General Mayhem

[Rhox]

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/WalMartEffectStrikesAgain.aspx

[onions]

i don't even need to read the article to agree, that, yes, walmart is evil. if i had one down the block i don't think i'd ever go inside to buy anything.

[Meegle]

i watched a Penn n Teller Bull shit (TV Show) on wal-mart. The whole episode was on whether or not wal-mart is an evil company. All i have to say is before i watched it, i would agree with everyone that said they were evil. But for communites with extreme poverty, you can't give the excuss of "closing other mom/pop stores" becuase there ARE NOT mom/pop stores in extreme poverty locations. If anything, i can give people with little or no education an opportunity to support there families.

edit: fixed some sentences

Message Edited by Meegle on 04-25-2007 03:05 PM

[Kevorkian]

I go out of my way to boycott Wal-Mart, but it has more to do with their sickening censorship practices than their equally sickening and exploitative business practices. A distant third reason not to shop there is because their store clientele are primarily scum-of-the-earth.

But it's their shameless hyper-Christian agenda that really gets me angry at them as a company.

"This is not about protecting people. Wal-Mart sells guns, they sell junk food--how many carcinogens do you think they sell at Wal-Mart?" asks Marsh. "It's about forcing people to think like Christians from Arkansas."

Imagine if, instead of banning obscenity-prone rappers, a major national retail chain announced it would no longer carry Christian pop music. Not because it doesn't sell--it sells big--but because it doesn't comport with the values the retailer likes to think it shares with its customers. And, imagine further, that the store had a demonstrable, if unstated, policy of accepting those same recordings if all references to Jesus or God were expurgated.

Christian conservatives would be up in arms at attempts to pressure their brethren and sistren into denying their faith.

Message Edited by Kevorkian on 04-25-2007 03:12 PM

[Lautakwah]

I dunno business practices and ethics aside, I don't shop at walmart because they sell mainly junk...its like a low class kmart...and kmart was pretty damn low. 

[jest1]

I like Target much more.

The only reason i've ever shopped at Wal-Mart is because there was one within a driving minute from my old work, so I would buy really simple stuff during lunch like Right Guard and crap like that once in a while.

However, I absolutely hated the way they that specific Wal-Mart treated its customers. The basic feeling that they gave was that everyone was shoplifting and they were just trying to catch you stealing.

[Corso_Shafi]

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jest1 wrote:

I like Target much more.

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Target is great... Too bad the wife can't step into a Target without buying more than she walked in there for.

[Dracus]

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Corso_Shafi wrote:

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jest1 wrote:

I like Target much more.

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Target is great... Too bad the wife can't step into a Target without buying more than she walked in there for.

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I'm with you on that one.  JD's rather Target nuts.

I went to a Walmart in North Carolina when I went to visit my dad.  I swear it was like a shopping center for the cast of Deliverance. 

[SnowGoddess]

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Corso_Shafi wrote:

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jest1 wrote:

I like Target much more.

...

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Target is great... Too bad the wife can't step into a Target without buying more than she walked in there for.

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I'll work on that *stops impulsing buying presents for Shafi*

[AresRightArm]

I am more of a costco fan myself, just bought a 46" sharp 1080p tv with a $300 off coupon.
Come on, 3 month return policy on a tv that is awesome.

[pansy]

walmart sells like a 10 pack of plastic hangers for 97 cents or something.

oh yeah and i will agree that the censorship they participate in is boshet.  sure they are trying to protect and conform to their customer's values and beliefs or whatever, but their target customers are those who live in flyover states that none of us real city folk give a flying f' about.


Message Edited by pansy on 04-25-2007 06:39 PM

[Rhath]

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jest1 wrote:

I like Target much more.

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I actually like target for their obscene 90 day return policy.  I had a friend who worked there for years in the returns department.  He says that if target ever sold the item, EVER, you can pretty much return it in pretty much any condition.  Kind of reminds me of costco, which I also like.  For decent, cheap clothes you need in a desperate pinch, Target's not bad either.

Oh, and I too watched that episode of Bullshit where they talked about Wal mart.  Is Walmart evil?  The show pretty much showed that they weren't.  They use pretty fair practices from what I saw.  I just think they have cheap, and mostly crappy stuff, but you can occasionally score deals on decent stuff... (I can't find cheaper cast iron skillets made by Lodge from anywhere else.)  Wal mart is a corporation and they're out to make money.  I don't understand why so many people have such animosity towards them.  Why not just boycott if they feel so strongly?

