- A CNBC in-depth 2 hour documentary [1] on Wal-Mart that
has aired several times, and revealed the real truth about the world's
largest retailer. Since few people will watch news on a weekend, especially
on a holiday like this one, I've summarized the important details in this
report. The documentary was the best I've seen in years, despite leaving
out some important facts which I've included.
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- The chain does 32 BILLION DOLLARS a year. This report
will bring out important highlights from that show. We won't get into name-calling
or labels. I'm presenting the facts with a few comments. There shouldn't
be one person on the planet that should not be concerned about what they
are doing. With more than 500 stores in the US alone, they have a big impact
and far too much power.
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- ANOTHER ARM OF THE GOVERNMENT?
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- Keep in mind as you read this, that their headquarters
contains a Homeland Security office which is off limits to most Wal-Mart
"associates" in the chain's headquarters. This office was never
brought up in the documentary. One should ask, "WHY?"
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- The chain has more than 120 distribution centers located
all around the country. One such center with more than 18 miles of conveyor
belts moving individual boxes, has a floor area of more than 2 MILLION
square feet. You could not see the other end of the building inside, as
boxes on conveyors moved away from the camera to become tiny specs. The
conveyors feed an army of tractor trailers that literally pack the boxes
to the ceiling of the trailer's box.
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- In the event of a national disaster and forced rationing,
the government has a ready-made distribution pipeline. There is little
doubt they already know this. How many stores do you know of that have
a secret office belonging to Homeland Security?
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- A constant stream of business people with products for
them to sell, comes to their store's headquarters in Arkansas. There are
more than 60 small rooms, all constantly packed with manufacturers, distributors
and inventors attempting to get the store to market their products. Store
reviewers come into each room to review products and make determinations.
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- GREED QUICKLY DESTROYS A LIFETIME OF WORK
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- Pillowtex Corp. had more than 1.2 BILLION dollars in
sales, with $450 to $500 million of it with Wal-Mart according to the company's
former CEO. He was quite was bitter, as he described how Wal-Mart drove
his prices lower and lower. Then the store had the nerve to firmly suggest
he go off-shore to get his products made. In the end, he liquidated his
company and was forced to fire ALL 14,000 employees. 14,000 people all
unemployed. This is the cost of jumping in bed with the devil. Think about
that the next time you go to the store to buy a pillow.
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- ACADEMIA SPEAKS OUT
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- Professor Stone of Iowa State has remarked that "small
business grocery stores lose 25% of their business and it never comes back."
Interviews with the chain's CEO Lee Scott illustrated how he is a master
at spinning questions into off-topic answers, to make himself and the store
look good. Perhaps that's why he has the figurehead job in an amazingly
tiny office for his position there.
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- Another surprise - the chain is taking off big in China.
At the time the show was produced they had 14 stores in that country, and
management was is in the planning stage to opening many others. They are
also selling produce which Chinese people would normally purchase in street
markets. According to one Chinese family, "the store's prices are
very good and very low." This makes one wonder what will happen to
the Chinese vegetable suppliers to Wal-Mart as they too, are told to "lower
prices." Will they also be told to go "off shore?" OOPS!
They already are off-shore!
- So where to go next when "offshore" costs too
much? Perhaps there is an answer to that.
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- LESSON FROM HISTORY FOR CHINESE FACTORIES FROM THE CHIP
BUSINESS
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- In going off-shore, the world has a lesson to learn from
the semiconductor industry. China should LEARN from this (but I doubt it.)
First, silicon valley manufacturers went to Japan to have chips made. This
was back in the 1970's. Then when Japan's cost of living shot up, they
were too expensive for the manufacturers to use. Then it was Korea who
manufactured them next, but then they became too expensive.
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- Manufacturing was moved to the Pacific-rim countries
to make chips. I still have tubes of chips that have labels "Made
in one or more of the following countries" which then lists almost
every third world country on planet earth. When it was brought up in a
board meeting in a Canadian company about 20 years ago on CBC television's
"Venture" that "a bag of rice per month is expected by employees"
in a pacific rim country along with their paycheck, one CEO said "Well,
I guess we're in the rice business now."[2] I sometimes wonder if
the are still there, or if they moved their manufacturing elsewhere.
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- RISING COST OF LIVING IN CHINA MUST IMPACT THE CHAIN
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- It would be arrogant of China to think that they too,
won't become too expensive for Wal-Mart. Management won't be happy as product
costs MUST rise to pay for a higher lifestyle. In fact, it's inevitable
because increasing any country's standard of living depends on price increases.
