The WalMart World

[GearHead_1]

I hope this discussion isn't too politically charged. One of the other forums had some discussion going on WalMart and their influence. I thought I would post some of the information that I had seen regarding this subject on DC.

My wife told me just today that she had read in a local paper where WalMart would be offering over 300 of the most popular generic prescriptions for a flat fee of $4. Now if someone were going to fill their generic prescriptions at WalMart wouldn't they pick their name brand prescriptions up there also. Something like this would put a real hurt on the little local drug stores.

Prescription drug prices put a real financial strain on many American families particularly senior citizens. Here comes Wally World with a great big "S" on their chest to a market that really needs help and once again small business suffers. In my opinion it's a death spiral we're in with this corporation and there ability to force manufacturers to seek an over seas work force.

I read an article not too long ago (could have been discussed here) that discussed how Snapper the lawn mower company had flatly turned down WalMart as a reseller. A decision that would have been worth millions to the company. Snapper's president was under serious scrutiny for the decision but his whole point was that someone needed to say no to WalMart. I applaud businesses who are capable of withstanding this kind of pressure and admire a president with enough fore sight to put off today's gain for America's future economy. As far as I'm concerned more people should be cutting their lawn with a Snapper lawn mower.


http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine...en_snapper.html

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/front...s/walmart/view

[Spilchy]

You forgot to mention that people WITHOUT healthcare can get those generics filled for $4.00. Try doing that at your "mom & pops" pharmacy. The uninsured will wind up eating cat food along with their prescriptions.

I'm sorry, but healthcare is a right in my opinion, not a privelage. If Wal Mart will be offering this fantastic benefit to million of Americans it will only serve to help the poor, working class, middle class, seniors and all Americans for that matter. Imagine that, folks without insurance can afford medicine. What a novelty coming from the wealthiest country on the planet. Maybe the extra cash they'll have will go to purchase other staples helping to boost the economy a bit.

If this means small pharmacies go out of business, then that is the nature of a free market in a global economy. The benefits for those millions of people FAR outweigh and offset the handful of people who will lose their jobs. Americans are the most innovative people in the world and those affected will be brought back into the fold in some other capacity.

The real "death spiral" with corporations is the pharmaceutical and insurance companies that rake us over the coals with their costs making it prohibitable for millions of small businesses, self employed or unemployed (to the tune of 45 million of us) to afford basic healthcare. That's criminal.

I'm not for nationalized healthcare, but something needs to be done and Wal Mart has stepped up to bat to make my prescriptions more affordable beacuse $65 a month (with a prescription plan on a pathetic HMO that costs me $438 a month) puts a slight crimp in my budget.

Thank you Wal Mart! I applaud you and will continue to shop to buy my car care staples to show my support. May you dot the country with your warehouses employing thousands of otherwise unemployed people and catering to those poor and working class on a budget to be able to provide the essentials for their families; this time prescriptions.

Yes, they've been shady, but exposing them has made them address their questionable practices.

For the record, I'm a pragmatic independent so fitting me into a mold of a "liberal" or "conservative" any other buzz word doesn't work. (And no, I won't be voting for Hillary )

[GearHead_1]

Originally Posted by Spilchy

.....it will only serve to help the poor, working class, middle class, seniors and all Americans for that matter.

......The benefits for those millions of people FAR outweigh and offset the handful of people who will lose their jobs. Americans are the most innovative people in the world and those affected will be brought back into the fold in some other capacity.

I won't quibble with you on the pharmaceutical companies. They truly have us over a barrel. Here is another consideration however, it is estimated that WalMart imports between 15 and 30 billion dollars worth of goods and services each year from China alone. I'm just wondering how many U.S. jobs that might equal if those $$'s were to stay within the U.S. My feeling is that it is more than just the handful you've mentioned. Those poor un/underemployed people that they are serving may be the very people they have helped to put that position (this includes many of their less than well paid employees). The problem here is that as innovative as America is we haven't found the way to bring these people back into the fold. Instead other companies are forced to play the same game as the big kid on the block and yet more jobs are lost to overseas labor.

Originally Posted by Spilchy

Thank you Wal Mart! I applaud you and will continue to shop to buy my car care staples to show my support. May you dot the country with your warehouses employing thousands of otherwise unemployed people and catering to those poor and working class....

It goes without saying that you are not alone. Otherwise these types of discussion would never happen. Competition is a great thing, when there is no competition we all lose.

