Time to end a boycott of Walmart?

Since Sam died nothing can convince me to shop at the store that shall remain nameless (0.00 / 0)

I used to make an exception and pop in on for last minute stocking stuffers for St. Nicholas Day, 6 December. I think the news in 2003 of hiring of undocumented aliens, with Eastern European last names, was the last straw for me.

I read the OpenLeft post last night myself. The argument that the price pressure that W@!M@&# puts on "organic" makes the farmers cut corners was persuasive. The example of Horizon getting the dairy contract, and how their cows are not pastured and grass fed, bolstered my resolve. They think the DFH community is teh stoopid.

In the beginning, employees shared in the company success with stock grants. I admire the business model of just-in-time inventory that turns merchandise around in 3 days on the 30 day float. The figure about how much each super store, employing 200 workers but costing the state around $2100 per worker in subsidies for low income assistance, was the nail in the coffin. W@!M@&# is now the suck.

When Sam started W@!M@&# it was to save the Arkansas shirt manufacturer. Now they are one of the 18 families behind repealing the Paris Hilton [estate] tax. The company mission has gone from Buy American to Fund My Trust Baby. If by progressive you mean making progress for the American worker's share of the bounty that is America, and opposing the growing influence of corporations, I say FAIL.

NFTT: Support My Team or I Will Dance

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by: CA Berkeley WV @ Wed Dec 31, 2008 at 16:01:03 PM UTC

boycotting Walmart (4.00 / 1)

I don't care how "green" Walmart becomes.  Huge corporations are decimating the economy and culture of communities all over the country.

Samll businesses are going under with  unprecedented speed due to people shopping with these nonentity behemoths.  The money they spend goes into corporate coffers at some distant location, never to return to the communities that spent the money with them, other than the pittance they pay to locally hired people.

Its not just Walmart. Its hardware, books, clothing.  The list goes on and on.  I have decided to shop only locally.  If I can't get it that way, then I will do without.

Yes, I might have to spend a little more intially, but if enough people vowed to shop local only, the economic health of our communites would eventually return, and we would all benefit.  Local businesses would grow and would be able to hire more people at better wages, and a national healthcare system for small businesses would be inevitable

Think globally!  Act locally!

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by: Frog Creek Books @ Wed Dec 31, 2008 at 20:25:00 PM UTC

Walmart (4.00 / 1)

I tend to agree with the previous posters. What Walmart  does to small town America, intentional or not, is very ugly and a likely contribution to our current economic woes. However, and it's a big however, I have several very progressive friends who will occasionally shop at Walmart for reasons of their own. Those reasons include because there are no other "local" choices anymore... so Mission Accomplished Walmart, I guess, AND the fact that you can be both poor and progressive. I know we all understand that, but it bears stating the fact. Walmart is sometimes cheaper and progressives often don't take the jobs, the work, or the drive to the store that they wouldn't otherwise be caught dead in except for the other choices they have made that actually make them progressives.
So, no, I won't shop there. But I'm not going to judge people that do. We should have this conversation!

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by: bluebird @ Thu Jan 01, 2009 at 21:50:06 PM UTC

I think we need to ask ourselves this question, (4.00 / 1)

 "Are we no longer willing to sacrifice in order to make the world a better place?"  If Southern blacks had not been willing to walk, rather than ride the buses that said they should be in the back, where would they be now?  They took a stand, and said NO! Where would we be if students had not been willing to be tear gassed, and even shot, in order to end the war in Vietnam?

Is this what it has come to?  That we won't shop at Walmart "unless" some other store doesn't carry our favorite coffee, or Walmart is the only store with Wii. Or because we can save a few bucks.

Hey, I used to use the excuse that Walmart was the only store that carried my favorite oatmeal.

No more. No more.  

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by: Frog Creek Books @ Fri Jan 02, 2009 at 22:58:19 PM UTC

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