I know intuitively Wal-Mart seems harmless. Low prices, efficiency, capitalism, low inflation. Those are all good things, right?
Nope. Not when taken to an extreme. Not when an unchecked monopoly overtakes a market.
Wal-Mart folks has destroyed America. You just don't realize it yet, because it sure is fun to get stuff for so much cheaper than it used to be. Especially when so many things are so much more than they used to be (healthcare, college, homes, day care, movies, etc). Wal-Mart seemed like the only way to stay ahead for most people.
What people don't realize though is that Wal-Mart has destroyed the middle class. Wal-Mart has destroyed the American manufacturing base, and tens of thousands of small to medium sized American businesses. Wal-Mart has killed the character of American towns. And Wal-Mart caused the housing bubble, by creating a massive trade imbalance which caused China to reinvest their reserves in US t-bills, thus deflating interest rates and inflating home prices.
Wal-Mart is evil. And people who shop at Wal-Mart need to see that they're hurting America every time they walk through those doors.
Here's an interesting take on the catch-22 caused by our addiction to low prices and Chinese crap.
“The China trade deficit really reflects the state of the global economy: China is the world’s factory and the U.S. is its supermarket,” Gereffi said. “It’s not caused by any nefarious Chinese strategy.” Gereffi said efforts to improve conditions in the U.S. by finding fault with China’s monetary or labor practices are misplaced. Answers to American challenges are best found at home, he said.
“Pressing China to let the yuan appreciate -- the current policy of the American government -- even if successful, would contribute only slightly to an already steady U.S. economy,” he said. “Far more fruitful would be addressing the anxieties of American workers about job security, retirement and health care with new ways of providing the social supports once found in pensions, lifelong employment, company health insurance, Social Security and Medicare.
“Cheap Chinese goods and labor have pitted the American consumer, in love with inexpensive goods, against the American worker, in fear of cheap labor,” Gereffi said. “Unfortunately, these are often two sides of the same coin: America’s workers are also its consumers. It’s time to stop fighting with ourselves on this front
72 comments:
Wal-Mart shoppers are ther lowest form of Americ-un low-life, uneducated stupids. People with no self-esteem or history, half-breeds who don't even know who their grandparents are, that transient flotsam who stand for nothing and will stand anything. If this is Americ-un 21st century democracy and liberty, I'm outta here!
Shopping at Wal-Mart is like putting a gun to your head or a syringe up your arm..its boils down to a matter of time.
Hey Keith,check out Eagle First Mortgage news!Its just out on theHousing Doom blog.
The loss of manufacturing jobs in the U.S. has been tempered by the low priced goods coming in from overseas. If the dollar takes a bath and those foreign imports increase in cost, there's a lot of folks who are going to get really pissed off in a hurry.
Shopping at Wal-Mart, living in Phoenix metro, driving an American hunk of junk and barely finishing high-school... any combo of the above and you're witness to an American horror story of tragic proportions starring millions upon millions of bottom feeding mooks.
Many of them probably George Bush supporters too...you can't make this stuff up.
Thank God for my dual citizenship and overseas second home.
Is this country screwed or what?
Gotta love the uber-patriotic Fox News watching George Bush voting NASCAR watching rednick fool shopping at Wal-Mart then wondering where their job went
Nope. Not when taken to an extreme. Not when an unchecked monopoly overtakes a market.
and our democracy is at risk since there isn't a robust "local economy" that could mobilize its resources to influence politics.
as hilliary (once on the wal-mart board) said, "we live in the plantation economy." economically, we are controlled...
There's no way to fix this, the great days of America are behind us. We are now a nation of soulless strip mall Wal Mart suburbs
The housing crash and Illegals going home has to begin to hurt Wal-Mart at one point doesn't it?
Just got back from Wal-Mart. Picked up a few things, saved about 5 bucks.
If the Chinese want to trade real goods for worthless greenbacks why should I stand in the way. They are the ones getting the raw deal.
