Mornin' Dave. Yes, in certain areas we are close in some aspects, but don't confuse my compassion with any anti corporate sentiment. We all do want better, but it is up to us, not any obligation of a company that gives me a job....Do you know how many "jobs" I've had in my life? How many different things I have done since the good ol' days of 17 y.o. when I moved out of my fathers house?
No, this is a failure of our government, not the business community. Now, you want to rail that our government allows everything from childcare, to free cell phones, as really enticements for the welfare recipients vote? I am right there with you, but if you want to say that business has some obligation to make sure you can afford anything you want in your life all because you hire on to collect the shopping carts in the parking lot, then sorry, but that's ridiculous.
I'm not confusing your compassion with anti-corporate sentiment . . . I get it. However, after knowing you for more than ten years, I also know we are more alike than we sometimes may want to admit. I too left the house at 17-years old, but I went straight into the service. Had many jobs as well, hell, I even did both the Army and Navy. I've been a paperboy, busboy, dishwasher, cowboy, siding hanger, cop, corpsman, carpenter, car salesman, used car manager, Xray tech, landscape contractor, small business owner, son, husband, father and grand father all by the time I hit my mid-fifties. Hell, I worked 2-jobs from the time I was 13 until I went in the Army, and I delivered papers starting at eleven. I am product of my environment, like most people.
Hard work isn't something I am against at all. I mentioned that I did not understand how the people get the blame,
especially IF they work hard, especially if they are trying to do the right thing, when they receive benefits. In my first paragraph, I suggested we all (
most of us) want the same things, not "
to make sure you can afford anything you want in your life." I never suggested that, because that
would be ridiculous. I just don't want to subsidize Walmart's profits by paying their worker's any form of aid when they can clearly afford it. Henry Ford built cars and understood that the people he hired to build them, should be able to purchase one. You are right though . . . this is the government's fault. They create the tax and labor laws the corporate lobbyists write which allows for ENRON accountability standards that make it so they do not have to provide insurance or pay their fair share. Leaving you and me and millions like us to finance it all. And in many circles, people who have no benefit from their actions, and in fact it goes against their better interests, applaud them for their creative ability to not pay. I don't get it. I don't really care what Walmart pays as long as I don't have to pay for their employees food stamps.
A companies profits are really NONE of the employees business. The only thing that should matter to the prospective employee is 1. Can I do the job? 2. Is the wage fair to me for what I am asked to do? 3. Can I see myself working there? If the answer to these three questions is 'yes' then they take the job, if not then they don't, simple as that. It really has nothing to do with the "macro" issues you are conflating this into. But, I remember when I was growing up, and my dad owned, and ran his Pharmacy downtown Lansing....So, I am interested to hear what you think the "employer responsibility to its employees" are.....
Some people can answer yes to all three questions, some , maybe only two, and others maybe only one, but many will still take the job because that is all there is. Let's just say they don't take the job, we're still paying for their bennys. An employer's responsibility? Good question, and one where the word, "
Morals" should be included some where in the answer. I'm a firm believer in the old adage, "
When you pay peanuts, you get monkeys." I also believe that to a certain extent, the employer has to work for the workers in order to make them efficient, proud workers who know that doing your best, through hard work is rewarded. I believe an employer who goes on the TV and Radio airwaves proclaiming all they do for service to the community, should not make me pay for their worker's benefits if they can afford to do so. All while making a profit. Walmart's profits should matter to every one who pays the taxes that go to benefits that aids their workers. I am aware they have a responsibility to share holders, so perhaps some pay cuts to the executives (
who receive all the treatment I just described) are in order.
"Wal-Mart’s profit margin is about twice what Costco’s is. But its ROIC is only marginally higher: 13.77 percent vs. 12.88 percent. The company needs to put a lot more money into warehouses, trucks, whizzy computer systems, and cinderblock stores in order to generate those profits -- not surprising given the complexity of its supply chain, and the number of products it offers. Owners of capital generally ask to be compensated for using it to build stuff, rather than spending it. Wal-Mart is no exception. If it targeted Costco’s ROIC, rather than its own, Wal-Mart could free up a bit of money -- about a billion dollars. If it gave two-thirds of that billion to its 1.4 million U.S. workers, each worker would get about $470, or $9 a week.
Walmart isn't hurting, and perhaps they should pay their workers another $9.00 a week, or apply it to a health care policy. It's not like they couldn't afford it. According my google home work this morning (
Oh yeah, thanks for that, I really wanted to google Walmart profits this morning), after all the creative accounting, tax loop holes, interest, building, etc, Walmart had a net profit of $16.39 Billion in 2012. $17.76 Billion for 2013. They gross some where around $120 Billion.
Smart as me? heh, heh....Wow....Dave, I am not a college educated man, barely made through High School....Moved out of my dad's house at 17, worked in a grocery store, then worked in retail for a short time, then went in the military....When I got out, I couldn't use anything I learned while inside, because I didn't quite know how to apply that training to the outside world, so I ended up in car sales for a time, then started driving a truck....I have been a truck driver for 24 years now, and have over 3 million safe miles under my belt...Now, I am not rich, and I don't have the newest of everything, ie; the P.U. truck I drive to work is 16 years old, but I have a nice home, beautiful wife, and family, and everybody is fed, and housed, and clothed....There is more to wealth than money.
The thing is Dave, as I have tried to teach my kids, (now 23, and 21 y.o.) is that life is about choices, and how willing one is to take the advice of those that have been there before you. If you are willing to go out and be the change to your life, then you will succeed in no matter what you decide to do, but if you plan to settle, then complain, bitch, and moan like so many I see in this thread, that it is so unfair, that someone else is to blame for their circumstance, rather than them taking responsibility and changing it themselves, then life will continue to run them over....
I had good examples and work ethic instilled in me as a youngster. I heard encouraging words and was told I could do anything I wanted to. I was lucky, because I know me, had I grown up 2-houses down and had a different last name, I could be working at Walmart right now, and really situationally tied to that job. Two houses the other way are the Tea Party brothers who both collect Social Security and have Medicaid. I'm just sayin'.