[Rhox]

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Rhath wrote:

 Wal mart is a corporation and they're out to make money.  I don't understand why so many people have such animosity towards them.  Why not just boycott if they feel so strongly?

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riiight.. at the cost of thousands of jobs and businesses..

[Kevorkian]

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Rhath wrote:

 Wal mart is a corporation and they're out to make money.  I don't understand why so many people have such animosity towards them.  Why not just boycott if they feel so strongly?

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Normally I agree, but when they shamelessly use their commercial clout in order to force their own moral standards upon the entire nation, that's where they cross the line. And yes I do boycott Wal Mart for this reason.

[Rhath]

Kevorkian wrote:

Normally I agree, but when they shamelessly use their commercial clout in order to force their own moral standards upon the entire nation, that's where they cross the line. And yes I do boycott Wal Mart for this reason.

I guess I don't follow Walmart's business practices enough to know exactly what you're talking about.  I don't get how they force any sort of moral standards.  Is it their choice of censorship?  Can't you just buy the album from somewhere else?

[Lautakwah]

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Kevorkian wrote:

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Rhath wrote:

 Wal mart is a corporation and they're out to make money.  I don't understand why so many people have such animosity towards them.  Why not just boycott if they feel so strongly?

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what bugs me about walmart is they proactively engage in price wars which forces other companies to drop their price to compete.  now walmart can take the reduction in profits or even a loss on certain items because they are so huge, but this effectively will drive smaller mom and pop shops, local shops, smaller chains right out of business.  this is what they're talking about when they say walmart engages in unfair business practices.  there is no way to compete.  mom and pop can buy 100 lawn mowers a month, walmart can buy 10000...theres really no question as to who gets the better pricing.  they use their size and clout to simply drive out their competition. 

Message Edited by Lautakwah on 04-27-2007 02:40 PM

[AresRightArm]

Kind of like they New York Yankees

[Rhath]

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AresRightArm wrote:
Kind of like they New York Yankees

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Aren't they like... in last place?

[Kevorkian]

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Rhath wrote:

Kevorkian wrote:

Normally I agree, but when they shamelessly use their commercial clout in order to force their own moral standards upon the entire nation, that's where they cross the line. And yes I do boycott Wal Mart for this reason.

I guess I don't follow Walmart's business practices enough to know exactly what you're talking about.  I don't get how they force any sort of moral standards.  Is it their choice of censorship?  Can't you just buy the album from somewhere else?

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The link is in the fourth message of this thread and explains what I'm talking about. They force alternate versions of albums with sanitized lyrics and album art. Most of us can buy the album elsewhere, but in many places in this country, Wal-mart is the ONLY retailer in a 50 mile radius that sells music b/c they killed off all the smaller record shops (and hardware stores, grocery stores, etc.) Basically it's like the capitalist version of a Soviet or Communist Chinese state-run store. You can ONLY buy stuff there. The worst part is that the "clean" albums are not labeled as such. You don't know you're getting a censored version unless you compare to the "same" album bought somewhere else.

"Well they can always buy the real version on Amazon!" -- Not all the people in this country are sophisticated enough to use the internet to shop online. Brick & mortar stores are still king, and Wal-mart is the king of all b&m stores.

Wal-mart is a de-facto monopoly, and they use this fact to bully the record industry and everyone else into doing things their way. This is unethical, and disgusts me to the core. How long until they use their clout to force video game companies to release Christian, Wal-mart versions of games?

"Hey Blizzard we won't sell your game at Wal-mart unless you get rid of the Warlock class, shadow-priest talents, and all the undead/zombie/skeleton mobs and instances b/c that's all un-Christian, devil-worshipping stuff"

Why stop at video games? Let's censor or choose not to sell any books that criticize the Bush administration, because we at Wal-mart support good, God-fearing folk like G W Bush. We're not gonna carry Hilary Clinton or Barack Obama books.

Yes it is their choice as a corporation in a free-market economy to do this, but it's completely sleazy, unethical, and downright disgusting.

So in two words: Fuck Wal-Mart.

Message Edited by Kevorkian on 04-27-2007 02:56 PM

[Dracus]

Well said