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Walmart is able to provide cheap goods because it can strong-arm providers into taking a loss or operating at a break-even point just for the chance to sell at

Walmart is able to provide cheap goods because it can strong-arm providers into taking a loss or operating at a break-even point just for the chance to sell at Walmart. It can also provide cheap goods because they pay their workers jack shit and instruct employees to use government subsidized healthcare and insurance. It's totally possible to provide good pay, healthcare, etc... to employees, still have healthy enough margin % to make Wall Street happy, keep the C-Suite well paid, all while providing a great service at competitive prices to consumers. Maybe not enough to enrich the owners to a quarter trillion dollars in net worth, but plenty enough to keep the ship going. Case in point: CostCo. Whole Foods prior to Amazon was another.

WalterBright 3y ago
1. Nobody makes providers sell thru Walmart. 2. Nobody makes anyone buy from Walmart. 3. Nobody makes anyone work for Walmart. 4. Anybody is free to spin up a competitor to Walmart. 5. Walmart is not responsible for government wealth transfer programs. > It's totally possible to provide [...] You and anyone else are free to do so.
- NickC25 3y ago
  Have you ever been to a small town in America? Outside of a few regions, Walmart is all they have...so that sort of nixes points 2 and 3. Regarding point 4, and your quoting of me - yes, people have. And some have been lucky in that they've made themselves multigenerational wealth in doing so. The guy who founded Costco did it, and made himself over a billion dollars. However, the Waltons have hundreds of times that amount. You can make a billion by doing right by everyone, or hundreds of billions by doing right by everyone not named you. I know what number I'd be content with, not sure about you though. (Hint: if you give me a billion dollars, I'm retiring tomorrow) Regarding point 5, Walmart IS however responsible for spending vast amounts of money (generational money) over the years to enact some pretty anti consumer and anti worker laws throughout the country. It IS responsible for funding some crazy far-right politicians. It IS responsible for paying its workers so little that they are "encouraged" to go on food stamps and apply for section 8 housing.
  - WalterBright 3y ago
    > Have you ever been to a small town in America? Outside of a few regions, Walmart is all they have...so that sort of nixes points 2 and 3. Yeah, I've lived in them. My dad was in the AF, and (to save money) my parents would shop on the nearest AF base, which was maybe 30 miles away. They'd go once every 2 weeks or so and fill up the car with groceries. The indisputable point is people prefer to shop at Walmart. Nobody makes them. Name one "far right" law Walmart got enacted.
    - Apocryphon 3y ago
      It lobbies just like any other corporate giant. https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/issues?cycle=2023&id=D000000367 https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/issues?... https://www.huffpost.com/entry/walmart-lobbyists_b_3632526 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/walmart-lobbyists_b_3632526 On the far right front, here's what I found: https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Walmart_and_Politics https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Walmart_and_Politics https://www.ufcw.org/press-releases/new-report-on-political-contributions-underscores-walmarts-sharp-turn-to-the-right/ https://www.ufcw.org/press-releases/new-report-on-political-... > A new report issued Tuesday shows that Walmart and the Walton family that founded and controls the company have dramatically increased their political contributions over the last decade and that the vast majority of those contributions have gone to Republicans and right-wing causes, including anti-gay, anti-environment and pro-gun politicians and causes. The report asserts that Walmart, the world’s largest private employer, and the Walton family have spent over $17 million in federal elections and millions more on state and local initiatives. Since the 2000 election cycle, more than $11.6 million—69% of Walmart and the Waltons’ contributions—has gone to Republican candidates and committees. At the same time, 83% of the Waltons’ contributions, including their contributions to Super PACs, went to Republicans. > The report further underscores Walmart and the Waltons’ turn to the right and shows that political contributions doesn’t simply stop at supporting Republicans; in 2008, Jim Walton gave $75,000 to the Arkansas Family Council Action Committee, which at the time was supporting a ballot measure to prevent gay families from adopting. Meanwhile, 94% of the Walton family’s contributions to candidates from 2000 to 2012 went to those who were opposed to or silent on the issue of marriage equality. The report is archived here: https://web.archive.org/web/20130715154825/http://makingchange.forrespect.org/files/2013/06/Political-Giving-Analysis-Jun-2013.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20130715154825/http://makingchan...

