In a message dated 9/18/2004 11:37:05 AM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
do love the trumping of CostCo, though. It kind of proves my point. CostCo has the wealthiest demographics of any of the large discount chains, by a huge amount. CostCo is basically the rich man's WalMart. So of course limousine liberals like it - they shop at CostCo. It's those icky poor people who shop at WalMart. So have you ever actually been to Costco? If you had you would know that your statement about the stores customers is absurd. No limos lined up outside. SUVs minivans. Same cars as outside Home Depo or Lowes. Inside working class people with kids. This is not the Bloomies crowd. They sell the same toilet paper cat food and frozen burger patties as any other discount store. People go there because the quality is reasonable, the prices are good the stores are clean and the employess are helpful. They seem to take genuine pride in their work. They are well compensated as far as I know and are treated with respect. I have also been to Walmart. I have nothing against the store or the people in them. So let me ask you directly. What is your proof that dislike of WalMart equates with dislike of poor people? It fits your stereotype and so it is convenient to blow off someone else's opinion as bigotry. I would suggest that if you actually went to the various discount stores you would find that the peope are all pretty much the same. The products do value in quality. Costco and Target have good stuff that is well presented in stores that are bright and organized with employess that are helpful. In my experience this is not always true for WalMart or KMart. WalMart is (for example) according to a McKinsey study, responsible for (I believe) _20%_ of the growth in US productivity in the 1990s. Not WalMart and its competitors. Just WalMart all by itself. WalMart may be the last major company in America where a high school graduate can get a six figure salary - because everyone at WalMart starts out on the floor and works their way up. How many high school grads make 6 figure salaries at WalMart? And by the way how do you know that locking employess into stores and discriminating against women does not represent company policy? Why do a suite of abusive practices occur in one discount retailer and not others. At a minimum there is a culture that sacfrices humane behavior in order to increase profits. At worst it is intentional. I tend to think that the leaders of company are responsible. If they don't know that bad shit is happening they should. People do not keep quiet about such things. I think they know but approve, don't care or ratioanlize the behvarior. Your response reminds me of the whole Iraqi prison abuse debacle. Just a few bad apples or a few confused supervisors.Yeah right. I actually think this may be another reason the chattering classes don't like it, actually, because it degrades the value of the educational credentials that they tend to confuse with moral worth. Are you serious? You think that people think this way? What planet do you live on? Most of the "chattering classes" (whatever this means) probably don't know about how people can get ahead at WalMart. I have never in my life have ever heard anyone say or imply that we have to protect the value of education by preventing uneducated people from making good. WalMart does more to get the poor and lower middle class in this country cheap (and high quality) food, clothing, and basic necessities than every charitable organization combined, and the growth of WalMart has done more for the well-being of the poor in America than any economic program of my lifetime. And where is the proof of this? That they are big and provide goods at low price? Could not this be done without abusive treatment of employees? Maybe is WalMart did not use abusive techniques other retailers could have competed and provided the same services in a humane manner. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
