John W.
The Great Depression of our age
Thu Jan 8 12:53:36 2004
67.1.155.93

http://www.unknownnews.net/040106d-jw.html
The Great Depression of our age
Response to Tess Ellis' Wal-Mart article
by John W.
Jan. 6, 2004

The link between Wal-Mart and overseas job loss is strong, if for no other reason than Wal-Mart is the largest corporation in the world. As a world business leader, based in the United States, it has a great deal of power over trends in outsourcing and trade agreements. Wal-Mart lobbies the politicians Tess blames for all these problems. Wal-Mart isn’t a spectator who merely capitalizes on legislation that mysteriously benefits them. They help write that legislation.

For further research and analysis to support the claim that Wal-Mart actively supports the destruction of American jobs and labor standards please refer to: LINK AND LINK

I agree that other companies also pay low wages and ship jobs overseas. They, along with Wal-Mart, are part of a trend in the U.S. that is disturbing. While job creation isn’t all that far behind where it should be, the nature of these jobs is educational. Good paying, skilled, middle-class jobs in technology and manufacturing with benefits are being replaced by low-wage, unskilled, service sector jobs with little or no benefits. And Tess raises an excellent point: How then do these companies expect people to pay for their goods and services? Simple: credit. Every store offers a credit card now. And most of them have no financing for a set period. That is a relatively new (10-15 years) development that correlates well with the timetable of so-called free trade expansion. In fact, Sam’s Club (owned by Wal-Mart) won’t accept major credit cards. It only accepts Sam’s credit cards or debit cards. They want to force you into their interest rate scheme.

I’m sure if Tess is old enough, she can remember when it was difficult to obtain a credit card. She remembers that if you walked into to an automobile dealership and said “I’d like one of your cars but I don’t want to give you a down payment for it” (or maybe a pittance for a down payment like $500 in today’s dollars) they would laugh you out of the show room. Today it’s possible. Of course, educated people know what the downside is: higher interest and a bigger price tag in the end, perhaps not even owning the car when the payments are finished (leasing). Every year, this country sets new records in private debt. And bankruptcies are a common thing now. In the past, if you declared bankruptcy, it was because you were ruined and it was a blemish on your name.

But what does all this mean? It means that instead of welfare we have a “benevolent” banking industry doing its best to make sure we can all afford what’s being produced overseas. It’s so easy to “afford” everything now. It only means being betrothed to banks until you can’t take it anymore, declaring bankruptcy and then getting in more debt (because you still can’t afford to live), for the next several years which cannot be discharged. Perhaps, then, you go back to school to get another degree (more debt that cannot be discharged only delayed) and this may or may not make you eligible for a good job. Sooner or later all the balls in the air that make this show possible will come down, along with the massive public debts now accruing. This, most likely, will be the Great Depression of our age.

Why is this happening? Multinational corporations, like Wal-Mart, consistently lobby to water down business regulatory standards. I’m sure, when you ask their public relations people, they agree with Tess’ reasoning. They are only one company doing what many others are doing. They cannot be responsible for all jobs lost to foreign workers. This is why we have a government. If it doesn’t regulate the whole of business, who will? And just because other companies or industries abuse fair play labor standards doesn’t absolve one from doing it, namely, in this case, Wal-Mart. But how can government tell the multinationals to play fair when it raises steel and timber tariffs and hands out huge subsidies to farmers? How is that a level playing field for other countries? And how can the government reign in the banking industry when it sails in a sea of red ink with no land in sight? Free trade is broken. It must be fixed by limiting the influence of business and holding executives accountable for decisions that affect millions of workers.
=John W.=
After a weekend of heavy-duty hate mail, your reasoned response is more refreshing than a beer after work. I’ll be curious to see Tess’s response.

To me, there’s little question that the whole economic system in America is remarkably corrupt, a version of robber-baronism that bears little resemblance to the kind of capitalism I believe in. Instead of being held in check by fair regulations, giant corporations write a check to purchase exactly the regulation they want — sham regulation, generally.

As this has been going on for decades, there are now fewer and fewer places where anyone can purchase anything in good conscience. And that’s the dilemma my husband and I face: Where can we spend our small grocery budget without feeling guilty?

Wal-Mart has mastered America’s crooked, despicable system better than any other corporation, but there are fewer and fewer real alternatives. Safeway and Albertson's, Target and Sears and et cetera are barely better than Wal-Mart, but more to the point they’re trying their damnedest to be Wal-Mart. So you’re supporting robber-barons almost anywhere you shop for groceries and sundries, unless you’re lucky enough to have a Mom and Pop store in your vicinity.
=H&HH=

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