Why should it matter if the consumer decides to spend their money at the lowest cost place? You need to stop saying 'them' verses 'us', and the USofA is better than other countries. In a hundred years, the whole world will be one giant economy and one giant country with multiple states, and with one currency. People will be able to move freely to wherever they want in the world. We don't care right now if Nebraska is running a trade deficit with California. Why should we care if the US is running a trade deficit with China. They're just another state, with humans. They might have a different culture, set of ideas, values, religions, likes, dislikes, etc. It just doesn't matter. In the long run, we're ALL DEAD anyway!
"Wal-Mart" is not exactly evil and neither are the Americans who shop there. For about fifty years, US and most western-based manufacturers have moved first labor and then materials operations overseas. This was done to protect from currency fluctuations (a nasty but predicable result of fiat-based monetary systems), and then for several other reasons that followed. Over the last 25 years, again due to government monetary policy, corporations began to make more money from their financial activity than from the "real" economic activity of employing people to make things and our aging industrial economies fell further behind as capital sought cheap labor. So it made perfect sense for western governments to import duty-free cheap goods as it conveniently masked the results of our hollowed-out industrial base: rising debt costs and inflation of goods and services at home - both a result of the decline in the value of the dollar - itself a result of the rampant credit creation to keep society's standard of living somewhat, but ultimately artificially intact. Is Wal-Mart and the US consumer to blame? I seriously don't think so. If there is a big bogeyman, you'll find it more convincingly by tracing back American monetary policy over the past one hundred years.
You geniuses wouldn't be talking about the same Wal-Mart that is headquarted in Arkansas, would you? You know, the same state where the Clinton regime ruled? No, I didn't think so.
Sure, it's Bush's fault.
Shopping at Wal-Mart is the easy thing to do, that's why so many do it. Intuitively it seems hurtful and self destructive to NOT shop at Wal-Mart. Why spend more money somewhere else, like a local hardware store, or a farmer's market.
It's this type of thinking that stops someone from coming to the aid of a purse-snatch victime.
It's this type of thinking that gives comfort to people who cheat on their taxes (hey - everyone else is doing it!)
It's this type of thinking that gives moral cover to stealing, hiring an illegal immigrant, or voting against social security reform. It's all about getting yours (at the expense of someone else)
Yes, it's this type of thinking that has led to the destruction of the working class, the hollowing out and cheapening of our culture, and the economic devastation to come.
You reap what you sow. Now get down to Wal-Mart and put another nail in America's coffin.
Keef, where do you think Target, Best Buy, and all the other retailers get their products? That plasma selling at Best Buy wasn't made in the USA either. Those toys at target weren't made in the USA. Where are we supposed to shop at?
Do those leftwing morons shopping at Target while sipping on their $5 Starbucks coffee really think they are buying American products? San Franfreako morons are funny. They are against drilling for oil anywhere in America, then they complain about our dependence on Arab oil. I wonder if those retards ever drive a car or use electricity. Apparently they do because so many of those whackoffs are on this board complaining all the time.
Keith,
I think the most un American thing you can do is leave the country, burn the flag, and or take away basic freedoms.
I remember when WalMart had their "Made in America" campaign back in the 1990's and nobody shopped there. So what are they supposed to do?
I'd like to know where your tv's, computers, stereos, clothes came from? How about the gas you pump into your car? How about your ipod or mobile phone? How many of you use Google or Yahoo, which helps the Chinese government oppress their people?
It's easy for you dolts to jump on the bash WalMart bandwagon and feel good about yourselves. You received your marching orders from your leaders and are unable to think for yourselves. Dolts.
The walmart business model will soon rule the world.All people care about is something cheap.They don't give a rats ass about their fellow man.People screw each other over because they do not fear further interaction with them.Our cities are so disconnected and hollow it is pathetic.The walmart greeter doesn't give a shit about you.They don't even recognize you the next time you come in to shop.A small business might actually acknowledge you as being human and interact with you.This whole coproration dominance has created a lonely and pathetic existence for a lot of people I'm afraid.
truthsquad said...
Shopping at Wal-Mart, living in Phoenix metro, driving an American hunk of junk and barely finishing high-school...
-------------------------------
so, part of the solution is to buy foreign made cars but only buy cheap plastic shit that is made in america????? WTF?
This is what happens when you see your ARM adjusted:
http://tinyurl.com/ylwhfq
Myself I won't set foot in a WalMart, I'll spend what little money I have somewhere else. But in my area they are building 2 more WalMart Super Centers so the hand writing is on the wall. So it's either work in the warehouse for WalMart, drive a truck for WalMart or work in the store for WalMart.
what about all those 99c stores and all those 99c cent stores in low income neighborhoods and Marshalls and Ross Kmart Target all that stuff comes from China. I think people need to put the skids on those 99c stores. Although these stores do not carry the same impact of Wal Mart the goods are still shipped straight from China to the USA and I see shopping carts full of useless junk being rolled out. I realized it one day and I just quit going there. But it is apparent I am the only one. Also I could have bought a Toyota Truck but I chose Chevy instead because if I don't support my country and take a chance that I will get a good product who will.
Bejesus.. Walmart now, trade barriers to follow eh ?
to quote, from a different context jeffmatthewsisnotmakingthisup
"Wal-Mart bashing was popular at the time, and Biden had lashed into what is, by any standards, one of the most successful enterprises the world has ever seen—one that has created more jobs and reduced prices for more Americans than Joe Biden could even imagine, if he had the brains to comprehend such things, which he clearly does not...."
This is a free country. Shop there, don't shop there - its your choice. I say: Shop smart, which is... look for value, starting with do it need it at ALL ? Done collectively, that is one of the starting points for the eventual recovery of this country; of course a collective reductioin in shopping will in the first instance lead to a short sharp recession; but longer term getting people out of debt is the best hope - this Walmart boycott won't change anything.
-K
Just pure stupidy on Keith's part.
Let's look at this.
Wal-Mart causes the trade deficit. Ridiculous. People buying foreign stuff does. Mostly things like machinery, cars and oil. Not socks and underwear.
Where this stuff is sold is irrelevent. Do you think if there were no Wal-Mart, they'd still be making clothes in the deep South? No...those jobs were leaving long before Wal-Mart's growth.
Shop at a farmer's market rather than Wal-Mart! Brilliant! What does that have to do with the trade deficit? Let me guess....local farmer's don't use illegals but Wal-Mart's produce is 100% illegals based!! Right. Just gibberish.
You can argue that hollowing out the manufacturing base has weakened the country but Wal-Mart doesn't decide where to produce them and they would be produced in China anyway. Also Wal-Mart doesn't actually sell many manufactured goods. Car parts, cars, etc.
But what about TVs!! Radios!! Alarm clocks!! Right and without Wal-Mart they'd still be making that low-tech crap in the US, right? WRONG.
Disappointed that you post so much dogma without actually thinking it through. It's like a religion with you people.
I really see now how the labor unions have done a great job at influencing ignorant liberals. It's amazing.
Keith, don't eat at any restaurant and don't shop at any retailer for that matter because they all get paid shit.
I rarely disagree with this blog but this is one of those cases. Most people who tout the "Buy American" mantra don't realize that it is a form of pure Marxism. Why should I pay extra to buy from a local store when I can get the same goods from Wal-Mart for less? This is simply economic change as we move into the 21st century and Industrial Age. I reinvented myself when I realized that a lifetime at a job would not bring me financial security. You're telling me I should buy from inefficient retailers because they refuse to reinvent themselves in order to adapt to this new economy? No way!
Let's look at the fact that I drive a foreign car. Why? Because the UAW and other unions have decimated U.S. automakers, and I'm supposed to bow down to that and buy one of their cars for the sake of being patriotic? True patriotism would be the automakers and the government standing up to the unions, putting a stop to the bloodsuckers who want to continue to get paid more to do less, and finally start building great cars at a competitive price instead of subpar cars at a premium, just so the factory workers can be overpaid to hardly work.
$30,000 buys you nothing in a car anymore because the UAW has negotiated totally unreasonable salaries and most of your money is going to pay some $40/hour salaries for a job that is worth half.
The citizens of this country all need to read "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand and realize what the hell is actually going on - the looters are ruining this country, not the consumers. (read the book to learn who the looters are)
Stopped in at Wal-Mart tonight and bought 4 gallons of two stroke oil to burn in my diesel truck for about 1/2 the price of anyplace else. I don't blame the US government, I blame the US people.The government just gives us what we want, so they can be re-elected.
