Re: You get what you pay for!
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: flyrodder</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Walmart may be a model of efficiency from the perspective of Walmart, but I disagree from a larger perspective. Walmart is very good at socializing their costs. By hiring part-time employees, they minimize benefits. By using "just-in-time" shipping they minimize warehousing costs. By lobbying for and getting tax breaks to move into town they minimize tax costs. Unfortunately, society (the rest of us) picks up the healthcare costs, and we subsidize the damage and congestion caused by additional trucking, and we suffer when those small businesses who didn't get the tax breaks and can't compete die off.
The price tag on the item doesn't reflect the true cost. While I suppose one could argue that since you are paying the rest of the costs already, you may as well buy the cheaper stuff, but, out of principle at least, it might be worth taking a different route.
My folks are in a similar situation as mnshortdraw, and other companies do the same thing as Walmart, and Walmart does have some really good deals now and then, but keep the alternatives in mind when you can. Joe at the local gunshop won't be there forever if we don't give him some business, and I don't think any of us want our firearm and firearm supply purchases ultimately limited to (and dictated by) places like Walmart.</div></div>
Tax breaks, JIT inventory management, and part-time workers are all normal business practices for any large company, anywhere. And society itself chooses to pay for those healthcare costs; Wal-Mart is simply using what's already there - if they chose to pay those costs out-of-pocket, you'd still be paying for it regardless.
What I found fascinating to research in my ultra-liberal business management course was to look at the studies of economic growth in towns that Wal-Mart moved into. Overall, the quality and strength of local businesses eventually became stronger as a result of a Wal-Mart appearing in their market: the same cost savings that lured in consumers also allowed small businesses that didn't compete directly to benefit.
What sealed it for me was hearing our left-wing moonbat hippie professor rant on for days about how destructive and exploitative Wal-Mart was. Literally every other political point she brought up was utter bullshit, so it wasn't very difficult to doubt her claims on the evils of Wal-Mart either. At heart, it's the capitalist's ideal company...and that's why a pseudo-communist such as her found it so repulsive.