Consumer's Evil Empire - Final

Where we choose to shop is an integral part of daily life. Our shopping experiences lead us to favor and dislike certain brands and retailers. Today, we are seeing the expansion of major big box retailers; stores that sell a wide array of goods for every reach of daily life. The biggest of them all is Wal-Mart. Each Wal-Mart Supercenter is a concrete monstrosity selling food, electronic gadgets, personal (and animal) care and cleaning products, furniture, auto parts, even clothes. These stores really have become one-stop shopping centers. Many of us admire these places because they have revolutionized shopping. No longer do we need to drive around town picking up each item we need. Just head on down to Wal-Mart. Despite these positive features, one must realize that Wal-Mart and retailers like them are overpowering our nation. Their prices are so low that they drive competitors out of business, they compensate employees poorly and do not pay proper benefits, and most of all they are supporting our throwaway society. We need to see through the prices and realize that we are not saving in the end.

Wal-Mart has approximately 3,400 stores in the US, with an average store size of 165,000 square feet. In 2005, Wal-Mart recorded 312 billion dollars in sales from their more than 6,200 facilities across the globe (Wiki). These numbers indicate that Wal-Mart is a major factor in our retail world, and that they continue to expand become an unavoidable force. As each new Supercenter opens with claims of new jobs and a big positive impact on the local economy, we seldom realize the true effect of these stores. Each store does offer a great number of jobs, but they do not answer at what expense the jobs come. A new store is going to have a huge impact on the local economy, but the impact will not be as impressive as Wal-Mart claims. Each new store will put a handful of local retailers out of business, further increasing unemployment. These small retailers are unable to compete with the sheer scale of Wal-Mart. Buying in bulk always lowers prices, and buying bulk to stock over 6,000 stores means prices hit rock bottom. No mom-and-pop retailer can compete with these low prices, and thus forced out of business. Therefore, while Wal-Mart claims new jobs, the now unemployed workers of the town will fill many of these positions. Is that a positive effect on the community?

As these employees shift allegiance from their own businesses to Wal-Mart, they miss their onetime benefits most have come to enjoy. To avoid having to pay benefits, Wal-Mart creates schedules to limit the hours of their employees. Anything below 32 hours a week, they consider part-time, and as a part time employee, an employer is not required to pay benefits. Therefore, Wal-Mart knowingly creates thousands of part time positions to further neglect their employees and their towns.

You could imagine Wal-Mart as the elementary school bully going up against the small underdeveloped kid. The bully comes from a wealthy family and has no need for anything else, but that bully still has the desire to make others miserable. He is going to go out and punch every kid in the face to get his or her lunch money. He does not care where the kids come from, nor whether they have much or not; he knocks them out without discrimination. He is never punished because his parents are major contributors to the school, and if the administration were to punish him, their funding would fall and they would not be able to continue running their upstanding institution.

If we were to parallel this example to our country, we find it very true. Wal-Mart does have everything they need, but they continue to expand. They go after helpless towns that cannot fight, and when picked upon stand no chance. Our government is the administration; one that is afraid to act upon the corporation because the tax revenue the government gains from them is a major chunk of our budget. If the administration were to impose higher taxes on Wal-Mart, our administration would cease to exist by the next election because of the influence Wal-Mart and their leaders have in influencing our policy. So, what is the solution?

“’Why didn’t you give the new administration time to act?’ The only answer I can give to this inquiry is that the new administration must be prodded about as much as the outgoing one before it acts” (369). While Martin Luther King Jr. was referencing the administration to their opposition to change during the Civil Rights movement, we find ourselves in a similar, but much less violent position. We ask: how can we take down this giant? The solution is to stop feeding it. For many this is a difficult task because they themselves are on Wal-Mart's pay roll, and their reduced wages makes them dependent on the always-low prices. What we must realize is that while the prices are low, the impact Wal-Mart has had on our quality of life is huge. If we are able to hold off on the luxuries and scale back to save our income, we can overcome the claims of a Wal-Mart. For those of us with sufficient income, the answer is simple: Do not shop at Wal-Mart. If you would like to step your convictions a step further, you can boycott the many brands Wal-Mart carries. This may be a difficult stand, but if we are able to cut down their bottom line, they will see that there ways are not working. If we cut them down far enough, their influence on our politics will decrease because our revenue from their bottom line will not have as much of a profound effect on our bottom line. If we step away from their smiling yellow face, maybe we can then bring our own smiles back.

These boycotts start with regular people like you and I. If we can work together and change our shopping habits, we can change how we do business America. I myself have never purchased an item from Wal-Mart. I have visited a few of their stores on occasion, but that was for entertainment and to fulfill an assignment. I have seen how unhappy the shoppers and employees are, letting me know that no one is truly happy with what Wal-Mart has done. In any situation where you feel there is an injustice, you must revolt and rise up against your foe. Together we can make a difference.

Works Cited
“Wal-Mart” Wikipedia. 30 July 2007.
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King Jr., Martin Luther. “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. 1963. Anson, Chris. 75 Readings Across the Curriculum An Anthology. Boston: Mc Graw Hill. 2008. 366-383.




Its been a fun six weeks. I'll see you all around.