WalterBright 3y ago

1. Nobody makes providers sell thru Walmart. 2. Nobody makes anyone buy from Walmart. 3. Nobody makes anyone work for Walmart. 4. Anybody is free to spin up a competitor to Walmart. 5. Walmart is not responsible for government wealth transfer programs. > It's totally possible to provide [...] You and anyone else are free to do so.

NickC25 3y ago
Have you ever been to a small town in America? Outside of a few regions, Walmart is all they have...so that sort of nixes points 2 and 3. Regarding point 4, and your quoting of me - yes, people have. And some have been lucky in that they've made themselves multigenerational wealth in doing so. The guy who founded Costco did it, and made himself over a billion dollars. However, the Waltons have hundreds of times that amount. You can make a billion by doing right by everyone, or hundreds of billions by doing right by everyone not named you. I know what number I'd be content with, not sure about you though. (Hint: if you give me a billion dollars, I'm retiring tomorrow) Regarding point 5, Walmart IS however responsible for spending vast amounts of money (generational money) over the years to enact some pretty anti consumer and anti worker laws throughout the country. It IS responsible for funding some crazy far-right politicians. It IS responsible for paying its workers so little that they are "encouraged" to go on food stamps and apply for section 8 housing.
- WalterBright 3y ago
  > Have you ever been to a small town in America? Outside of a few regions, Walmart is all they have...so that sort of nixes points 2 and 3. Yeah, I've lived in them. My dad was in the AF, and (to save money) my parents would shop on the nearest AF base, which was maybe 30 miles away. They'd go once every 2 weeks or so and fill up the car with groceries. The indisputable point is people prefer to shop at Walmart. Nobody makes them. Name one "far right" law Walmart got enacted.
  - Apocryphon 3y ago
    It lobbies just like any other corporate giant. https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/issues?cycle=2023&id=D000000367 https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/issues?... https://www.huffpost.com/entry/walmart-lobbyists_b_3632526 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/walmart-lobbyists_b_3632526 On the far right front, here's what I found: https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Walmart_and_Politics https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Walmart_and_Politics https://www.ufcw.org/press-releases/new-report-on-political-contributions-underscores-walmarts-sharp-turn-to-the-right/ https://www.ufcw.org/press-releases/new-report-on-political-... > A new report issued Tuesday shows that Walmart and the Walton family that founded and controls the company have dramatically increased their political contributions over the last decade and that the vast majority of those contributions have gone to Republicans and right-wing causes, including anti-gay, anti-environment and pro-gun politicians and causes. The report asserts that Walmart, the world’s largest private employer, and the Walton family have spent over $17 million in federal elections and millions more on state and local initiatives. Since the 2000 election cycle, more than $11.6 million—69% of Walmart and the Waltons’ contributions—has gone to Republican candidates and committees. At the same time, 83% of the Waltons’ contributions, including their contributions to Super PACs, went to Republicans. > The report further underscores Walmart and the Waltons’ turn to the right and shows that political contributions doesn’t simply stop at supporting Republicans; in 2008, Jim Walton gave $75,000 to the Arkansas Family Council Action Committee, which at the time was supporting a ballot measure to prevent gay families from adopting. Meanwhile, 94% of the Walton family’s contributions to candidates from 2000 to 2012 went to those who were opposed to or silent on the issue of marriage equality. The report is archived here: https://web.archive.org/web/20130715154825/http://makingchange.forrespect.org/files/2013/06/Political-Giving-Analysis-Jun-2013.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20130715154825/http://makingchan...