Frankly EVERYPLACE buys the made in china crap...Have you read the labels at the "local" hardware store? Thier all doing it!
Now that said IF a company opened a store that featured as much selection, similar quality products, and was within 20% of Wal-Mart prices...They would have my business!
BUY CANADIAN!
PARIS HILTON SAID TO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
what a strange group that reads this site...part protectionist part capitalist and part big government.the reason why the u.s.a. can no longer compete is becuase of way to much big government regulation.long live the free market!
But here south of Boston Walmart is the only place I can buy ammo so I'm screwed.......
So shopping for groceries at walmart is unamerican?
The same stuff I get at publix and albertsons costs at least 20% less at walmart.
Beyond groceries I don't do much shopping at walmart. Nothing I buy during my visit is made in China.
Wait... Did Frito Lays move their operation to China?
I would argue that greedy union employees,not Walrmart destroyed the middle class. Who in the hell makes $40/hour for a mindless, no labor task like watching an assembly line. A company we did business wiht was paying union wages as high as $80k/year as recently as last year for people who worked in a light manufacturing and shipping department. The union threatened a strike if any wages were to be effected in the next negotiation. So, they outsourced the entire production, and shipping to taiwan.
What other choice did they have? Raise prices to cover costs so they became unaffordable and didn't sell the goods? What would that have lead to anyway...layoffs!
"Nothing is made in America anymore. What choice do we have?"
-------------
Try looking for it at a thrift shop or a garage sale.
Keith,
You and the rest of your cronies here are such hypcorites. On the one hand you write over and over how Americans spend too much and go into debt. And there is much truth in that.
Yet here is a store that offers dirt cheap products, many of these products identical to those sold at other stores for much higher prices. Yet you castigate consumers for choosing the lower cost option by shopping at Walmart.
You champion a spartan life of apartment living, 20 year old car driving lifestyle. Yet when it comes to shopping for groceries, instead of paying $80 for a cartful of food at walmart, you would rather have me pay $120 for the same food at Albertson's or Smith's. Why?
And if you think that Walmart is the reason everything is made in China you're nuts. Everything is made in China because in China workers cost $1 an hour not $20 an hour. There are no unions to deal with, no OSHA, no workers comp, none of that bullshit. You and your union/Democrat buddies are the reason there is no more manufacturing in this country. You've driven every industry away with over-regulation and obscene union demands and laughably you blame Walmart for that. All they do is sell the finished good. If they didn't then Kmart, Ace, Lowe's, etc would sell it but for 20% more. But either way that product is made in China.
In a year or so China will start exporting cars to the US. This will be the final nail in the GM/Ford/Chrysler coffin and the death of the UAW and good riddance to that.
Re Trashwacker's commentary on
Walmart shopper's:
May I offer some points to ponder:
In Portland, Or, there is a store
called Winco, where one bags one's own groceries, shops for dry food
stuff's out of bins, buys spices in
small amounts in little baggies, etc.For one's efforts, a savings of up to 30% over Fred eyer's/Krogers, Safeway, etc. is possible. Visiting family in Denver, I find no such equivalent.
Mind you, Winco makes a profit. So what kind of profit are the other stores making, at our expense?
Enter Walmart. In Portland, I shopped at Walmart about once a year for one or two items. Here,in order to feed 6, I shop at Walmart, Costco, and the usual
other's. Our family prefers home
cooked food,( all can cook), and
mostly from scratch, as in no mixes
or Shake n' Bake, so I do know how
to minimize my expenses by NOT
buying "value added" products, a
misnomer if ever there was one.
Basically where people shop is a
reality choice. If your reality has room for shopping options, great,
exercise your rights. I submit those who shop at Walmart have a
firm grasp of their personal
economy.
I am a frugal person. I regard it
as an interesting challenge. I am
unusually good at "stretching"
my purchasing power under any
circumstances, so the fact that
I now shop at Walmart for groceries
is based on my current reality.
