Why do people see Walmart as being bad? Isn't Walmart just the embodiment of the Capitalism the US believes in

Question

Walmart uses it's size and cheap labor to produce cheap prices for the consumer. How is this different from every other business that does really well? Is it really all that different if the cheap labor is done by Americans in the stores as oppose to the Taiwanese or Chinese or whomever else manufactures about everything we buy?

Answer 1

It's beyond capitalism,it's closer to a monopoly,and forces suppliers to furnish their goods at prices so low that they are forced to have their goods manufactured outside of the US,thereby eliminating American jobs.They also have a terrible track record of how the employees are treated.There's a lot more,do some research.

Answer 2

Well...I agree that Walmart is the most convenient target for Economists and advocates for the poor when pointing out the lack of medical benefits, pay, and making it difficult for people to work in a safe environment.
Many other retail giants like Target and Kmart also underpay and are not a good environment for people to work in.

Unfortunately for the middle class and the poor who are trying to make ends meet, low end jobs with cheap labor are the only jobs they can find. This is really an exploitation of the American worker, who basically has no rights in the work force. It's all about capitalism and greed.

Walmart gets rich off the poor and middle class by importing low priced products to the consumer because they are a retail super giant by retail standards. Therefore, they can order in huge quantities from importers. Walmart calls the shots even with prices from importers.

It's unfortunate that Walmart is the company that sets the example and trends for the workplace in many areas. They are bad for towns they go into by putting smaller businesses out of business. They say they bring jobs, but that really isn't so. They may be fully staffed for the holidays, but go in the store at any other time of the year and they are working with very few people.

The only way this problem can be fixed of exploiting the poor and middle class is for the minimum wage to go up, and right now it should be about fifteen dollars an hour, in order to keep up with inflation, and also to stop hiring illegals who not only take the jobs from Americans, but they pay them less, which gives the government no reason to raise the minimum wage.

Walmart is also unfair to other retailers because the other retailers cannot do business on a huge import scale such as Walmart can. The other stores do not have as many stores in place, especially around the globe.

But it has been proven ( a study done by Walmart itself), that the chain saves the poor and middle class anywhere from two to four thousand dollars a year in groceries, clothing, etc..
This is because they sell products so cheap and can meet sales quotes from the competition. It is also known as the place to shop for consumers making thirty thousand or less per year.

So really, can you see who Walmart is exploiting????

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Answer 3

It is not that people see Walmart as being bad; it is simply the fact that several high ranking members who run Walmart have been accused and found guilty of using employees insurance money for their own gain among some other incidences.

Sam Walton did not start Walmart for it to be misused like this after his death.

Cons: Walmart does shut down a lot of family owned businesses in small towns and that is unfortunate for them. Towns with small businesses are now objecting to the building of Walmart in their community which I can totally understand.

I use Walmart to purchase toiletries and and lotions, otc medication that are cheaper (sometimes by 2.00). I do not make a lot of money but that has nothing to do with the reason I may or may not use Walmart. Some Walmart products are less expensive, but do not hold up as long as other name brands.
Good point you made, though.

Answer 4

Sure, Walmart may not be the model business, but its successful for a reason. Yes, they may price their items ridiculously low compared to other stores, but the "smaller" stores can try and use the same tactic Walmart does and buy in bulk and wholesale, then lower the prices to attract customers. Walmart is also supposedly "accused" of hiring illegal immigrants, but settled that for awhile, and who doesn't hire illegal immigrants anyways if they are willing to work cheap and effectively. But I really think it all boils down to the consumer. Yes, people can complain all they want about how Walmart's low prices is driving away the smaller businesses, but if you really look at the people who say that, its people how have the bulge in their wallet to be able to purchase more expensive goods. They are not the people who are struggling with their paychecks and managing families with financial burden. Not everyone has the luxury or the paycheck to shop at a higerh level retail store.

Answer 5

Wal-Mart's annual sales are larger than the entire Gross Domestic Product of 161 countries. [1] This puts it on a footing with foreign powers opposed to the United States. It can be viewed as a force of occupation.

If a Communist nation were to install supermarkets in the U.S., backed by Communist money, with the sole aim of overturning capitalist small business, would you expect the local businessman to view that as a fair competition? Wal-Mart presents a similar dilemma.

Wal-Mart is the number one employer in America. [2] (Number two is a temporary agency.) When a nation's biggest employers are also the worst, that is a serious problem.

I don't think it's so radical to say that, when a company has over 1.3 million employees, it should be treated differently. This really is "BIG" business we are talking about here. It is by no means a betrayal of capitalist values--which promote fair competition and independent business--to pull back the reigns on this beast.

Answer 6

Very simply put, Walmart is precisely the model of capitalism that you learn about in high school economics, which is why so many folks are turned off by it. We don't practice pure capitalism in the US (for example, see the Sherman Anti-Trust Act), and to see captialism practiced in the most pure form allowed by law makes a lot of people queasy. I think the real question is: Can pure capitalism be equitable? Or must it always be a zero-sum game?

Answer 7

I agree, they are using the typical embodiment of capitalism. But they go about it in a very deceptive and perverse way.

Obviously, they've managed to brainwash YOU into believing their products are American made. They aren't. But it's more than that.

Back in the 80's when Walmart began it's crusade to take over America, it was POLICY to build stores in small Midwestern towns in order to PURPOSEFULLY under-price the small Mom-and-Pop stores and force them out of business.

In most of these cases the economy disintegrated, livelihood was destroyed, and the people were forced to work in low-paying jobs at the store that just put them out of business.

Answer 8

WalMart went for Capitalism and has become a plantation owner and treating the hired help as slaves