creating it.