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You might consider it enshittification because it's not as cute as "Main Street" but in rural and impoverished areas Walmart brought affordable necessities -- l

You might consider it enshittification because it's not as cute as "Main Street" but in rural and impoverished areas Walmart brought affordable necessities -- like much cheaper groceries -- and real quality of life increases for people who otherwise would have simply had to do with much less. The lower prices that Walmart is able to offer actually do matter and have a material impact on people who are not rich.

deleted 3y ago
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sithadmin 3y ago
While you're not wrong, you also can't really ignore the knock-on negative effects of a major national chain moving in, undercutting local commerce, and piping a community's money away to a massive conglomerate. Local chains or independent shops are going to be reinvesting a higher percentage of their revenue in the local community. There's also the fact that Walmart is infamous for its vampiric strategy of stringing workers along on part-time schedules that guarantee poverty-level income to avoid benefit overhead costs, relying on local and national social safety net programs to keep their workers afloat. This sort of workforce and benefits management strategy isn't nearly as prevalent among independent and small-chain businesses.
imchillyb 3y ago
> “At a time when huge corporations like Walmart and McDonald’s are making billions in profits and giving their CEOs tens of millions of dollars a year, they’re relying on corporate welfare from the federal government by paying their workers starvation wages. That is morally obscene. U.S. taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize some of the largest and most profitable corporations in America. It is time for the owners of Walmart, McDonald’s and other large corporations to get off of welfare and pay their workers a living wage,” said Sanders. “No one in this country should live in poverty. No one should go hungry. No one should be unable to get the medical care they need. It is long past time to increase the federal minimum wage from a starvation wage of $7.25 an hour to $15, and guarantee health care to all Americans as a human right.” > Bernie Sanders > "Taxpayers Subsidize Poverty Wages at Walmart, McDonald’s, Other Large Corporations, GAO Finds" - November 18, 2020 > https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/taxpayers-subsidize-poverty-wages-at-walmart-mcdonalds-other-large-corporations-gao-finds/ https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/taxpayers-subs... GAO = Governmental Accounting Office. This 'enshittification' isn't some random internet goober decrying it. Enshittification and self-enrichment has been beaten to death on political trails, news, ted talks, social media, etc. You can believe whatever pie-in-the-sky bullshit you want. The dangers are real. You're covering up the rotten and stinking corpse of reality with scented semi-transparent tissue paper, with all that implied scenario would accomplish.
- gottorf 3y ago
  Please tone down the rhetoric ("You can believe whatever pie-in-the-sky bullshit you want"). We all come to HN for discourse, not a bar fight. As for what Bernie Sanders says, I'm sure that GP would agree with him that it is indeed wrong for the taxpayer to subsidize big companies. But consider that there are other ways for the taxpayer to stop this kind of subsidy, besides Sanders' "ponies for all" approach. We will benefit from rationally debating what the best way forward is, instead of shouting at those we disagree with.
NoGravitas 3y ago
Eh, those prices largely stayed low long enough to kill off local businesses, and then crept back up again. A Walmart also, on average, kills 3 local jobs for every 2 it creates. There's only so much every day low prices will help you when you're unemployed.

deleted 3y ago

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sithadmin 3y ago

While you're not wrong, you also can't really ignore the knock-on negative effects of a major national chain moving in, undercutting local commerce, and piping a community's money away to a massive conglomerate. Local chains or independent shops are going to be reinvesting a higher percentage of their revenue in the local community. There's also the fact that Walmart is infamous for its vampiric strategy of stringing workers along on part-time schedules that guarantee poverty-level income to avoid benefit overhead costs, relying on local and national social safety net programs to keep their workers afloat. This sort of workforce and benefits management strategy isn't nearly as prevalent among independent and small-chain businesses.

imchillyb 3y ago

> “At a time when huge corporations like Walmart and McDonald’s are making billions in profits and giving their CEOs tens of millions of dollars a year, they’re relying on corporate welfare from the federal government by paying their workers starvation wages. That is morally obscene. U.S. taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize some of the largest and most profitable corporations in America. It is time for the owners of Walmart, McDonald’s and other large corporations to get off of welfare and pay their workers a living wage,” said Sanders. “No one in this country should live in poverty. No one should go hungry. No one should be unable to get the medical care they need. It is long past time to increase the federal minimum wage from a starvation wage of $7.25 an hour to $15, and guarantee health care to all Americans as a human right.” > Bernie Sanders > "Taxpayers Subsidize Poverty Wages at Walmart, McDonald’s, Other Large Corporations, GAO Finds" - November 18, 2020 > https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/taxpayers-subsidize-poverty-wages-at-walmart-mcdonalds-other-large-corporations-gao-finds/ https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/taxpayers-subs... GAO = Governmental Accounting Office. This 'enshittification' isn't some random internet goober decrying it. Enshittification and self-enrichment has been beaten to death on political trails, news, ted talks, social media, etc. You can believe whatever pie-in-the-sky bullshit you want. The dangers are real. You're covering up the rotten and stinking corpse of reality with scented semi-transparent tissue paper, with all that implied scenario would accomplish.

gottorf 3y ago
Please tone down the rhetoric ("You can believe whatever pie-in-the-sky bullshit you want"). We all come to HN for discourse, not a bar fight. As for what Bernie Sanders says, I'm sure that GP would agree with him that it is indeed wrong for the taxpayer to subsidize big companies. But consider that there are other ways for the taxpayer to stop this kind of subsidy, besides Sanders' "ponies for all" approach. We will benefit from rationally debating what the best way forward is, instead of shouting at those we disagree with.

NoGravitas 3y ago

Eh, those prices largely stayed low long enough to kill off local businesses, and then crept back up again. A Walmart also, on average, kills 3 local jobs for every 2 it creates. There's only so much every day low prices will help you when you're unemployed.