Could Africa become the next China? It's about the only other place left
for dirt-cheap labor. China is now embracing the expensive automobile and
discouraging cheap bicycles. The are now on the same path as Japan.
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- The bubble MUST burst, as the Chinese people are now
enjoying a higher cost of living while at the expense of American jobs.
I hope they enjoy the bubble while it's still there. Those idiot yellow
smiley faces for "always low prices" in Wal-Marts will disappear.
Sooner or later Wal-Mart will run out of places to setup sweatshop manufacturing.
What's interesting about this is that NWO efforts to level the world's
economies will actually work AGAINST Wal-Mart philosophy. The store's success
must be based on "he haves" vs. "the have-nots." If
America becomes a nation of "have-nots" because of the NWO and
globalism, then who will be able to buy the store's products? We could
actually see the return of small businesses to America in the not too far
future.
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- The program revealed that the chain now has 5,000 lawsuits,
with an average of 3 new lawsuits every day. After 9 years, one female
employee stated her salary was just $8.43. Who can live on that? Matt Foley,
a a motivational speaker character played by the late Chris Farley on SNL
said it best. They could end up like him "Eating a steady diet of
government cheese, and living in a VAN - down by the RIVER."
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- BUILDING A COMPANY USING EMPLOYEES AS FLOORMATS
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- Another female employee stated that a male employee was
making $10K a year more than she was, for the same job. When the CEO Lee
Scott was asked about sex discrimination lawsuits, he stated "You
can't run a company on how to avoid the next lawsuit." Wal-Mart is
being sued with several class action suits besides sex discrimination,
including locking workers in stores overnight for "employee safety."
Wal-Mart is also under investigation for illegal alien employees, says
"We can't verify the immigration of every employee." ANOTHER
LIE. They have the office of Homeland Security RIGHT THERE. If they can't
help verify illegal aliens, WHO CAN? This goes way beyond dumb and dumber.
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- ALL IS NOT WELL IN BLUE SMOCK LAND
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- Highly organized efforts are underway everywhere in America
against the chain. There was a briefing of more than 200 activists in Rochester,
NY. The organizer of the group said "Their employees are easy to find
- they are ones wearing those stupid blue smocks."
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- There is also serious protest around the country against
the store for terrible health insurance. CEO Scott was asked about the
claim that the store spends $3500/employee on health care. Scott slowly
answered, "Let me answer that carefully....Sam believed that as individuals
they should pay part of that cost." What a dumb type-A remark. On
a paycheck far below poverty level? Scott then brags about "profit
sharing, 401K and other programs." When asked if Scott thinks employees
feel like a partner, he answers "that's a ridiculous question."
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- He knows the answer just as we do. They all feel like
slaves, and have no choice but to work there. But Scott couldn't bring
himself to say it. I can't begin to describe Scott's attempt to restrain
his aggressive body language to many of the well thought out questions
put to him. He too, will answer one day for his actions. To that Greatest
of all CEOs - who doesn't live on earth.
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- YOU CAN FIGHT THEM AND WIN
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- One man in Lancaster, PA has led a successful group effort
to keep the chain out of that area for 7 years. He has raised more than
$80K to hire high power lawyers to fight them, and has won the battle.
When asked about the Lancaster people, Scott made a remark about how "wrong
it is for a small group of people to keep them out of anywhere." What
he failed to notice is that in today's economy few healthy people have
the time available to fight them. Instead, the average person is just treading
water trying not to drown financially - under the economic ruin the company
has already rained down on the economy. The rich get richer, and the poor
get poorer.
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- In California, a public vote kept them out of the LA
area. When Scott was asked about that action, he had little to say other
than "we decided to accept the results of the vote." What other
choice did he have? He just won't ever admit how blatantly wrong it is
for the company to force itself into communities, and drive local small
businesses under.
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- SAM WALTON - FIRST CORPORATE SLAVEDRIVER FOR WAL-MART
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- When you read Walton's biography, you get the impression
of a "good ol' boy" who cares about America.What a lie that was.
Also how "he drove a beat-up old pickup truck to breakfast at a local
diner."
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- In reality, he had his own private plane which he piloted
himself. This was not a biplane, either. The following is an eyewitness
acount of flying with Walton: "He often flew cross-country, going
from store to store." (Long before there were 500+ stores.) "
If he saw an empty parking lot, Walton would take the plane into a terrifying
nose dive, land at the nearest airfield and go straight to the store. He
would then interrogate the store manager and demand to know WHY the parking
lot was empty. At one store this happened as a result of a local football
game. The store manager told him to "come back after 2PM and the lot
will be packed."
