Homogenizing India, one Wal-Mart at a time

Screw Wal-Mart and the lazy fat Americans who shop there.

The walmart smiley face is evil.

I thought Wal-Mart tried this and India had such strict laws against corporations such as Wal-Mart, They gave it up.

I think Wal-mart hatred for the most part stems from a lack of perspective. Granted there are definitely cases where it’s perfectly acceptable to call out Wal-mart’s shenanigans but I think overall Wal-mart still provides a beneficial service.
First off the “Wal-Mart destroys small businesses” line is only partially correct. Wal-mart “destroys” certain small businesses in the same way ice cream parlors and soda bars were destroyed by prepackaged ice cream and bottled soda. A successful business model is not eternal. The whole point of capitalism is to raise standards of living through increased efficiency. In that regard Wal-Mart is a slam dunk. Seriously trains and the telegraph killed the pony express but I don’t hear anyone freaking out over that issue.
The other aspect of this issue that’s almost never brought up is the fact that saving money by shopping at Wal-Mart leaves you with MORE money to spend at other businesses. So you can’t just white wash the entire situation and say Wal-Mart destroys small businesses.

I think there are two other important aspects that play into this whole Wal-Mart hatred thing. One is the whole nostalgia complex, where everything in the old days was perfect and no one ever complained. The other aspect which is just as old as the “good old days” mentality deals with protectionism and blind nationalism. Chinese people deserve jobs just like everyone else and the idea that free people should not take advantage of comparative advantage is so anti-business it’s an automatic qualifier for a change of discussion.

Sad day for India. They may be happy with the short term savings but they will learn as many people in the US already have. Those small saving go a long way in destroying businesses, homes, communities, and countries. Besides if I want to buy Chinese made, lead infested, arsenic filled garbage that is going to break in three days, I don't have to go to Wal-Mart. I can do that on line.

I understand all your points, when I said Wal-Mart had extant issues, I was largely referring to the ones Progresshiv has pointed out. I did not spell those out since I felt that was another can of worms. I agree with you all on what you're saying, socially Wal-Mart still has some stuff to work out.

However, none of you have exactly refuted my points, that from a supply and quality side, this is good for India. Also, it won't squash Indian mom and pop stores, as I said, its a marketplace culture and with 1 billion people, there will probably always be enough people not going to Wal-Mart there.

Again, don't make this about why you don't like Wal-Mart, the issue is its expansion into India, just because Wal-Mart isn't good for rural America, does not mean it can't be good for India.

Maybe they won't treat their employees like objects over in India.

Haha who am I kidding.

So sick of big business only having any interest in themselves.

roneesh says, "All your responses are one sided." Monopolies and market-controlling corporations are also one-sided. The difference between our one-sidedness and the one-sidedness of monopolies is that they have the economic power and political influence to perpetuate their profits at the expense of local communities.

Small communities and local shopkeepers have been (and are) easy prey for companies whose actions show they are nothing more or less than bullies, interested only in shareholder profit. The most one-sided viewpoint in the world is, in my opinion, the idea that capital gain is the best and only reason for the existence of commerce. Commerce (fair commerce, unencumbered by undue size and influence) provides not only sustenance and a few luxuries; it also provides people the opportunity to interact in social settings which are not regulated by bosses who live elsewhere. For example, in a typical WalMart, employees are under constant surveillance, must act according to scripts provided by bosses, and cannot eat, rest, or use the bathroom without the permission of someone else. Conversely, in a typical small-town grocery, hardware store, or auto repair shop, the owner and employees interact face-to-face, and there are fewer strictures which prohibit them from behaving as real human beings. They may know each other more honestly and with greater effect than they would if they spent their days wearing clownish uniforms in a WalMart.

The loss of small towns and the communities they create is more than an economic question, and if this is a one-sided view, I am glad to be on this side..

Although an older book,
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, written by Barbara Ehrenreich, is a wonderful look into the nasty Wal-Mart culture for those who don't understand why it is bad.
Just my own thoughts: Wal-Mart is strategically bad for America - the products fuel China's economy, who isn't exactly our friend. Also, it squashes established "Mom and Pops" ;) stores, by exploiting their ill-gotten Chinese products.

All your responses are one sided.

Having researched Wal-Mart quite a bit, I believe that while they still have many extant issues to confront, they're trying to clean up their act, and doing a decent job of it.

As far as their entry into India goes, it can be a very good thing. India lacks centralized places for businesses to get supplies. It lacks a dependable supply chain. It lacks consistent quality controls. These are all things Wal-Mart provides. India is also a marketplace culture, Wal-Mart would need 100 years to change that.

Criticize them when its due, not just because they're big and you have a grudge against them.

All box stores are a danger to local economies everywhere.Do you think that they got a tax break like they demand here in the states?

Wal-Mart needs to go under.

Thank you for this post-this is happening all over the world. We have allowed this to happen in the USA and this is why the term free market economy is a ridiculous myth. Capitalism is more than a system of economics it is an ideology of the domination system of politics.

That's so sad...

I have lived in two small towns in the U.S,. during the last year, and in both towns local businesses have been destroyed by corporate grocery and clothing stores. Local dollars now leave these communities, so that young people, seeking living wages, have had to move to larger cities. Not only does this erase local culture, it guarantees that when the large businesses finally fail (and they will), everyone, urban and rural, will suffer.

And the world domination continues. I'm sure walmart and mcdonald are in cahoots. I'm waiting for the day when all of the stores transform into robots and destroy everything. I picture it like wally world meets Ronald meets Transformers type apocolypse.