Work at Walmart, can't afford to eat

But alas, it is not the responsibility of Walmart to "help" the welfare system of this country. They run a business just like thousands of other businesses in this country. Their job is to make money for the investors and stock holders not pad the pockets of the general public.

By the way, how do you know that Walmart is not self-insured?

 

I dont know and I dont know. Correlation, causation, all that shit. Dont care now as I am beginning to smell pies baking (from non Walmart ingredients of course). :up:

 

By that thinking, why isn't it okay for oil companies to just dump their waste into the ocean, nuclear power plants to bury their used fuel rods in your backyard, food companies to inspect their products, car companies to build safe cars, etc, etc? If they did those things instead of spending money to do things properly and RESPONSIBLY they'd be making more money for the investors and stockholders.


There IS such a thing as social responsibility. If more people cared about how they affected the world instead of doing whatever they possibly can to make another buck, we might actually have a world to pass on to our kids.

 

I guess that depends on how you want to define social responsibility.
I believe that Walmart has, just in terms of money, contributed over a billion dollars to charity this year.
GM is going to cost the taxpayers an estimated 10 billion this year when the government sells the last of their GM stock at a loss.
Where is the outrage from the unions?
Oh wait, they got a shitload of money out of that.

 

Well do you think the Gov't should lead by example? I remember a local environmental study that showed the US Navy was directly responsible for assorted dangerous habitat poisons discharged into local waters. Is the Navy not an employer of many people?

 

There IS a such thing as social responsibility; I agree. But it's a two-way street. Right now, we have that responsibility being heaped solely on the "corporations." That's just ignorant.

Add these people to the list, in no order of importance:

- The Government, who seems to care about only the mouthy minority groups, Hollywood, and the elite/rich activists.

- The people who cannot afford to feed themselves, yet have more children.

- People who feel the need to speak up on issues without a full comprehensive understanding of EVERYTHING effected by these "altruistic" intentions. Public policy has resulted in the coining of the phrase "unintended consequences."

 

The trend is that the responsible and contributors should be forced to support and maintain the lifestyles of those who are in shitty situations through their own devices. To ask people to be responsible and accountable for their own welfare and situations seems to be out of vogue. Now it's "everyone is a victim".

 

Wonder what will happen when the contributors finally reach their limits of being victimized.

 

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm an absolute believer in personal responsibility. In my opinion it's the foundation of what kind of person you are.

That said, there is a major problem with the way "the system" is currently set up. The deck is stacked against anyone trying to forge their own way. Almost from day one we're inundated with the message that it's not our fault. We're told that you have to have these material things to show that your successful. We're told that you HAVE to go get a college degree to get a good job. Then we have easy credit thrust into our laps and told that we can have these things RIGHT NOW. There is temptation at every turn. Every channel on television, every popup ad on the internet, every place you look is forcing this message on us: instant gratification, it's not your fault, NOW, MORE, EXCESS, BLING, FLASH, etc, etc, etc.

And all of it is by design. It's modern slavery, feudalism, bondage. Our chains are debt, lies, and false hope. We work day in and day out to make interest payments on money loaned by banks to buy things we don't need while the ruling class profits off of our backs. The money we pump into the markets is hedged, leveraged, and speculated so that investment companies can make billion dollar profits while we're told to be happy with a 3% return. We fight wars, sending our children off to kill and die so that some corporation can turn a profit and we're told that it's in the name of freedom, security, and honor.

It's in vogue to be a "victim" because that's what they want us to be. Victims don't pose a threat. They're easy to control and easy to profit from.

 

Is it corporations or governments that are the culprits?

 

Big difference.....Slaves were brought here against their will, the slaves you reference above willingly jump into the chains of bondage via their own stupidity, poor chpices and inability to delay immediate gratification.

Don't know where you're getting a 3% return on your money. I'm not a genius and I've averaged four times that amount over thirty years, this could be a result of my taking a keen interest in my financial future rather than leaving it to chance. Problem is people refuse to educate themselves. Ignorance is a curable disease but there is no vaccination except that of ambition, education (self-education counts!!) and responsibility.

 

The "system" was not designed this way. It has evolved.

 

Stupidity or ignorance? If everyone in a position of influence in your life is telling you that something is right, why would you question it?

3% is a WAG average of high risk, low risk, cd's, bonds, etc over time, also loosely coupled to average cost of living raise and/or rate of inflation. Many people do better, many do worse, but you get the idea. The point is that regardless of your 3%, 8%, 12% or whatever gains, it's nothing when compared to the profits of some of these trading/investing companies, especially when you're holding the risk for them.

 

Meh, it has evolved into it's current state of near perfection (here defined as functioning at a high level of efficiency with very little dispute from those within) but it's always been there in one form or another. Fiefdom, sharecropping, company towns/stores are all examples of the same game.

It's designed so that it's nearly impossible for somebody to go from nothing to being something. And it's not really about money. Money is just a tool. The real issue is power and influence. It's actually designed to keep a person from moving from the bottom rungs of society into a position of true power and influence.

 

I think we've seen the risk of being on the wrong side of trading mistakes and banking..there have been some gargantuan failures and losses in the many, many of billions of dollars. To suggest that there is no downside for the banksters and corporations is simply untrue.

Since you brought it up, you are correct, the best investment I ever made in my life so far was in myself and Bonnie. We created and operated our own businesses which yielded returns which equaled a substantial multiple of that of our (more or less) passive investments. Granted, that investment in ourselves came with 100 hour work weeks and no guarantees. Most today are unwilling to accept this risk vs reward scheme which actually IMO makes it easier than ever before to come from zero and arrive at hero.

 

Yes, having to switch from Beluga to Sevruga is brutally painful.

 

The sad thing about this debate is people claim they're gonna boycott WalMart for paying cheap wages, and then just go shop at Target, have lunch at McDonalds, hit up Publix/HEB/Stop N Shop for their groceries and not think a thing about it. If you think WalMart is the only company paying "substandard" wages, you're crazy.

 

But some people would rather bitch about how bad things suck and how they do not get paid enough than actually do the work to change their situation.