I know my family history back
many generations, and frankly, it
hasn't helped me except as a
conversation piece. I had the
examples of my grandparents of
course, in front of me, but how
is that pertinent? At this time in my life, I now assume we are all here because we are needed to hold the fabric of life together. (You might want to check out the March 2006, National Geographic's article on the latest discoveries re the Human Genome project and find out more about our common background.) Sometimes I think we simply contribute our genes to posterity. I for one think it's interesting that on my mother's side of the family, the one with the most empathy for humanity in general, I am a descendant of someone who had to have survived the great famine of the 1690's in Finland, where 1/3
were lost. How did that empathy
that runs through the family play
a role in the fact that I exist?
On my father's side, creativity
beyond belief. That side could do
anything, make anything. All people
alive now, came from similar roots.
We carry the genes of legions of
survivors.
I find it interesting that Americans are often very critical of what they see as the European tendencey toward socialism. Having read about the famines and plagues and consequent wars which ravaged Europe over the centuries, I think they just don't want to every see such suffering again. I suggest to
everyone who is interested, find a
copy of "Times of Feast, Times of
Famine". Pub in 1969/70 I believe.
As an interesting aside, the weather pattern leading to some of
the great famines was seen in 1969
in case one concludes these patterns are from the distant past.
The book covers 1000 years of climate and crop histories and social consequences.
I found your comments cavalier
and dismissive of your fellow
human beings. I was young once,
and I have found over the years,
everything I was ever arrogant about, came back to me in the form
of personal experience. Be careful what you disdain; it has the power of the wish or prayer, as you will.
I am 63 this next month, and for
60 years I have dreamed of a great
unraveling, which will later be
called the Greater Depression; I
was feeding people, and teaching
what I knew how to do. I do not
look forward to dealing with those
who have feelings of entitlement
as it will make them almost useless
in coping with the reality of quickly replacing one paradigm
with something sustainable in the
interim before the next is developed.
I have observed that in recent years attitude, posturing, illusion has replaced skill. I love knowledge and information, suck it
up like a sponge, but I have concluded skill is ultimate, and
redeems many a flaw.
But what would you do, if you couldn't find what you needed anywhere? What can you do for yourself? I am guessing from your
blog that you will find yourself
thinking this will never happen
here. There will always be....
and you will always be one of
the privileged who can buy/have.
What if? PKK
Actually Keith, shopping at Wal-Mart these days is a pain in the @$$.
The shelves are no longer proprely stocked. A great number of times I have found a few boxes that on the shelves were ripped opened and taped shut. Plus, don't get me started about the long lines.
For those reasons, I either go to Target or K-mart (who has finally started getting their act together).
Ms. Hillary Clinton was on the board at Walmart when she lived in Arkansas. Maybe you Bush Bashers should do some research. The Clintons were warned about the terrorists before 911 but Clinton was too busy with Monica Lewinsky and other issues to pay attention.
I don't shop walmart most of their clothing is of very poor quality. Target is much better. Walmart is the largest employer in the state of Arizona and they don't provide health benefits to most of their employees so the state has to suck up that cost with people being on the state program for uninsured poor people.
Walmart caused the housing bubble?
Last week it was Bush.
Week before that it was Greenspan. Week before that it was Wall St. Before that it was greedy mortgage brokers.
I wonder who the culprit will be next week...Anna Nicolse Smith? Hillary? Illegals? (oops no, they were the cause of it about 6 weeks ago, but hey who knows, they might make a second appearance).
Seriously AL-QWEEFER you need to pick a scapegoat and stick with it.
To the idiot anti-walmart sophisticates here:
In 2006 my AGI was $142,000 and change. I can trace my lineage to 1802 Virgina. I graduated with honors from UVA. And guess what assholes, I am a regular walmart and sam's club customer. Despite the left's caricature of a walmart shopper as a hillbilly rube, that's not quite true. Do some reseatch on walmart demographics and you'll be surprised. Everyone likes saving money, well everyone except HPers I suppose who would rather pay 20% more so that a bag boy at a grocery store can make $20 an hour.
Golf balls is a great example of why walmart works. I ca buy 24 Nike ball at sam'sclub for $30. The exact same balls purchased at a golf store cost $50. Purchased at a sporting goods store costs $40. Why in the world would I pay an extra $10 or $20 for the exact same product? Same goes for pretty much any othe product, big or small. 95/100 times Walmart sell the exact product cheaper than any other retailer.
