Who says kids have no ambition?

[Lincsong]

Wal-Mart today;

before that it was McDonald's , then Sears, then Woolworths. There is always someone mad at the sucessful. Is Wal-Mart to blame for forcing companies to move off shore or is it the liberals who demand ever more regulations, more taxes etc. Why build a factory in California or New York when there has to be 3 years worth of useless environmental impact reports, worry over field mice, what some old person thinks about it etc even before the first shovel of dirt is turned.? Then after all that is done, there is the local politicians who have to be greased, bureuacrats with their hands in your back pockets. California has basically banned landfills. What the hell is a state with 35 million people going to do with it's garbage? No Wal-Mart isn't the enemy it's liberals. For all those crying about the death of small business the only small businesses affected by WalMart were the local fat-pigs who got all their business from government contacts and said the hell with the public. Once the public had an escape from these leeches they went to WalMart. The small businessmen who took care of the public survived it was the pigs that disappeared.

 

[Senator Jack]

Posted by JamesPowers:

Uh huh. So this kid is God/Jesus now?

I really wish people wouldn't mix up point-making with hyperbole. I posted those biblical quotes just to show that there are children who are just more advanced than others. Did I make claims to kid's being God/Jesus? Reading through my posts, throroughly, will prove that I didn't. Again, I don't like being misquoted or misconstrued.

Forward:

All right, so it's agreed that Oprah is shill for the entertainment world. So doesn't everyone at some time want to punch the shill in the jaw? If I had talked with this little rabble rouser, I would have set him straight, telling him not to waste his time on the vapid likes of Oprah and George W., but I can bet that no clear-thinking adult has actually had that talk with him. They probably just presumed he was psychotic, because every kid that vents in a post-Columbine world is psychotic, isn't he?

And for the record, Columbine wasn't the first killing spree at a high school. In '79, 16 year old Brenda Spencer walked into the playground of her San Carlos, California school and opened fire, wounding eight and killing two. But between then and Columbine, did anyone say 'we'll have another San Carlos'? No. Because the story came and went as it was before the era of media frenzy.

It seems that is how we judge everything these days, post-Columbine and post-911. Tragedies have been happening for eons, and there will be more to come. We just like to believe ourselves of such importance, that those of today are worse than those of yesterday.

Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[Burma Shave]

We always have to blame it on something

Just a thought: The kid didn't threaten the president. There's no need for a full-scale investigation based on what this youngster wrote. Yes, we still do have freedom of speech, freedom of the press (since he wrote it) -- and that's one area that's not to be infringed.

I know there are things you aren't supposed to say or do or print -- yelling "Fire" in a movie theatre being the classic example -- but it's a little far-reaching to sic the feds on some 12-year-old.

Back after Columbine, people were trying to blame all such incidents on video games, on Marilyn Manson, on just about anything else "unsavory" in our culture. At the time, I wrote a column for the newspaper I then worked for, noting that when some 40-year-old nutjob goes ballistic, nobody tries to blame the shooting on reading magazines, on listening to too much southern rock, or whatever else the hypothetical shooter does for fun. No, we just blame the person -- and that's as it should be.

It all comes down to personal rights and responsibilities: The kid didn't do anything wrong. Maybe he needs some guidance if he's to select a career path that doesn't involve execution and/or mayhem -- or maybe he needs to just drop out of high school in a few years and join the military. It looks like we're not getting out of Iraq anytime soon and somebody's gonna need to continue America's killing spree.

 

[Senator Jack]

Originally asked by Lincsong:

Is Wal-Mart to blame for forcing companies to move off shore

That's exactly what they're doing. Rent the Frontline documentary on their bully boy methods and you'll see how all but one television manufacturer has been forced to China. You'll also see how they put Rubbermaid out of business. Just another 5 or 6,000 American jobs lost.

Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[airfrogusmc]

Lincsong what do you think John Adams would think of America today? He was VERY concerned when helping draft the constitution in ways to protect us from big business and how it and its money would influence our government.

I'm a small business and don't get any of the tax breaks that big oil just got and those tax breaks on top of posting record profits. I hope conservatives and liberals alike wake up and see how big busness has bought and paid for both sides of government. Its not a red or blue problem its an American one and we can do better.