[Krodad]

The all powerful and super-wealthy pharmaceutical companies have developed drugs that keep members of my family alive, and someday probably me as well...they probably already have for that matter in the development of vaccines and antibiotics.
If any industry deserves to profit enough in order to sustain the brightest minds and facilities, it is the drug companies. Doctors make a lot of money as well, and some of them are jerks and quacks, but the one that saved my daughter's life when she quit breathing deserves his own private island in my mind. The one that saved my Dad when he had a heart attack should not go home worrying about his finances. I want them to be thinking about the newest techniques and procedures, not how they are going to pay for the kid's college.

[cwcad]

This is a lose / lose discussion. One person says that Walmart needs to be applauded and another says that they should be shot.

I am of the opinion that Walmart is a pariah to the whole business system. OF the things that my wife buys ffrom Walmart they are all imports. Not something that I would want to have for my own use. I cannot stop her from purchasing these products but she knows better than to ask me to go there or buy anything using my money to do it.

Yes, Walmart has had some questionable tactics. They are anti-union. That alone keeps me from shopping there. They like to pay part time workers so there isn't any benefits to the employee. They discriminate between the sexes as well as being reacist in their dealings with employees. There are many class action lawsuits stating as much. So have been settled out of court and others are in the system as I type this.

They have been very innovative in the marketing of products as well as the Walmart chain. I think it was Walmart that made the first internet system that basically connected the cash register in a Walmart store with the factories in China. Sell one then make one to replace it.

Now I have a Walmart with in a few blocks of my home. It has made for more traffic in my nice suburban subdivision. It is not safe to walk the streets since the introduction of Walmart. I worry about my wife and kids because I tend to be away from home for long periods of time.

There is only one reason that Walmart is offering generic drugs at a cheap price. It is for the money. They have an angle for doing it. It certainly is not thru the kindness of there heart or civic pride.

[GearHead_1]

Originally Posted by cwcad

This is a lose / lose discussion. One person says that Walmart needs to be applauded and another says that they should be shot.

That would be true of many discussions here on DC. That doesn't mean we can't offer differing view points. I for one find it interesting, don't feel like I've lost a thing by participating.

[cwcad]

Originally Posted by GearHead_1

That would be true of many discussions here on DC. That doesn't mean we can't offer differing view points. I for one find it interesting.

As do I.

The lose/ lose situation is that while one is happy with Walmart it is only because of cheap prices. The cost runs much deeper. Thru the economical environs of the U.S..

[DennisH]

Here is a link with lot of info about the subject, a bit one sided but interesting.

WakeUpWalMart.com

[tdekany]

lot of info about the subject, a bit one sided but interesting.

One sided? Rent the movie - *walmart: the high cost of low prices* from Netflix.

I could care less how many small operations WM destroys - it is the nature of the business world. However, how their employees are treated is another very important matter to me. I WILL NEVER GO INTO A WM EVER AGAIN.

F! WM....

[TrueDetailer]

There should be a limit as to what they can offer. They have shut down so many mom and pop shops. Its not good for the country. IMO

I like to support local businesses, so if i can get it at a mom and pop shop i do. If not i'll give that monopoly my money.

[Tex Star Detail]

My Cousin in Law works at Wal Mart here. (we have 2, withing 5 miles of each other)
Anyways, he is pretty much a slave to them. Been there for years.

We got on the subject about the gas station here at Wal MArt, and how it is always @$.05 cheaper than all of the gas stations. Well, he told me that he heard, they were trying to do Car rentals as well. Low price car rentals.
Pretty soon, Wal Mart will be so big, it will be the size of a shopping mall, offering anything and everything you need, whether it be building supplies, automotive parts, new cars, etc.....
I wouldn't put it past them to offer day care to children, or sell homes, start their own law enforcement and put the city cops out...LOL

Hey, you never know..... All in all, I have mixed emotions about WM......

[Spilchy]

What's your solution then? From previous discussions like these a majority of you (some in this discussion) are free market conservatives and republicans. This is your free market business model! Government intervention, protectionism, tariffs? Fortunately you guys can afford and have the budget to shop elsewhere but millions can not.

Regarding China, they have a billion people who can work for pennies in deplorable conditions. Americans obviously can not and never should (unlike during the industrial revolution and pre-union days). As a result China can produce on a massive scale, products that are (crap) affordable for the millions who shop at Wal Mart. If you look around a Wal Mart, you'll see who the majority of the shoppers are; working class and poor. So, if we get rid of Wal Mart, maintain jobs in the US producing plastic squirt guns and Frisbees at $15+ an hour, you'll have millions of people (those who shop at Wal Mart) unable to afford many items (prices go up to meet costs), slowing down their purchasing power and the economy, resulting in their eventual unemployment because they can't compete not just with China, but the whole newly industrializing world. It's a vicious circle.

From what I've read, the average Wal Mart employee makes $10 an hour. From what I've witnessed, the skill set and intellect to work there fits that wage in my opinion. Also from what I've read, Wal Mart is the second largest employer of Americans after the federal government and provides healthcare to part time workers unlike other retailers.

