May 2024 Photo Theme - Peaceful
- Antigone - May 5, 2024 - 5:06pm
USA! USA! USA!
- R_P - May 5, 2024 - 4:50pm
Bug Reports & Feature Requests
- thisbody - May 5, 2024 - 4:38pm
Trump
- thisbody - May 5, 2024 - 4:12pm
Israel
- thisbody - May 5, 2024 - 4:02pm
The Abortion Wars
- thisbody - May 5, 2024 - 3:27pm
Those Lovable Policemen
- R_P - May 5, 2024 - 3:12pm
The Obituary Page
- Red_Dragon - May 5, 2024 - 2:53pm
Joe Biden
- Steely_D - May 5, 2024 - 2:16pm
Radio Paradise Comments
- Bill_J - May 5, 2024 - 1:34pm
Ukraine
- thisbody - May 5, 2024 - 12:33pm
What Are You Going To Do Today?
- GeneP59 - May 5, 2024 - 12:07pm
NY Times Strands
- geoff_morphini - May 5, 2024 - 10:13am
NYTimes Connections
- geoff_morphini - May 5, 2024 - 10:07am
Wordle - daily game
- geoff_morphini - May 5, 2024 - 10:02am
volcano!
- geoff_morphini - May 5, 2024 - 9:55am
Song of the Day
- DaveInSaoMiguel - May 5, 2024 - 9:26am
Today in History
- DaveInSaoMiguel - May 5, 2024 - 7:42am
Tesla (motors, batteries, etc)
- miamizsun - May 5, 2024 - 6:16am
Russia
- NoEnzLefttoSplit - May 5, 2024 - 12:03am
Global Warming
- NoEnzLefttoSplit - May 4, 2024 - 11:52pm
What can you hear right now?
- Isabeau - May 4, 2024 - 5:25pm
Favorite Quotes
- Isabeau - May 4, 2024 - 5:21pm
What Did You See Today?
- Antigone - May 4, 2024 - 4:17pm
Anti-War
- R_P - May 4, 2024 - 3:24pm
Iran
- Red_Dragon - May 4, 2024 - 12:03pm
Live Music
- oldviolin - May 4, 2024 - 11:18am
Other Medical Stuff
- kurtster - May 4, 2024 - 10:24am
SCOTUS
- Steely_D - May 4, 2024 - 8:04am
Dialing 1-800-Manbird
- oldviolin - May 3, 2024 - 4:51pm
The Dragons' Roost
- GeneP59 - May 3, 2024 - 3:53pm
Name My Band
- oldviolin - May 3, 2024 - 3:04pm
RightWingNutZ
- islander - May 3, 2024 - 11:55am
Photography Forum - Your Own Photos
- MrDill - May 3, 2024 - 11:41am
Poetry Forum
- oldviolin - May 3, 2024 - 9:46am
What the hell OV?
- oldviolin - May 3, 2024 - 9:36am
• • • The Once-a-Day • • •
- oldviolin - May 3, 2024 - 9:24am
Lyrics that strike a chord today...
- R_P - May 3, 2024 - 7:54am
Derplahoma!
- sunybuny - May 3, 2024 - 4:56am
Unquiet Minds - Mental Health Forum
- miamizsun - May 3, 2024 - 4:36am
What Makes You Laugh?
- miamizsun - May 3, 2024 - 4:31am
Main Mix Playlist
- R567 - May 3, 2024 - 12:06am
Who Killed The Electric Car??? -- The Movie
- KurtfromLaQuinta - May 2, 2024 - 9:51pm
If not RP, what are you listening to right now?
- oldviolin - May 2, 2024 - 5:56pm
What Makes You Sad?
- thisbody - May 2, 2024 - 3:35pm
songs that ROCK!
- thisbody - May 2, 2024 - 3:07pm
Breaking News
- thisbody - May 2, 2024 - 2:57pm
Questions.
- oldviolin - May 2, 2024 - 9:13am
And the good news is....
- Bill_J - May 1, 2024 - 6:30pm
Things you would be grating food for
- Manbird - May 1, 2024 - 3:58pm
Economix
- black321 - May 1, 2024 - 12:19pm
I Heart Huckabee - NOT!
- Manbird - Apr 30, 2024 - 7:49pm
Democratic Party
- R_P - Apr 30, 2024 - 4:01pm
Oh, The Stupidity
- haresfur - Apr 30, 2024 - 3:30pm
Talk Behind Their Backs Forum
- VV - Apr 30, 2024 - 1:46pm
Canada
- black321 - Apr 30, 2024 - 1:37pm
Mixtape Culture Club
- miamizsun - Apr 30, 2024 - 7:02am
Food
- Bill_J - Apr 29, 2024 - 7:46pm
New Music
- ScottFromWyoming - Apr 29, 2024 - 11:36am
Upcoming concerts or shows you can't wait to see
- ScottFromWyoming - Apr 29, 2024 - 8:34am
Photos you haven't taken of yourself
- Antigone - Apr 29, 2024 - 5:03am
Britain
- R_P - Apr 28, 2024 - 10:47am
Birthday wishes
- GeneP59 - Apr 28, 2024 - 9:56am
Would you drive this car for dating with ur girl?