 

[Zach R.]

Which manufacturer was the one left behind?

 

[shamus]

Since this thread has come to this part of the road...

Come on, it's pointless to try to explain something to someone who only sees money and not the people who make the products or just sees land and not the little field mice that live there, that supply food for the owls that only exist on that one piece of land in the whole world and when the new Wal-mart is built there and the owls will become exstint and never ever be on the earth again. That guy just doesn't care. There's lots of guys like that. That's why there's fun words like "Liberals." Guys like that like to use that to explain anything they can't grasp. There's lots of words for scary things guys like that can't understand or care to learn about... "The Man" is one, plus various ethinic and racial slurs come to mind. It's a way of explaining something they can't understand and a way to blame someone for what they can't control.

 

[airfrogusmc]

The problem I see with Wal-Mart is the way they do business. Lets say you live in a small rural area with allot of old established businesses. Lets say the towns in this rural area are 10 mile apart. And lets focus on three particular towns. What Wal-Mart will do is initially open three stores. One near each town. Because the local guy pays a living wage and picks up insurance for his employees and the business he owns has been a fabric of this small community for generations and doesn't get the advantage of buying lets say Dove soap at the quantity of 100,000 bars at a time he doesn't get the discount that Mal-Mart gets because they do. Wal-mart also pays substandard wages and keeps employees under 40 hours a week so the avoid insurance and other benefits. The mom & pop can't compete with the prices because they're buying American products at higher prices, paying decent wages and giving employees health insurance. Now after Wal-Mart has driven all the small mom & pops outta business in these three towns they will then close two of the stores and leave only one open. So not only have they (Wal-Mart) cost the small communities the jobs that the mom & pops have been giving the area for generations they also have taken away the jobs they promised when they came to the small town and now people have to drive 20 or 30 miles to get to the only place left to shop. And they do it intentionally. Thats the key. My solution is I won't shop there. But I live in an area where small mom & pos thrive because people would rather spend a nickle more for soap to help there nieghbor than throw their money at the Waltons...I feel bad for the folks that live in areas where they have NO CHOICE because Wal-Mart is the only game in town.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Isn't that a description of capitalism?

bk

edit to elaborate: Wal*Mart has reduced cost to a minimum. It has also reduced it's profit to a minimum. (i believe they run at about an overall 0.1% profit margin.) All care for the wellbeing of their employees takes a back seat to the profit. I don't agree with this way of doing business, by the way (i would guess i'm politically and philosophically to the far left of our group, here - i too care about field mice), just trying to get at the root of the problem. Where economy replaces the desire to help the people who run the economy - or at least make sure they're not being driven into the ground - these issues arise. Noone has mentioned the union busting and prevention techniques of Wal*Mart.

Very little to do with the intent of the thread as originally stated, i think. What do you think Jack?

 

[airfrogusmc]

Baron I'm a small business so I am a capitalist. But in my quest for the almighty dollar there are certain things I won't do. Enron was a thriving business and was in some circles a model of American capitalism. When money become your God you become capable of anything in its pursuit and can justify it as only doing my job.
These are some of the same issues we were dealing with at the turn of the 20th century. Some of the same things our founding fathers worried so much about. Funny how history repeats itself..

 

[Baron Kurtz]

sorry, my edit went in while you were typing ... took me a while to say my piece logically

bk

 

[Senator Jack]

I'm going to presume that the .1% profit margin is figured AFTER the Walton family has taken their billions in profit. If they didn't pay themselves that much, then the corporate profits would be much higher.

The Waltons are certainly the new robber barons, and in a way they're nearly running a vertical monopoly. I'm certainly no economist - I blanked out when I had to take it in school - so I'm sure someone in the group can explain it better than I can. Maybe airfrog wants to take a crack at it.

As for thread direction, BK, as I've stated before, I'm always a fan of letting conversation go where it wants to go. If this thread doesn't get closed, I'm sure we'll get back to that kid again.

BTW, I tried finding the actual composition the kid wrote, but no go. The authorities won't release it to the public.

Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I believe the 0.1% profit margin is what that company runs on. That's where all those billions they take come from (and they take them because they're majority shareholders). If you sell enough at a low profit margin, you make the billions. A small shop, for example couldn't exist on that profit margin. But let's say Wal*Mart buys $300 billion of stock in a given year. Sells at 5% markup, making $315 billion ($15 billion profit). $14.7 billion in labour costs/investment etc. - $0.3 billion in profit. The numbers are rough, but a decent illustration. 0.1% may have been an exaggeration, but they're certainly on a very low profit margin.

Use that formula for a mom and pop getting in $100,000 of stock in during a year. They don't make much of a profit.

bk

edit: Saw this http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060209/ap_on_en_ot/xm_radio_oprah

 

[jamespowers]

I really wish people wouldn't mix up point-making with hyperbole. I posted those biblical quotes just to show that there are children who are just more advanced than others. Did I make claims to kid's being God/Jesus? Reading through my posts, throroughly, will prove that I didn't. Again, I don't like being misquoted or misconstrued.

Hmmm... Why did you use the biblical quotes that refer to Jesus/God then?:

"Luk 2:46 And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.

Luk 2:47 And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers."

That doesn't illustrate anything about the average child or their intelligence. All it does it make it seem like an over generalization. If you want to make a comparison of what children's mentality is actually like I suggest you quote The Lord of the Flies. Simply, without adult supervision children will revert back to animalistic tendencies. They have to be civilized and they are never "wise beyond their years" such as Christ. They are more like "wet behind the ears" and just think they know something about the world. I am sure you are not going to tell me that as a child you knew more than you do now? That would be sophisty. As to children and their inate knowledge, I think Teddy Roosevelt had it right:
"To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society."
This child obviously missed part of his education and is a menace.
Also, my post was a question allowing you to better phrase your idea rather than a "misquote". I was trying to save you from being "misconstrued" when using a poor example. If you don't like being misquoted or misconstrued, join the club. :kick:

Regards to all,

J

 

[jamespowers]

I believe the 0.1% profit margin is what that company runs on. That's where all those billions they take come from (and they take them because they're majority shareholders). If you sell enough at a low profit margin, you make the billions. A small shop, for example couldn't exist on that profit margin. But let's say Wal*Mart buys $300 billion of stock in a given year. Sells at 5% markup, making $315 billion ($15 billion profit). $14.7 billion in labour costs/investment etc. - $0.3 billion in profit. The numbers are rough, but a decent illustration. 0.1% may have been an exaggeration, but they're certainly on a very low profit margin.

Use that formula for a mom and pop getting in $100,000 of stock in during a year. They don't make much of a profit.

Yes, what you described is what we call an "economy of scale." Quite simply, the increase in efficiency of production as the number of goods being produced increases. Typically, a company that achieves economies of scale lowers the average cost per unit through increased production since fixed costs are shared over an increased number of goods. This applies not only to manufacturers but also to retailers. They not only sell but buy large quantities and thus get merchandise at a discount.
Put yourself in the position of a manufacturer. WalMart comes to you and wants everything you can produce. Obviously you are going to give them a better price than the guy who wants to buy five pieces. It is not only good business sense but common sense. They have an economy of scale and so do you.
WalMart does not have a Vertical Monopoly. It doesn't own all the production from the raw materials down through production and deliverance to the consumer. It also doesn't have a Horizontal Monopoly because it is not the only retailer out there. It has competition. What it does do is use its economy of scale to its fullest advantage. This is not rocket science and the theories are as old as Adam Smith. It just depends on whose ox is being gored.
Yep, WalMart is ruining the environment :
http://walmartstores.com/GlobalWMStoresWeb/navigate.do?catg=512&contId=6045
and sales are up a whole 10%---why that's obscene (standard for the industry) :
http://walmartstores.com/GlobalWMStoresWeb/navigate.do?catg=48
and it does absolutely nothing for the community :
http://www.walmartfacts.com/community/article.aspx?id=1593
and they only spend 4.7 billion dollars a year on employee benefits---those cold hearted retailers :
http://www.walmartfacts.com/newsdesk/article.aspx?id=1625
Those meanies don't even provide healthcare to their part time workers:
"Wal-Mart provides health insurance to full- and part-time associates after a waiting period considered standard in the retail industry. For many associates, a job at Wal-Mart means new access to health coverage. Surveys of hourly associates showed that 30% had no health coverage before coming to work for Wal-Mart. After joining Wal-Mart, the percentage of associates who are uninsured drops. By our estimates, we have helped over 160,000 associates get off the rolls of the uninsured."
Geez, I think I have had enough of WalMart terrorism.

