Newsweek Columnist on WalMart

Unions were a godsend in this country when 9 year olds were working in coal mines, steelworkers were losing limbs in accidents and blue collar workers in general were getting paid a pittance for dangerous work and long hours.

But there are enough laws on the books and enough oversight by local, state and federal goverment to render unions obsolete. In some cases, they cost a community jobs. All you have to do is go to Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia and see how many working coal mines have been shut down because the company couldn't afford to do business any longer.

 

Yeah, I read Will's column in the local rag today. He knocked it out the park (especially the bit about Kerry and his help shopping at Wal-Mart). The mainstream Democratic party needs to step away from this anti Wal-Mart crusade because it's a looser in the parts of the country where they need to win.

 

You have got to be kidding me.

As evidenced by Wal-Mart (and other employer's hiring) practices, draconian right to work laws, being able fire at will and generally re-creating labour practices of the 19th century, we need unions more than ever.

Since the days of Ronnie Reagan, the rights of workers have been steadily eroded and their ability to collective bargaining has just about disappeared.

But it will all be good when American class differences are further exacerbated as the number of working poor grows every year.

Like I said a thousand times, there's no free lunch. You think that paying people slave labour wages is OK, get ready to dole out with increased social assistance.

And Kerry's attack on Wal-Mart is stupid politics. He's right but it's stupid politics.

 

I didn't realize that my two eyes, which have actually spent time in China every year over the past 5 years, were not good enough.

1. I NEVER said free markets do not work. I'm very much in favor of free markets. If you can find a post that says I'm not, go do so. Until then, try not to stick words in my posts that have never and will never actually happen.

2. The over-populated areas are much more in the cities. It is far less over-populated in the country-side areas.

3. Their government does have their hand in the jar. Thus the lack of full growth.

4. It is mostly corporate corruption and government involvement that keeps the standard of living lower. However, as stated, GO OUTSIDE THE MAJOR CITIES. That is where you find downright shit living. You want to see abject poverty? