readers/viewers might think on the following.

Avizpls:

As a rule, I shoot lead bullet handloads, however I have now and then used Winchester 9mm Luger factory loads, Jacketed Bullets. Never had a feeding problem with them in either an old Browning High Power or a Star Model 30M. I've also seen people using this stuff in Glocks and Colt 9mm pistols, without problem. Possibly my reference to Bulk pack ammunition was not the best example I could have chosen.

My original post dealt with a Public Television broadcast that dealt with Walmart, yes I'm aware of the leftist slant that seems to run through Public Radio and Television, anti gun too, and it annoys me. Of course, so does Walmart, however I virtually never shop at Walmart.

Costco, another discounter was mentioned in another discussion. Don't shop there either, though actually so far as I knowq, there are neither Walmarts nor Costo stores located near to where I live. For whatever it mioght be worth, I would find the "sing the company song" mentality very difficult to put up with.

In conclusion, regarding the segment you ended with, does the following sound familiar? I have met the enemy, and he is me.
 
Marko Kloos asks:
Is that the same Walmart that's the biggest private employer in the United States?
Click to expand...

Yes, the very same one. The one that is the biggest employer in the US at the expense of thousands upon thousands of other peoples businesses.

The very same Walmart that pays millions of dollars monthly to a sworn enemy of the United States (Norinco). Obviously Kloos would rather work for Walmart than own his own business. Good for you, but what about the thousands of other small stores that have been crushed by Walmart?

I know, who cares about them, right? I mean they could always get a job at Walmart, right Kloos?
 
This goes back farther than most people think

Some of the problem is that American companies, for many years enjoyed a virtual monopoly on some items and services....Two examples(I've worked for both) are Kodak and Xerox....30 years ago, when I worked for Kodak, they had a virtual monopoly on photographic films, chemicals and supplies....And the amount of inefficiency was tremendous. (As an example, in one 8 hour shift, the only work I was required to do was flip one switch at a specific time. We often had 5 or 6 people on a shift with a total of 2-3 man hours of work to be performed.) But it didn't matter, 'cause they were making so much money, nobody cared. Since then they've layed-off THOUSANDS of people, and moved many operations out of the country, and they're still struggling. Xerox was the same in the copier business. The amount of mid level managers (many of whom were grossly incompetent) in both companies was astounding.

So, my point is, that its not simply a matter of labor costs, but also a matter of efficiency that has caused many American companies problems.

As a result, the fundamental problem isn't just one of buying American. There are quite a few products today that you couldn't "buy American", because they simply aren't made here anymore. I suspect that the "mom and pop" operations that have been put out of business, by large companies such as Walmart, were selling as much (or almost as much) foreign made goods as Walmart does. Walmart is simply very efficient at what they do. Which means no matter where the product comes from, they can probably offer a better price. And economics, for me, means I can't always afford to be choosy.

This DOES NOT mean I think its right that so many products are now imported, but at this stage of the game I don't know what we can possibly do about it. I don't shop much at Walmart (and I my area there's lots of competition, both national and local) but I do occasionally, if I can get the best price on the SAME THING, that I can buy elsewhere. And as I mentioned, no matter where I shop, many or most items were not produced here anyway.

I had a friend that had a small shop, in a small town near here. She only sold American made items....And she went out of business, because she was unable to offer enough variety of items, made in the U.S. Every year, she had fewer and fewer suppliers could supply "Made in USA" items. This was in a "niche" market, certainly no competition from the Walmarts of the world.
 
OrangeSkies,

I know, who cares about them, right? I mean they could always get a job at Walmart, right Kloos?
Click to expand...

Well, Skies, what would the alternative be? I'm interested to see the "OrangeSkies Anti Successful Business Bill" of '04. How exactly do you propose to penalize a company that out-competes another? What if Bob The Plumber puts Joe The Plumber out of business? Since he crushed Joe's entrepreneurial dreams, does he also run afoul of the penalties of OASB '04, or is that reserved for Wally World? How many general stores did Sears drive under? Do we get to hate them, too?

(Out of curiousity, in what part of the country is it considered polite for adults to address strangers by only their last name? Just wondering. :confused: )
 
Also, there's an underlying financial aspect to this as well - many foreign countries, after WW-II, were allowed to back up their currency with US dollars. This was reasonable back when the US dollar was defined as 1/35th of an ounce of gold - a dollar bill was literally "as good as gold."