Regards to all,

J

 

[shamus]

Do you think it's best to get all your fact on Walmart, from the Walmart website?

 

[jamespowers]

Do you think it's best to get all your fact on Walmart, from the Walmart website?

That is just the antethesis to FrontLine that is all.
It is not good to get your information for only one specific source is my point. I am sure I could find more but they won't likely lie about their financial status because that could end in a lot of their top brass in jail. How much they spend and make is a matter of public record and can be obtained on any number of places but specifically from their financial statements that they have to give you.
FrontLine, well they have a different standard of accountability.

Regards to all,

J

 

[Senator Jack]

Do you really want this world to be that homogenized?

Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[Briscoeteque]

This seems to be the logic that I'm reading on these threads. Everyone wants jobs, living wages etc. but no one wants employers. Small mom and pop stores like hardware, clothing, auto parts are not at the mercy of Wal-Mart and don't go out of business because of Wa-Mart. If they provide a service and knowledge about their products and business they will survive Wal-Mart. Dismantle your sink or take out your toilet and go into Wal-Mart and ask for help in their plumbing department. What do you get? If you're lucky, you'll get some old timer who knows a little about hardware otherwise you'll get a stunned look in your eyes. Walk around the clothing section and look for a 100% wool suit and ask for the tailor to give you a full break, cuffs, suspender buttons and to shorten the sleeves to show your french cuffs. They'll laugh you right out of the store. Take the alternator out of your car and ask Wal-Mart for another. They'll tell you they don't carry alternators.

I'm sorry, this isn't true. I worked in a mom and pop pet store, and let me tell you, I would pour my extensive aquaria knowledge into people, naming products, set-ups, everything. Then they'd take everything they learned and go buy the same stuff cheaper at Wal-Mart. Knowledge and good service isn't enough to run a business. Our fish are healthier, and yet people would rather buy them cheaper elsewere, even if they die faster. The most knowledgeable hobbyists do continue to patronize, but that's not enough to keep a business afloat. And I probably could have been paid much more to work at Walmart, but I would rather work at a place that gives its customers respect and depends on the respect of its patrons.

I don't care about big business and the 'economy of scale'. I will avoid Wal-Marts whenever I can, and even through that may mean spending a few extra dollars on a already tight budget, you can keep it. I'd rather have a hundred small stores than one big monster place that does the job of all of them. They have character. You can't support Wal-Mart and disparge the rest of modern styles. It's the same thing: Appeal to the Lowest Common Denomanater. Walmart makes more money by its practices. Movie producers make more money blowing people up and showing breasts. It's the same thing.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Field mice have souls ...

... they have feelings, they feel pain.

I'd much rather keep my local organic farmers in business than shop in Wal*Mart (expensive, yes, but it makes me feel better). In that way i support my local economy. And help the environment a little in the long run. The stuff at Wal*Mart is cheaper, but i dont even want to know what was injected into the cow, lets say, before it was slaughtered. By buying from local farmers you know exactly how the cow was treated before it died. I care about these things. Cows that lived in fields and ate grass are the ones i want to eat. Not from feedlots, eating processed corn stalks and getting injected with G*d-knows what every day. I'd rather not eat that many antibiotics and crazy amounts of growth hormones. (I'm not blaming this farming practice on Wal*Mart - we come back again to economy of scale.) I have no problem with the existence of Wal*Mart. I simply choose not to shop there.

Jack makes a good point about homogenisation. The towns around here might as well be clones. There is no real character to any of them. They're all the same. No individuality. Is this what we want? Not I!

Most of our basic shopping (rice, toilet paper etc) comes from a local 'right-on' buying club. We get it cheaper than from stores, and we know that it is, indeed, 'right-on' organic produce.

What kind of owl was it that had nested under the railroad tracks?

bk