I think it is great we all look to buy made in the USA (I know I do). But if you look at nearly every other retailer in the country where you shop, like 75% of their merchandise comes from other countries that are either hostile to the US, have piss poor human rights records or pay their workers squat, OR are a combination of all three criteria. LL Bean, the good old rugged USA clothing company produces nearly all their items OUTSIDE the US while maintaining that New Englander, old school American feel in their marketing. I just bought $400 in winter clothes; ALL OF IT made OUTSIDE the US including boots from CHINA.

This is pervasive and throughout ALL retailers, not just Wal Mart. It is the nature of a global, free market economy. It just so happens that Wal Mart is so HUGE, that they get the most focus and scrutiny. If the GAP, Kohls, etc... were just a large it would be exactly the same for them.

Basically, in my opinion, the popular opinion of Wal Mart here is like the popular opinion of the USA worldwide - we're hated; often times based on not understanding the larger picture, all the facts or that you adhere to simple biases. That doesn't mean Wal Mart or the USA is perfect, but generally, when you carry the biggest bat on the block, you're bound to hated and scrutinized.

Now if China were to import our goods and services and not artificially deflate their currency, then maybe we wouldn’t be having this discussion. That's a huge wrinkle in this whole discussion and something that not just the Bush administration, but all successive administrations need to address.

Wally World may be the whipping boy, but like I mentioned, when you're the biggest boy on the block, you're bound to be placed under a microscope. Look at all your items and see we're they're made and ask yourself where you bought them (including your Costco microfibers and all your various sheepskin wash mitts!)



(As far as pharmaceutical companies - I work as an office manager for a huge doctor's practice that employs 32 people. These companies fawn over the doctors and staff with free lunches and perks wooing them to prescribe their medications over others. It is sickening to watch and a serious conflict of interest. What happens? Poor, working class and seniors on a tight fixed income come in and are prescribed medication. This medication is a fortune for them. Whose medication are they receiving? The medication from the pharmaceutical reps that send us $500 a week lunch spreads, pasteries, cakes, and all sorts of benefits!!! To top it off, these same patients can get the generic versions from another company for cheap (now $4 at Wal Mart!). The docotors even check off that there is to be no substitution for generics basically forcing fixed income folks to pay a fortune. Believe me, there is a whole underside to this industry the public doesn't see that goes along with the very positive side of what these drug manufacturers produce to keep us healthy)

[Raven]

I'm not going to get into the Wally World thing but I would like to say that I've heard many negative comments about the pharmacuetical industry compared to the generic's. But no one seems to mention that it's the major pharmacueticals that do all the research! It cost money and a lot of it to develope a new drug. From the start of developement to FDA approval takes years. The kind of scientific talent it takes to do the research is not cheap either. The generic companies invest $0.00 in R&D. They just grab the products as soon as they are off patent and start production, not to mention that normally, their quality standards are not up to par with the major companies. This is the only reason why they are cheaper.

[Spilchy]

I agree, these comapnies spend BILLIONS on R&D, no doubt and need to recoup the costs in order to maintain a super high profit margin to please shareholders. But, selling generics when the patent runs out is not illegal. As far as quality standards, if the FDA allows these generics to be sold, then they meet all the necessary government crietria to be able to do so. The FDA is one institution that doesn't mess around or comes under corporate influence or lobbying to sway their receommendations. So folks can be confident taking generics. I've done it numerous times.

It's the same argument with fixed income folks going to Canada to get the EXACT medication as in the US, and the government's poor excuse in saying the same Viagra packaged and shipped to Canada is somehow less safe than the same Viagra packed and shipped to Texas.

Like I mentioned before in my opinion, access to affordable healthcare and medicine is a right, not a privelage. We are worth trillions of dollars and have spent $400+ BILLION and counting to prosecute our war efforts, so somehow, some way we can work dollar wise to make this medicine affordable to everyone while making everyone as happy as possible.

That's why I applaud Wal Mart. Affordable medicine to ALL including those WITHOUT healthcare so folks can cure or manage an illness for themselves and their families without worrying about what other bill / expense won't get paid, etc...

[audiboy]

I'm stationed in Arkansas, and as most of you know, it's the birth ground for Wal Mart. The natives act like it's the best thing ever to happen upon the human race. While I won't go that far, I think that it's a great place to shop and they offer great prices. I really only go there to buy food and other small items though. I get all medicines through the military and buy clothing and electronics/entertainment elsewhere, so I'm generally not too considered with that aspect. One thing that I know is that they are popping up everywhere. I've even seen one while driving on the autobahn in Germany.