Now that our currency is backed up by government IOUs produced on HP laser printers and predicated on their ability to extract tax dollars from us, these countries' economies are now dependent on the Bureau of Engraving and Printing's presses. If they want to grow their economies, instead of mining gold and silver or some such, they need to import US dollars, which means exporting their goods to the US.
 
readers/viewers might think on the following
Click to expand...
I'll tell you what I think. I think that when an organization that has never made a buck anywhere other than the public trough wants to lecture me about business I turn the channel.
 
Get business news from reliable source

Yes, your statement I would agree with. The Marxist slant of the program of Wal-Mart was disgusting, though expected. Most of the talk of "exporting jobs," etc. is being done by people without the numbers and the means to analyze them. Always "consider the source."

Small farmers with little land learned long ago the secret of niche marketing, just as my local hardware store did when Sears hardware moved in a few years ago. The two stores now coexist nicely.

Let the businesses do what they do best and find their niche.
 
I think that when an organization that has never made a buck anywhere other than the public trough wants to lecture me about business I turn the channel.
Click to expand...

Great point! Hard hitting news can only come from a private news industry that relies on big business and sponsorship for money. CBS news, for instance. I'm sure a big expose on Walmart, followed by some commercial breaks (featuring Walmart), would be just the ticket! :rolleyes:

Ugh.
 
Last edited:
Handy,

Fred's probably just pissed because he's one of the welcome staff at his local Walmart.
Click to expand...

For someone who (rightly) complains to the heavens when unjustifiably attacked, was that really called for? Did that advance the discussion any? Or was it sinking to the levels of personal attacks you so frequently decry? :mad:
 
Madame,

Fred has his "ignore" blinders on, and couldn't possibly be insulted by anything I type, until someone quotes me.

However, Fred's use of the "ignore" feature hasn't prevented 3 attacks on my good name from him since he decided to select that feature. But I'm sure, as a moderator concerned with fair play and all, you've already contacted the man and asked him to stop. ;)


Anyhoo, implicating that someone is a Walmart employee is more of a canard than insult, so I'm a little surprised it makes your blood boil so. Would you like me to remove said post? :)

Take care. Happy Thanksgiving.
 
If we could back up a few posts to the point where we're talking about WalMart, I'd like to point out one importand point which has been left out of the discussion.

WalMart is an extractive industry. Now what is an 'extractive industry' do you say? Well, this is an industry which takes a resource from a less developed area and sends it to another area. One example would be the timber industry of the late 1800's and early 1900's which stripped the south of its old growth timber, clearcutting it to support yankee veneer mills. Another example would be the Peabody coal company or the Tennessee Coal and Iron company which mined the south.

Wal Mart provides low end jobs and cheap consumable goods but in return it mines wealth from the rural and small town areas, sending the money to its central offices in Arkansas and to the big cities where its major stockholders live. Doing so it damages the understructure of small town economies the same way eroding strip mines damaged the ecology of West Virginia and Tennessee.

The way to amass wealth is to buy nonconsumables with which to manufacturer lesser goods and keep money circulating in the small towns going from grocer to shoemaker to farmer to veteranarian to dentist to banker to teacher to furniture maker to seamstress to grocer.
 
Fred's probably just pissed because he's one of the welcome staff at his local Walmart.
Click to expand...
For someone who (rightly) complains to the heavens when unjustifiably attacked, was that really called for? Did that advance the discussion any? Or was it sinking to the levels of personal attacks you so frequently decry?
Click to expand...
:confused: How would speculating that someone might be on the staff at WalMart be a personal attack? Provided that one came by the job legitimately, I can see no reason why anyone who performed their job well at WalMart should ever be ashamed of it.

Am I pissed? Not in the least. I merely pointed out that I ignore marxists when they wish to lecture me about business. I only take advice from those who know what they are talking about. Life is too short to do otherwise.
 
Fred Hansen:

I'm well aware of the left leaning of NPR, Public Radio and Television. I'm also aware of the fact hat they, like media in general are, or tend to be anti gun. I'm also aware that NPR and Public Broadcasting, as well as media in general, with regard to things technical to often do not know a screw driver from a jack hammer. It remains however, as was the case with the young child who loudly announced that "the emperor was naked", he was at the time, that the child was entirely correct.

You are under no compulsion to agree with, or to "like" Public Broadcasting, either radio or television, however it remains that even a stopped clock tells the right time, twice each day. The position they they took respecting Walmart, reference was made thereto in my original post, might not have been entirely correct. It was not entirely wrong either.
 
The position they they took respecting Walmart, reference was made thereto in my original post, might not have been entirely correct. It was not entirely wrong either.
Click to expand...
As they say in good ol' New England [droll voice]"That's some comfort."[/droll voice]
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top