alternative hippopotamus

Propaganda or Mental Defect?

6 Responses to “Propaganda or Mental Defect?”

1. ARC: St Wendeler Says:
   August 28th, 2006 at 12:48 pm

   AltHippo - Thanks for proving several points.

   1 - that the reason you don’t like WalMart is because it’s run by and patroned by people who you don’t like (ie, rubes & working stiffs)

   2 - That you have little understanding about economics. You state:

   Did you know that across the US there is a uniform supply of high-paying jobs for unskilled workers? Neither did I. Apparently, Walmart doesn’t take advantage of its employees. Because if they did, then their employers would take jobs at one of the manifold high-paying employers in their neighborhood.

   Now, you don’t know it, but you’re proving Sebastian Mallaby’s point. Unskilled workers get a certain pay, commensurate with their skills. Or perhaps you understand this but think that unskilled workers should be paid the same amount as skilled workers. Or perhaps everyone should be paid more? Please let me know which one you’re arguing for…

   As Mallaby points out, WalMart’s workers get the same (or better) pay than their fellow workers in the retail industry who are employed by other retailers (ie, WalMart’s competitors). The surest sign of this is the fact that WalMart’s employees are not leaving WalMart for a similar job at another retailer. In addition, Mallaby points out that WalMart extends health benefits to its employees which are (apparently) heavily subsidized by the company. I know that when I worked in retail, the health benefits that were extended cost much more than what WalMart is offering theirs at - and this was approx. 15 years ago.

   Thanks for the link and always appreciate a good debate… just ask around.

   ;-)

   Regards,
   St Wendeler from Another Rovian Conspiracy

2. AltHippo Says:
   August 28th, 2006 at 2:02 pm

   St. Wendeler,

   You’re welcome for the link. Let my reply to your points:

   1 - I’m not sure what you’re relying on for that assertion. Because I said: “… we just don’t like people from Arkansas”? That’s what you would call “irony”. The idea is that the statement is so obviously false, that it’s like a wink of the eye. Clinton, you may recall, was from Arkansas.

   2 - Mallaby’s argument is that Walmart pays competitively, because if they didn’t, people would take a job somewhere else.

   Just purely on the basis of logic, that conclusion does not follow. Let me give an example. Let’s say for instance I run the only toy store in town. Walmart moves in to the neighborhood, underprices me, and eventually puts me out of business. Since I have to eat, and I have experience selling toys, I get a job at Walmart’s toy department. I’m probably making considerably less than I was, but, given my options are staying with Walmart, or moving out of town, I keep the job.

   I looked around tying to find a website where Walmart employees were really happy with their jobs, but couldn’t find that site. Maybe you’ll have better luck than me. Instead, I just saw places like retailworker.com.

3. Jay Reding.com - The Democrats’ “Dumb Economic Populism” Says:
   August 28th, 2006 at 5:36 pm

   […] UPDATE: A leftyblog called the “alternative hippopotamus” gives the anti-Wal-Mart perspective: As you know, the left half of the blogosphere recently appointed me spokesperson. So, I’ll explain why there is much ado about Walmart. It has nothing to do with people being treated fairly, or workers being forced to go to ER’s instead of receiving health benefits. It has nothing to do with Walmart forcing out the family businesses. It has nothing to do with a time when “Made in the USA” didn’t mean a sweat shop in the Marianas islands. […]

4. eRobin Says:
   August 29th, 2006 at 7:20 am

   This is just more of the same story that is usually left to George Will to tell. Usually we hear about how the elitist Left hates the people who shop in WalMart now we’re hearing about how the DLC (of all people) hate business.

   The first paragraph is so packed with nonsense that even Mallaby has the grace to start it with “Once upon a time”:

   Once upon a time, smart Democrats defended globalization, open trade and the companies that thrive within this system. They were wary of tethering themselves to an anti-trade labor movement that represents a dwindling fraction of the electorate. They understood the danger in bashing corporations: Voters don’t hate corporations, because many of them work for one.

   The WalMart issue is absolutely fascinating if for no other reason than because it exposes how few arrows the corpotists have in their quiver, which makes the fact that they are winning this war on nearly every front even more amazing.

5. AltHippo Says:
   August 29th, 2006 at 9:19 am

   The first paragraph is so packed with nonsense that even Mallaby has the grace to start it with “Once upon a time”

   Interesting. And consistent with the notion of creating your own reality.

6. St Wendeler Says:
   September 4th, 2006 at 8:48 am

   Let’s say for instance I run the only toy store in town. Walmart moves in to the neighborhood, underprices me, and eventually puts me out of business. Since I have to eat, and I have experience selling toys, I get a job at Walmart’s toy department. I’m probably making considerably less than I was, but, given my options are staying with Walmart, or moving out of town, I keep the job.

   I think your example is extremely simplified and places constraints on the person who runs the only toy store in town. First, you assume that this person’s only skill is to sell toys in a retail setting. No thought given to moving his shop to eBay or working in a different retail setting or transforming his toy store into a niche toy shop which WalMart doesn’t compete against. The possibilities are endless (thanks to the capitalist system.)

   Now, I wonder what the person who runs the toy store made in a given year and what benefits they had (and/or provided to their employees). In addition, I wonder what the prices that toy store had and what selection he offered his customers. It should be remembered that WalMart doesn’t walk up to the hypothetical Toy Store and place an eviction notice on the door saying, “We’re now in town and you have to shut down.” No, what happens is that people - thousands of individuals in the town - recognize the selection and value that WalMart provides when shopping for toys and switch their buying preferences.

   I realize that such a “people powered” movement is anathema to those on the Left, but it’s the genius of our system. If the toy store owner cannot improve his business processes and provide the selection and value to his customers (from the perspective of those very customers), then he probably should not be in the business to begin with.

   Do some research on “creative destruction.” That’d be a first step for you…