Journalist and global financier Benjamin Wey is rooting for Wal-Mart. Is it fair?
In a world where the vilification of large corporations is the norm, Walmart is billed as Snidely Whiplash. The largest employer in America has been the target of a barrage of protest and criticism for years. They destroy small business. They profit from unethical practices overseas. They don’t pay their workers enough. It has even been suggested that Walmart should be responsible for picking up the tab for the government aid provided to some of its workers. It’s as if all of the problems of the world have been heaped onto a single company. Hmm, I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that they are number one. Sorry to tell you folks, but being angry at Walmart for all of these things is like being mad at the tide for destroying your sandcastle. Walmart is simply reacting to society, to you and me.
Americans want and need cheap goods. Walmart is the very best in the country at providing these goods, so they have become tremendously successful. It’s not as if Walmart came out of the sky like an alien invader and forced Americans to start shopping there. No, they have grown over the years with an effective, time-tested business strategy: give the customer what they want at the best price possible. So when a Walmart comes to town and smaller businesses lose money, it isn’t Walmart’s responsibility to ensure that potential competitors are given a fair chance. It is their responsibility to run their business as successfully and competitively as they possibly can. This is the basic principle of our country’s economy. But for some reason people think it shouldn’t apply once a company has reached a certain level of success.
We could make it disappear if we really wanted to by not shopping there. But that’s not going to happen. Walmart delivers what we want.
Obviously it is terrible that some countries employ substandard employment practices. And yes, Walmart does profit from the sale of goods produced in these countries, but, however unfortunate, that is simply the state of things. You will be hard-pressed to buy a product that wasn’t “MADE IN CHINA” or “MADE IN BANGLADESH.” Do you know why? The same reason Walmart “destroys small businesses.” It’s because we, the consumer, want things and we want them cheap. Walmart is simply facilitating this want. Stores that claim to be “ethical” don’t exist on the scale of Walmart because there isn’t a market for them. Of course the world could be a better place, but wishing and hoping isn’t going to do the trick. Drive past a Walmart at any time of the day or night and there will be people shopping there. Obviously, despite all of the big talk, America supports Walmart.
The hot-button issue as of late concerns Walmart’s treatment of its employees. In this country, we have a minimum wage and it is enforced by law. Walmart abides by this minimum wage. How can the company possibly be blamed for paying what the law says it should pay? I simply can’t wrap my mind around this criticism. If Walmart was paying its employees below what the law says, then there would be an argument, but that isn’t the case. And to say that Walmart should be responsible for picking up the tab of the government assistance that some of its employees utilize is completely un-American and outright ridiculous. Why aren’t any other companies being asked to do this? If you are going to be mad at anything, be mad at the law.
It’s obvious that Walmart is being targeted simply because they are the most successful company on the block. It’s similar to tabloid news. The guys who do the Sonic commercials could walk down Sunset Boulevard smoking crack with a dozen underage prostitutes and nobody would care. But if George Clooney got a DUI it would receive 24/7 news coverage.
People have a natural tendency to pick something out to rally against. And, just like in tabloid news, it has to be something prominent, something of note. Otherwise enough people couldn’t rally around the same thing and feel as if they are superior. But, as Tony Montana said, “You’re not good. You just know how to hide and lie.” America supports Walmart with its dollar vote. We could make it disappear if we really wanted to by not shopping there. But that’s not going to happen. Walmart delivers what we want. So maybe the critics should turn the mirror around and look at themselves and the society in which we live, because Walmart is a perfect reflection of that.
Benjamin Wey is an investigative journalist, professor of business, financier and contributing journalist for TheBlot Magazine.
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