Anti-walmart movements are nothing more than union/socialist schemes to stiffle competition and increase union memberships. If it wasn't WalMart it would be Target. Union/socialists hate success and seek to destroy and company that succeeds. See steel, electronics and auto industries for more examples. Not content with having destroyed those industries, unions/socialists are now going after retail and airlines and will most likely succeed there too.
For the "let's go shop at wal-mart - low prices yee-ha!" crowd, just listen to my argument one last time:
1) when you shop at wal-mart, especially for chinese goods, you are helping prop up our trade deficit, you're helping America lose its manufacturing base, and you're helping an American lose his job. I think we can agree on these points, yes?
2) I encourage you to NOT spend money. Don't buy stuff. American consumerism is out of control. You're buying too much stuff. Buy what you need, buy things that make you happy, but good god, do you need to spend every weekend shopping? Do you really need all that crap
3) It will cost more to shop for American-produced goods, or to buy from local and family owned businesses. Consider it doing a good, like volunteering or giving to charity. You're helping your country and your countrymen when you buy and shop local
Or you can continue to say screw it, screw future generations, screw your fellow man, and it's all about you. That's the normal and popular thing to do.
Oh, and let me be on the record by saying I HATE UNIONS.
Unions have destroyed the American manufacturing base. Unions have caused millions of their own to go unemployed. Unions are corrupt and greedy. Unions need to go away (and they're doing a great job of that)
The solution to America's problems are on the DEMAND side of the equation. If people stopped shopping at Wal-Mart because they treated their people like crap (which they do) then Wal-Mart would change. Unions would not solve the problem.
Unions suck.
Keith you make it sound like every retailer sells nothing but US made products except Walmart. That's simply not the case. Everyone sells Chinese made goods. Walmart sells them cheaper, that's all.
If I buy made-in-China product for $20 at Walmart or $30 at Sears, how is that going to help anyone other than the shareholders of Sears?
You truly sound ignorant of the facts on this one.
I've focused my attention on the monopoly - Wal-Mart. And I encourage you to shop at locally-owned stores. Not Target, not Sears, not Home Depot.
Try an ACE-hardware. Try a farmer's market. Try the local butcher. It takes longer, you'll pay more, and you'll be doing good.
And stop buying chinese crap!
truthsquad said...
"Shopping at Wal-Mart, living in Phoenix metro, driving an American hunk of junk and barely finishing high-school... any combo of the above and you're witness to an American horror story of tragic proportions starring millions upon millions of bottom feeding mooks.
Many of them probably George Bush supporters too...you can't make this stuff up.
Thank God for my dual citizenship and overseas second home.
Is this country screwed or what? "
American Hunk Of Junk? Sc@#* you. You have to be a lemming to believe American vehicles are junk. Toyota, Nissan would love you to believe that. Just go look at your local Toyota's dealers service center, you'll see plenty in need of repair. What's your point anyway? Americans are stupid for shopping at Wal Mart because it sends jobs overseas AND they are also stupid for buying US cars (thus supporting US jobs and Companies)???
Dual citizenship huh? Where the hell do you come from? Does your country build cars?
Keith,
Or how about everyone shops wherever the fuck they want without a guilt trip? I'll shop at walmart and pay $1. You shop at your local farmers market and pay $2. Someone else will shop at Whole Foods and pay $3 all for the same product.
It's called choice Keith, look into it.
"Frank said...
I rarely disagree with this blog but this is one of those cases. Most people who tout the "Buy American" mantra don't realize that it is a form of pure Marxism. Why should I pay extra to buy from a local store when I can get the same goods from Wal-Mart for less? This is simply economic change as we move into the 21st century and Industrial Age. I reinvented myself when I realized that a lifetime at a job would not bring me financial security. You're telling me I should buy from inefficient retailers because they refuse to reinvent themselves in order to adapt to this new economy? No way!