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- This is just one example that shows the mentality of
current management is a legacy of Walton himself. I've often wondered if
Walton's casket was made of old wooden pallets from the store and painted
blue and red with old Wal-Mart paint. But then, that might cost too much.
Their plants in China never make "one" of anything.
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- MY QUESTION FOR THE CEO AND HEAD SLAVE DRIVER
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- OK Scott- if you read this (which I doubt) SHOW the world
how using just 1% of your revenue - about $320 MILLION, on REAL health
care for your "associates." Show us how that would really hurt
your bottom line. Wall Street would get over it in a few days, and your
employees (oops - "associates") would work harder for you. We're
sure you know Mr. Scott, that with the new ruthless bankruptcy laws your
employees can no longer escape the death grip of lawyers that work for
labs, doctors and hospitals.
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- You have stated that you pay hospitalization for employees.
You did not say how much the company will pay, or what the company benefit
limits are. Your benefits certaintly will not cover ANY medical expenses
incurred by a previously hospitalized employee or their spouse, who was
ill BEFORE they became a slave at one of your stores. They will have their
wages garnished for all eternity.
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- Or is the store planning on going into healthcare, by
building a "Wal-Mart Hospital" in Bentonville where employees
must go for hospitalization or go untreated? Will the entire staff be undocumented
aliens or "legalized aliens" holding tacos or practicing "psychic
surgery?" Or will you have a euthanasia wing for employees which you
have life insurance on?
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- The law of probabilities is always at work. It would
seem to indicate that some day, the store will hire a former angry postal
worker who is armed to the teeth. That person might come to work one day
with more than a smock in their hand. We certaintly hope not, but sooner
or later the slaves revolt and THEY WIN. Read the Old Testament.
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- A SWEAT SHOP THAT DOESN'T THINK SLAVES DESERVE OVERTIME
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- In Oregon, a jury determined that Wal-Mart must pay overtime
to employees. Professor Stone stated that "store managers sometimes
become overzealous to meet targets and goals." How does that justify
slavery? Not according to the courts. When Scott was asked 'what if 1%
of your employees don't meet regulations, which is 15,000 employees, what
is the impact of that?' Scott squirmed and admitted, 'well yeah that could
be a problem.'
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- There are few people in the country not touched by Wal-Mart.
A recent conference at the University of Santa Barbara devoted to the Wal-Mart
phenomenon pointed out the "stores are a touchstone for America on
so many different areas."
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- When the interviewer asked Scott if his store sets the
national minimum wage, he denied that. But history shows otherwise, since
in any community few can earn a higher salary than what the largest in
the employer is paying. The company's influence is clear. Scott was reluctant
to comment on whether their power is good or bad for America, but says
"If I were to look at a spreadsheet, it would come out slightly on
the positive side." He also added "There isn't anything more
inherently evil about being more efficient."
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- That's exactly what Hitler thought, too. Is there any
difference in global conquest between what Hitler did, and what Wal-Mart
is doing? Hitler used firearms and artillery - the store uses money and
prices to conquer the world.
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- BRAINWASHING EMPLOYEES
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- To work there, you must fit in. There is a chant the
workers get together to do in the morning. A great psychological trick
as it makes employees feel they are an important part of the company. This
takes place in China as well just before the store opens. One can trace
this kind of brainwashing back to the days of red communist China, where
such group chants were mandatory. Could this be the origin of it at Wal-Mart?
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- TRACKING AND TRACING IS A REALITY
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- Wal-Mart has a massive near real-time data processing
center in their Bentonville, Arkansas headquarters that tracks everything
purchased for EACH person. Their data processing people state "the
data on everything everyone purchases and where, is kept for 2 years."
If the Real ID card replaces money then you will never, ever be able to
buy anything anonymously again.
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- CONCLUSION
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- Scott's final comment: "How large can we get? As
long as we keep doing things the way were doing it, I don't see any end
to it."
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- Translation: "Small businesses, BEWARE...."
If you are a company or small business owners, become anti-Wal-Mart activists
now while you still can if you want to stay independent. Remember what
happened to great American companies like Pillowtex, because they bought
into the Wal-Mart BS and jumped in bed with them.
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- Yet keep the faith - as the expression goes, "every
dog has it's day." Everyone foolishly thought the real estate bubble
could never burst, willfully ignoring the lessons of history. They too,
learned that all power is only temporary.
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- And consider this - what are the first three letters
of the word associate?
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- Ted Twietmeyer
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- SOURCE MATERIAL
- [1] - Interviews with Wal-Mart CNBC show that aired from
10AM to 12PM on May 30 2005
- [2] - CBC television show "Venture" that aired
almost 20 years ago on Canadian television
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