Why do you hate?

[xstatic]

The only problem is that is the way our society is now. If it isn't Wal-Mart that comes in, it will be someone else. In the end however, I would bet that for every job a Wal Mart moving in costs the community, at least two more will open up. Most struggling mom and pop type opperations can not afford to pay their employees much more than minimum wage. This is the way it has always been, not just now. Wal-Mart maybe be a corporate giant, but they also supply fair work conditions, steady pay, benefits, stock options, paid time off, profit sharing etc... Most of these things are not offered to employees at mom and pop style stores. This all before mentioning the many thousands of dollars each Wal Mart puts back into the community through donations, outreach programs etc... It's really easy to see and blame them for the things we do not like, but it is much less likely for someone to dig in and find all of the positive things that these corporations do. We just take those things for granted.

Here is an interesting statistic or two... if you were to assume that Cache Valley had 80,000 people living here (I really do not know what the real population is right now, that figure is years old...) than Wal Mart employs more than 1% of the whole valley. Thats kind of staggering if you think about it. I also know that a few years ago our Wal Mart put more than $100,000 back into the Cache Valley community through various charitable donations etc... These are all things that Wal Mart haters tend to no know or at least not want to bring up.

Obviously however I am a little biased... I like Wal Mart and own a lot of Wal Mart stock. Wal Mart stock will put my boy through college. I refuse to see that as a bad thing.

[kelin]

i completely agree. its not walmarts fault they are succesfull. and like clint said, there will always be a hometown market. even though, there is only a small handfull in cache valley anyways. i would much rather shop at lee's, alot of my freinds work there, and they seem to have more variety. i think walmart is fine, i have no problem buying from them. they got this far by hard work to, so, its unfair to say they are making small business's work hard or whatever, because, think of how many walmarts there are. someone has to manage them.

[Adrian]

Yeah, Satan is probably a hard-worker too. That doesn't make him a good dude.

[xstatic]

Well George Bush may actually work hard also, but what has either of those guys got to do with Wal Mart? There is not a single business that I am aware of in Cache Valley that Wal Mart pu out of business. At least not one that was not also affected by current economy, Fred Meyers, Smiths, Albertsons, Maceys, Lees, Dillards, JC Penney etc... Wow, when you look at it that way, even in little Cache Valley we still have some pretty decent selection. So much for Wal Mart taking over the world

[Adrian]

Just popped into my head as I read this. By combining this, and the most recent South Park episoded that I've seen, Satan is what I came up with.

[xstatic]

Fair enough

[Defender Dan]

i dont think its completley unreasonable to think that walmart could become a monopoly at some point in the future. if they keep growing at the same rate then it is inevitable and it is just an ammount of time

[xstatic]

I just do not see it as a possibility that all of the other corporations would go out of business. It is important to remember that Wal Marts numbers are based on a combination of retail and grocery throughout a world wide market and not just on or the other primarily in the US. That could easily account for the much higher number. In this economic age I do not think a "monopoly" of that sort is even feasible. Are they and can they be a mega coprporation with the primary share of the market? Certainly, they are. As a point of reference however, Kroger is still the worlds largest grocer, while Wal Mart is the worlds largest retailer. Also, numbers for grocery stores will be considerably smaller than numbers for retailers since there is a much higher profit margin on retail goods than on grocery items. Another thing to consider is if Wal Mart were to acheive some sort of monopoly, how would they acheive that? In order to acheive that it would be because the consumer demanded it. Either way though, mom and pop stores have not been affected so much by Wal Mart as they have by current consumer demands. Wal Mart is a result of those current consumer demands and not so much the propogator. Also, who is to say that Wal Mart will continue to grow at the same rate infinitely? Even Wal Mart itself does not project that and in the last couple of years Wal Mart has actually slowed in its quarterly projections and the stocks have stopped rising so fast and even leveled off and had periods of decline. We in Logan actually see the whole Wal Mart phenomenon a little more than many communities. Our Wal Mart here in Logan is actually the highest rated Wal Mart in the region. Even with plans to open a new Wal Mart on the south end of Logan Macey's still deems it financially viable to build a new 75,000 square foot complex. I would assume that means that Macey's is still earning money

[Cataclysm]

Regarding the conflict with punk and Hot Topic, I think it's just a clash of what people personify as punk. If Hot Topic had been in 1970s England, then the punks would have loved it. What has started is a trend that anything and everything is "punk." Seriously, when you can read in a fashion magazine that a style or outfit has a punk influence, it's become a trend. Punk is so in right now, along with scenesters and hipsters. It's part of the shift from mainstream pop bands to independent music. What has happened as standard punk has gone mainstream, is that it has gotten tamer and tamer. Instead of (literally) upwards of 1000 studs on a vest or leather jacket, there's only about a hundred, arranged in stylistic and/or cute patterns. Instead of handmade canvas patches sewed on with dental floss, it's iron on patches. And instead of mohawks and charged hair styles, it's fauxhawks and afros. Hot Topic encourages this. I don't like it, but at the same time, I don't really give enough of a shit about what other people like for themselves to get in someone's face about it. Typically, the real punk style stuff at hot topic like the studded belts, are of a really low quality. I have a couple of belts from hot topic, a slayer shirt, and a couple of other various things. I don't like the store, but really, who gives a shit?

[Adrian]

Ahh, Purrdie. I think that is the nicest thing you've ever said to anyone.

[.rilo.]

i like paramore cause their singer is hot

[R.I.O.T.]

dantheman said:

i dont think its completley unreasonable to think that walmart could become a monopoly at some point in the future. if they keep growing at the same rate then it is inevitable and it is just an ammount of time

Thats fuckin stupid to think! The Bourgeoisies that own and opperate Wal-Mart aren't stupid and pay big money to know what they're going to do- the answer to thier Monopoly problem is Sam's Club! The monopoly will never happen as to the fact that Sam's Club will also grow off Wal-Marts makings. Just look at General Mills: the same people up top that own and run this fine institution also run and opperate Nabisco, Nesttle, Kraft.... the list goes on. The BEST part of this is that General Mills is a small off-shoot faction of General Electric, who also manufactures its own competition brands like Whirl Pool. The fact is this, there is already a monopoly- no matter how hard you try and stuggle, there will always be someone over you in the Corprate Ladder. Someone else will always say if you get to keep your job or not- in other words we are all in a sort of economical slavery commonly known as the proletarian. What do we do then? Marx and Engles will teach you!

[R.I.O.T.]

brandon said:

Regarding the conflict with punk and Hot Topic, I think it's just a clash of what people personify as punk. If Hot Topic had been in 1970s England, then the punks would have loved it. What has started is a trend that anything and everything is "punk." Seriously, when you can read in a fashion magazine that a style or outfit has a punk influence, it's become a trend. Punk is so in right now, along with scenesters and hipsters. It's part of the shift from mainstream pop bands to independent music. What has happened as standard punk has gone mainstream, is that it has gotten tamer and tamer. Instead of (literally) upwards of 1000 studs on a vest or leather jacket, there's only about a hundred, arranged in stylistic and/or cute patterns. Instead of handmade canvas patches sewed on with dental floss, it's iron on patches. And instead of mohawks and charged hair styles, it's fauxhawks and afros. Hot Topic encourages this. I don't like it, but at the same time, I don't really give enough of a shit about what other people like for themselves to get in someone's face about it. Typically, the real punk style stuff at hot topic like the studded belts, are of a really low quality. I have a couple of belts from hot topic, a slayer shirt, and a couple of other various things. I don't like the store, but really, who gives a shit?

PS- 3points to Purd!!! Kick ass!!!

[.rilo.]

sams club and walmart are owned and operated by the same people

[R.I.O.T.]

NO FUCKIN SHIT!!! But legaly two companies- hence my saying Sam CLubs grows with Wal-Mart and how they've created their competition so to avoid a monopoly