Let's look at the fact that I drive a foreign car. Why? Because the UAW and other unions have decimated U.S. automakers, and I'm supposed to bow down to that and buy one of their cars for the sake of being patriotic? True patriotism would be the automakers and the government standing up to the unions, putting a stop to the bloodsuckers who want to continue to get paid more to do less, and finally start building great cars at a competitive price instead of subpar cars at a premium, just so the factory workers can be overpaid to hardly work.
$30,000 buys you nothing in a car anymore because the UAW has negotiated totally unreasonable salaries and most of your money is going to pay some $40/hour salaries for a job that is worth half."
You say this crap because you feel guilty, deep down you know that you shafted your fellow worker when buying that foreign car. Just wait till it's your job that friends, nieghbors and fellow citizens refuse to support because they ignorantly think YOU are over paid and lazy.
Any idiot that thinks American cars are subpar is living in the 70s. Do a little research, go out on a limb and buy an American car and you will, absolutley find, US cars are as good as cars from anywhere. My 2004 Buick Rendezvous has almost 80k miles on it and it has NEVER been in the shop for a repair. NEVER! Heck, once I thought it had a problem becuase it was making a funny, noise and I took it to the dealership, the dealer did not even think for a second there actually may be something wrong with the car, instead he put it on a lift and pulled out a bush I had ran over. The dealers know these cars run and run, you should too.
1998 Dodge Ram 1500, 140k miles, ZERO days in the shop, ZERO!. It still runs like new and is tight and solid. Shit, how reliable do you need things before you throw some dollars at supporting your nieghbor's job?
How are you helping the American butcher by living in England AL-QWEEFER?
Hypocritical...typical of the socialist mentality of do as I say not as I do.
ok, i will no longer shop at wally world. i will only shop at target, which is 5 miles more out of my way. so i will drive 10 miles more than i should, but i will not support china in this way, is this correct? china wont benefit from me consuming half a gallon more gas for each trip to purchase goods at target which amazingly are not china-made.
or i could go to the hardware store, then grocery store, then mall, etc and drive 20 miles more than shopping at the single wal-mart. and these stores offer mostly american made stuff, only walmart is china loving.
yup, efficient one stop shopping bad, support the middle east, drive all day to get your goods!
Let me see... Lets buy shoes from a Nike Store! Made for $2 in Pakistan I pay $120. A hooded sweat from Gap- $49, made in Sri Lanka for $2! Yes, Walmart is killing us!
Holy shit I cannot believe there are still people who think American cars are NOT pieces of junk. Do you also believe in the toothfairy and WMDs in Iraq?
JD Power 2006 Most Reliable Cars
Honda CRV
Honda S2000
Lexus GS
Lexus IS
Lexus SC
Toyota Corolla
Toyota Highlander
Toyota Prius
Toyota RAV4
Not one car from GM, Ford or Chrylser on the list. Face it morons, Detroit makes garbage. If you buy an American (not American made but made by an American company) you are a fucking idiot.
Keith never seems to get around to what Walmart consumers do with the extra 20-30% they save. Perhaps buy additional goods and services, strenghening our economy? Why is it better to have Mom and Pop retail shops have that money, rather than Joe Sixpack and Mrs. Soccer Mom?
Keith never seems to get around to what Walmart consumers do with the extra 20-30% they save. Perhaps buy additional goods and services, strenghening our economy? Why is it better to have Mom and Pop retail shops have that money, rather than Joe Sixpack and Mrs. Soccer Mom?
Excellent point.
Anonymous said:
"Keith never seems to get around to what Walmart consumers do with the extra 20-30% they save. Perhaps buy additional goods and services, strenghening our economy? Why is it better to have Mom and Pop retail shops have that money, rather than Joe Sixpack and Mrs. Soccer Mom?"
They buy booze, smokes, lottery tickets, tatoos, crank and used American Detroit junk. What do you think the American stupids who shop at Wal-Mart spend their "savings" on?
Beefing up on 401Ks, college funds for their kids, adult education or the dental work they need?
You sound like one of them POSs.
If you don't like FOX - don't watch it. If you don't like WalMart - don't shop there, if you don't like McDonald's - don't eat there. If you "won't set foot in a WalMartI" - just don't, who cares? I don't give a @#$ what you all think about being patriotic or non-patriotic and I'll do what's most convenient, money and time saving for ME. You can call me a redneck or sixpack, with my 3 advanced degrees I'll survive this.
