Yes

by Jack Merridew

Created on: July 01, 2011

As Wal-Mart recently succeeded in evading a lawsuit from an entire gender, it seems the right time for society to bring a unified indictment against the Bentonville, Arkansas company. But in so doing, do we bring an indictment against America? For what, other than apple pie and baseball, can be so easily branded "American" as Wal-Mart? You will see that only a skeleton of anything American remains in Sam Walton's former company.

One can hardly expect now, looking out at the 185,000 square foot monster-stores dotting 3,619 separate locations, that Wal-Mart started as the very "mom and pop" store their existence has doomed to obsolescence. "Walton's Five and Dime" still stands in downtown Bentonville as a museum of Wal-Mart's innocent past. Directed now from an abrupt, red brick building in the same city, Wal-mart netted $15.35 billion dollars in income for fiscal year 2011, nearly the entire economy of Nicaragua. Wal-Mart is the largest company in the world in terms of revenue, and has spread to 15 different countries. Wal-Mart saves families, on average, $2,500 a year, and bolsters the U.S. economy with 210,000 jobs. Wal-Mart also strengthened charities and food banks with $467 million dollars in generous contributions for 2010. And while the benefit of superior prices, and widespread convenience is extraordinary, Wal-Mart remains a menace to our country.

A STRONG ECONOMY SANS WAL-MART

To look at the phenomenon that is Wal-Mart, we will imagine a city called Pepperville: a quaint suburban community, thriving on its farmers markets, local art scene, and immaculate downtown boutiques. With few large cities nearby, Pepperville has had to remain locally-grown. Nearby wonders, scenic mountains, and no traffic congestion to speak of make Pepperville a locale frequented by tourists. Cities nearby, less concerned with independent culture and more concerned with business and revenue, have integrated Wal-Mart into their economies. Few denizens of Pepperville make the drive to the far-away retailer, as the gas needed to get there already depletes any savings one could preserve by making the trip.

AN ABRUPT CHANGE

All at once, depositing their earth-moving gear onto a vacant field, construction crews break ground on the new Pepperville Wal-Mart Supercenter. Set to encompass 200,000 square feet of floor space, the new mall of discount goods and fluorescent lighting is lifted in a hasty three months. Roads all around the new center must be torn apart and extra lanes must be added, the bill being gleefully subsidized by local lawmakers. Wal-Mart fleeces communities of tax revenue by agreeing to bring jobs into the area, in exchange for state tax rebates, and construction subsidies. Where salaries for police officers and teachers could have been augmented, local funds instead are horded into a welcome fund for Wal-Mart.

YOUR "ONE-STOP SHOP", BY DEFAULT

As months go by in once-fair Pepperville, downtown lights go out. Small businesses come out of the woodwork to combat Wal-Mart to generate at least a shred of the profits they earned before. As Wal-Mart is a "one-stop shop", and have their hands in the affairs of so many manufacturing businesses, the wares of the small-time stores begin to look rather expensive when compared to the reasonable deals of Wal-Mart. A study by Kenneth Stone of Iowa State University ["Kenneth Stone's Home Page, Impact of the Wal-Mart Phenomenon on Rural Communities"] found that businesses in small towns can have fifty percent of their retail trade diminish within ten years when a Wal-Mart moves in next door. With fewer and fewer concerned local businesses rejuvenating the economy with donations to neighborhood clubs, schools and shelters, services kept alive by generosity cease to exist.

POVERTY LEVEL WAGES

With Wal-Mart massacring local competition, wages plummet. Family owned retailers only looking to live comfortably and continue a family heritage pay generously; Wal-Mart pays to drive profits. An average Wal-Mart wage is $8.81 across the country, allowing an average work week of 32 hours and positively no overtime. Bargaining is a laughable concept in the Wal-Mart culture, as unions are not allowed, and promotions are rare and gender biased. A shame for Pepperville really, as Wal-Mart could offers its denizens wages of $12 an hour without passing more than a dollar of increase in prices to its customers per trip.

OUTSOURCING

Manufacturing jobs in and around Pepperville slowly empty out, as Wal-Mart's manipulation of overseas labor puts Americans out of work. Perfectly ripe fruits harvested by local farmers, grown hardly a mile away, are left off of Wal-Mart's shelves, where discounted foreign fruits wait for purchase instead. And as for the lies mass-advertised about Wal-Mart's products being "Made in the U.S.A." , these are debunked by PBS: "85 percent of the stores' items are made overseas, often in Third World sweatshops. In fact, only after Wal-Mart's 'Buy American' ad campaign was in full swing did the company become the country's largest importer of Chinese goods in any industry." [PBS-"Store Wars"].

UNION-BUSTING

The frustration resulting from lack of recognition for good work, and appropriate pay turn into all-out dissension for the workers of Pepperville. As they gather together at a local pizza parlor to discuss unionizing, talk turns to heroic ideas of strikes, lawsuits, and demands; little do they know that Wal-Mart operates much like the KGB. Informants chosen by Wal-Mart managers are sent to sit in on these meetings and report back all who are involved. The sole Wal-Mart store to ever unionize was located in Jonquie`re, Quebec; it lasted for five months before Wal-Mart cruelly closed the store, terminating all employees. This sad situation overtakes Pepperville Wal-Mart after a 51% vote passes the right of the employees to unionize. The store is purged of all products, fixtures, signs and billboards, and stands a blank 200,000 square foot building; this and the stretches of unsightly blacktop are all that remain of Pepperville Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart is an unfortunate cancer of the American economic body, diverting wealth away from cities, states, and eventually, countries. The conundrum we face is: do the savings on our grocery and sundry items offer us reprieve from the economic devastation Wal-Mart brings?

Learn more about this author, Jack Merridew.
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