Wal-Mart.
The Wal-Mart controversy is sketched, and a suggestion for activists is given.
Wal-Mart opponents plan to form a coalition of groups, from labor unions to environmentalists, to more effectively fight against what it sees as the abuse of power by one of the nation’s largest corporations. (* permalink) (†)
Wal-Mart maintains a public relations web site at walmartfacts.com. (‡)
The critique of Wal-Mart centers on low wages for its employees and aggressive non-labor cost cutting that puts pressure on vendor and supplier companies to cut their employees’ wages as well. That runs counter to Henry Ford’s conception of paying his workers enough to buy Model T’s.
William Anderson of the Mises Institute undermines the Ford analogy, however, by arguing that Ford intended the high wage payments not to be humanitarian but to increase the efficiency of his plants. (§)
Taking a different approach, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich has suggeted that the real problem with Wal-Mart may be that it is just too big. Wal-Mart is so big that it distorts the democratic political process of the country, Reich fears. (**) That falls flat, however, in the face of Wal-Mart’s dreaded clout having little noticeable effect nationally.
Instead, Wal-Mart’s clout is most powerful in certain neighborhoods and communities. Wal-Mart’s power within a number of certain small communities is such that it reminds one of company towns. (††)
During the industrial revolution in America, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, company towns, such as those operated by the Pullman company, preyed upon the helpless by charging exorbitant prices, exploiting labor, and generally abusing their power. (‡‡)
Wal-Mart does not operate any company town that I know of, but its market power in certain local areas tends toward the monopolistic.
Wal-Mart opponents cannot rely merely on old models of activism. They must use their brains to address the reality of Wal-Mart, a powerful company with a powerful new business model that has many unfortunate side effects, many or all of which are avoidable. We need new thinking.