Which stores don't sell any Chinese-made goods? Where am I supposed to get cleaning supplies? If I buy a stereo at Target, was it made in the USA? Do mom and pop stores sell stereos?
Not that I am a fan of unions, but why do you blame unions for the poor quality of cars & trucks coming from Detroit?
Sound design and innovative thinking has a lot to do with the quality of motor vehicles. So does a rigorous inspection during the production process to prevent manufacturing-introduced defects from escaping the factory.
While the GM, ford and Chrysler corporations were designing and building their no-longer-in-high-demand gas-guzzling behemoths like the V10 Expedition, the Japanese introduced their innovative hybrid vehicles like the Prius and Insight.
It’s all the union’s fault. Right.
-Mammoth
Trashwacker said:
They buy booze, smokes, lottery tickets, tatoos, crank and used American Detroit junk. What do you think the American stupids who shop at Wal-Mart spend their "savings" on?
Beefing up on 401Ks, college funds for their kids, adult education or the dental work they need?
You sound like one of them POSs.
I have a six figure salary, MSEE and MBA. I shop at Wal-Mart for all commodity-type purchases. And Wal-Mart does help me to fully fund my 401K and a add to my son's college fund. Read it and weep, trashwacker union thug. I'm not going to subsidize your union lifestyle, so time to go out and get an unsubsidized job. Maybe I'll see you as a Wal-Mart greeter someday. Hope you have teeth when you smile.
we import illegals until we are the low cost labor and maybe our factories return, owned then by whoever is that days top dogs
but i do not see low cost labor living in mcmansions at these prices or costs, only the company store renters
my us made cars have been long lasters and very reliable and strong, no problem that would have been very affordably repaired without the replace rather than repair parts mentality and labor costs, gotta vote U.S on that one
im talking 15 years no problems but oil changes and lube jobs at somewhat required times, have tho been keeping then away from harsh climates and road salts
dam those little dings realy rattle my face
did the smart japanese buy those ratings from our corrupt news services who helped sheer the sheeple, wonder what degree that one had, shoulda learned japanese when they were the top dogs paying outrageous prices for u,s realestate, that went higher??? while japans fell in price 90%????
Hmmm, let me see: Wal-Mart calls for a "meeting", American mfrs with factories producing American made items by Americans, and then orders them to close Americans factories, fire all American employees, and give to the Chinese in a plate. They also ask these American suppliers to transfer decades of know-how instantly to the Chinese. What's wrong with this picture? Not only that, Bush's brothers have companies that represent Chinese interests in the USA, which makes this so called "free market" much easier. *wink wink* Continue on sheeple, one day your job (or your children's) will be transferred to China or India, too.
"Keith never seems to get around to what Walmart consumers do with the extra 20-30% they save."
Yes, we, the non sheeple, all know: Wal-Mart consumers subsidize Chinese jobs in detriment of American's. That's the problem with America: we became a society of instant gratification, individualism, and consumerism, without stopping, between American Idol programs, to analyze the consequences of our behavior. It's all about me me me saving 20% even though I'm helping to send Americans jobs to China. It's me me me flipping properties and committing fraud, even though I'm screwing the financial market and other homebuyers with a brain. It's me me me on traffic, etc. You guys are not Americans anymore, you are a bunch of animals who just react by instinct, without thinking, and still have the balls to say that "I have many degrees, I'm such hot sh*t...it's pathetic. Now, go back to kissing Cheneys photo and watch MTV's "Sweet 16".
Bend over to the Chinese, America, just like the "macho" man Karl Rove likes to do at night.
Go sell your soul (and your children's) to Wal-Marta and to the Chinese. Don't forget to eat a lot of processed food, full of subsidized corn (with your tax money) from the cartel ADM and Cargill, so you can all get fat like a pig and start supporting the pharmaceutical industry.
Go on sheeple, follow the herd into Wal-Mart and McDonald's...and while you are there, blow some Chinese guy.
Hey Keith, I thought that your readers were a little bit smarter...
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