- KurtfromLaQuinta - Apr 27, 2024 - 9:53pm
Classical Music
- miamizsun - Apr 27, 2024 - 1:23pm
LeftWingNutZ
- Lazy8 - Apr 27, 2024 - 12:46pm
Things You Thought Today
- Red_Dragon - Apr 27, 2024 - 12:17pm
The Moon
- KurtfromLaQuinta - Apr 26, 2024 - 9:08pm
April 2024 Photo Theme - Happenstance
- fractalv - Apr 26, 2024 - 8:59pm
Musky Mythology
- Red_Dragon - Apr 26, 2024 - 7:23pm
Mini Meetups - Post Here!
- Red_Dragon - Apr 26, 2024 - 4:02pm
Australia has Disappeared
- Red_Dragon - Apr 26, 2024 - 2:41pm
Radio Paradise sounding better recently
- firefly6 - Apr 26, 2024 - 10:39am
Neil Young
- Steely_D - Apr 26, 2024 - 9:20am
Country Up The Bumpkin
- KurtfromLaQuinta - Apr 26, 2024 - 9:01am
|
Index »
Entertainment »
Movies »
Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price
|
Page: Previous 1, 2, 3, 4 ... 9, 10, 11 Next |
aflanigan
Location: At Sea Gender:
|
Posted:
Feb 9, 2009 - 12:13pm |
|
Beaker wrote:
Platt's puff piece on Walmart is interesting if rather one-sided. I have to wonder how "undercover" Platt really was.
Platt admits that the inspiration for his stunt was Barbara Ehrenreichs' book Nickel and Dimed, in which she attempted to live on minimum wage jobs, including a weeks long stint at a Walmart store in Minnesota. He suspects Ehrenreich of having a "preconceived agenda", and tags her book as a "denunciation of the free market". Um, I'm not sure what book Platt read, but the main point Ehrenreich tried to make was how hard (practically impossible) it is for an adult in the US to live on a minimum wage job. She actually tried to make ends meet while working at Walmart and doing other low wage jobs (like cleaning service jobs). She also talked to her coworkers about their struggles to make ends meet working such low wage jobs. I don't remember the book being a "denunciation of the free market", unless you consider any criticism of a well known retailer to constitute "denunciation" of capitalism.
Platt basically concedes Ehrenreich's point: "My starting wage was so low (around $7 per hour), a modest increment still didn't leave me with enough to live on comfortably". By "comfortably" he presumably means consuming at least 2500 calories a day and having a bed to sleep in with a roof over it, being able to own at least one set of clothes and shoes, etc.
I have to wonder how "undercover" Platt was, and how much effort he put into researching this article. Did he talk to his coworkers like Ehrenreich did? Did he seek independent sources for information about Walmart (like what their average wage is, actual overtime policies followed around the country, etc) or just use stufff spoonfed to him by Walmart's publicity dept.?
Here's an interesting email dialogue between Ehrenreich and an economist regarding low wage jobs, Walmart, and the US economy:
IS WALMART GOOD FOR THE AMERICAN WORKING CLASS?
BTW although Ehrenreich's book is still in print, you can't order it ONLINE at Walmart.com, nor can you find it in their stores.
|
|
Servo
Location: Down on the Farm Gender:
|
Posted:
Jul 26, 2008 - 9:17pm |
|
manbirdexperiment wrote:
It might be only a very poor choice for a company name, but even then I'd take information from a source called "freebase" with a cow lick of salt! I have to admit that having the blind luck of purchasing a few hundred shares of Wal-Mart back when it was a small regional chain has benefited me greatly. Even as a Wal-Mart shareholder, I have been against things like increased reliance on a hard-core Communist regime for the things that we buy. I've always maintained that the better-built product is also the less expensive one in the long run. And I'm all for a living wage. What I don't see is the rationale about why this is (allegedly) all Wal-Mart's fault. Was Sam Walton along for the ride when Nixon made his historic visits to China? Is there any evidence that Wal-Mart lobbyists are solely responsible for the US trade policies that have abandoned the free Chinese people in Taiwan, and opened the door to a flood of lead-filled junk made by political prisoners and children? (Ironically the only place where the Communist Chinese skimp on lead is in their lead-acid batteries.) Or is Wal-Mart a convenient misdirection from the real bandits? Like the saying goes: "it takes two to tango". The people who purchased Communist-made goods when there were alternatives available have an equal share of the blame. And Wal-Mart is hardly the only store in the US that's selling red flag products, or paying slave wages to their workers. And when it comes to wages, the blame for that lies squarely on the shoulders of the constituents of the legislators who have failed to keep the minimum wage current over the years. Matters like that have always been a matter of public responsibility, from before the Industrial Revolution, through the Great Depression to present-day. If you never picked up a pen, licked a stamp and mailed a letter to your Representative and/or Senator, then you have not earned the right to point the finger of blame. That's my 2¢. (That costs 5¢ to mint...)
