Seagulls. Yes, the nearest ocean is 300 miles away.
Abandoned vehicles. I told you about this one... Note the flat tire and missing license plate. You don't even want to know what's in the trunk.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
The parking lot
Things you will find in an Upstate Walmart parking lot.
Seagulls. Yes, the nearest ocean is 300 miles away.
Abandoned vehicles. I told you about this one... Note the flat tire and missing license plate. You don't even want to know what's in the trunk.
Seagulls. Yes, the nearest ocean is 300 miles away.
Abandoned vehicles. I told you about this one... Note the flat tire and missing license plate. You don't even want to know what's in the trunk.
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3 comments:
You go to walmart a lot?
I spent some time in a trailer there... and no, I avoid it (not exclusively mind you) as much as is convenient.
Really, it's more about the crowds that are involved than economic theory.
Seeing as our area will soon be blessed with another store from said chain, I have put some thought into the "Walmart is the devil" debate. Other than seemingly questionable employee benefits policies, I can't make a strong argument against the store... I see Walmart as the current pinnacle of efficiency through scale. Logically, I have to appreciate the sheer productivity of the system.
On the other hand, I have misgivings about the power that a quarter trillion dollar company embodies. I hear figures of 2% of the GDP, and I can't help feeling "there has to be something objectionable about that".
It's a conversation starter for me about capitalism as a whole. Without going into specific definitions of "capitalism", gaining of market share by a company based on offering desired goods at lower cost to consumers should be a "good" thing, right? The consumers obviously have a high demand for the product Walmart provides.
So if you say "well, a limit has to be drawn somewhere" you fall square in the trap of "where, and by whom?".
And if you say "the market should be truly free - no artificial limit", then what reasonable force will limit a company like Walmart in it's growth? If the Walmart model is "increased market means less expensive product which means increased market", then why should we expect Walmart to stop at 10% of the GDP - or 50%?
Corporations are systems - and for publicly traded companies, unending growth seems inherent in the system.
Sounds like I need an introduction to macro-economics.
I like to think that walmart is the devil. It is the condensation of capitalism retail. It is unique at the moment. Just like coca-cola was unique 40? years ago. They do indeed have an impressive infrastructure all their own, as well as an intimidating "we are walmart" imposition on their suppliers.
Can it last? I sometimes suspect it is just a revolution in the evolution of the market. Is target much behind? I suppose it isn't too long before walmart becomes the market standard for retail crap. There will be a few globally competing companies instead of a few locally competing companies.
I guess that just degrades the hope of community, but that is long gone anyway. Do you or I work for a company who's impact is more local than th salaries of the people who work there locally?
Is your aircraft production locally significant? Is my trainer locally significant? Only in that they pay me and I live here, and they pay you and you live here, and they pay some of our neighbors and they live here. But nothing about either company apart from the abstract idea of continental self defense lends the community anything.
I guess how i see it in a couple sentences. Vertical integration: more money to fewer. Its the trickle up theory.
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