|
|
BlueHeronDruid
Location: Заебани сме луѓе
|
Posted:
Jul 26, 2008 - 6:24pm |
|
Leslie wrote:
OMG 100 stores showed up within my zip code area (they don't list distances, but it looks to be within a 50 miles radius of Antioch). Holy crap!
The nearest Walgreens by road is 30 miles from here. I think it's the only one on the north Olympic Peninsula. Not a CVS to be seen. Anywhere. But there are three Wal*marts within 30 miles by road. Wow.
|
|
Leslie
Location: Antioch, CA Gender:
|
Posted:
Jul 26, 2008 - 5:44pm |
|
JrzyTmata wrote:
holy crap! 43. I wonder how many CVSs?
OMG 100 stores showed up within my zip code area (they don't list distances, but it looks to be within a 50 miles radius of Antioch). Holy crap!
|
|
JrzyTmata
|
Posted:
Jul 26, 2008 - 5:35pm |
|
buzz wrote:
how many Walgreens? thats whats going up where the Delrando was
holy crap! 43. I wonder how many CVSs?
|
|
Leslie
Location: Antioch, CA Gender:
|
Posted:
Jul 26, 2008 - 5:29pm |
|
JrzyTmata wrote:
we're loaded with them. I just did a search for how many we actually have within 20 miles of my zip code. I would have guessed about 6 or 7. There's 20 of em.
There's 20 within 38 miles of my house!
|
|
buzz
Location: up the boohai
|
Posted:
Jul 26, 2008 - 5:27pm |
|
JrzyTmata wrote:
we're loaded with them. I just did a search for how many we actually have within 20 miles of my zip code. I would have guessed about 6 or 7. There's 20 of em.
how many Walgreens? thats whats going up where the Delrando was
|
|
JrzyTmata
|
Posted:
Jul 26, 2008 - 5:24pm |
|
ScottFromWyoming wrote:
Yowza.
I had no idea they were so prevalent in New England, all up and down the eastern seaboard in fact. Thought it was Arkansas west to Texas and up from there.
we're loaded with them. I just did a search for how many we actually have within 20 miles of my zip code. I would have guessed about 6 or 7. There's 20 of em.
|
|
hobiejoe
Location: Still in the tunnel, looking for the light. Gender:
|
Posted:
Jul 26, 2008 - 5:24pm |
|
ScottFromWyoming wrote:
Yowza.
I had no idea they were so prevalent in New England, all up and down the eastern seaboard in fact. Thought it was Arkansas west to Texas and up from there.
They follow the money. Lots of people spending a little bit of money each. Soon adds up. Ask Gus Gorman
|
|
ScottFromWyoming
Location: Powell Gender:
|
Posted:
Jul 26, 2008 - 5:12pm |
|
manbirdexperiment wrote:
Yowza. I had no idea they were so prevalent in New England, all up and down the eastern seaboard in fact. Thought it was Arkansas west to Texas and up from there.
|
|
Manbird
Location: ? ? ? Gender:
|
Posted:
Jul 26, 2008 - 4:50pm |
|
Frightening Data
Watching the Growth of Walmart Across America
|
|
R_P
Gender:
|
Posted:
Feb 6, 2007 - 3:43pm |
|
|
|
aflanigan
Location: At Sea Gender:
|
Posted:
Feb 6, 2007 - 1:48pm |
|
|
|
kurtster
Location: where fear is not a virtue Gender:
|
Posted:
Dec 14, 2006 - 9:58am |
|
|
|
emeraldrose63
|
Posted:
Dec 14, 2006 - 9:36am |
|
|
|
winter
Location: in exile, as always Gender:
|
Posted:
Dec 14, 2006 - 9:36am |
|
|
|
emeraldrose63
|
Posted:
Dec 14, 2006 - 9:32am |
|
|
|
emeraldrose63
|
Posted:
Dec 14, 2006 - 9:27am |
|
|
|
winter
Location: in exile, as always Gender:
|
Posted:
Dec 14, 2006 - 9:24am |
|
|
|
ScottFromWyoming
Location: Powell Gender:
|
Posted:
Dec 14, 2006 - 9:23am |
|
|
|
|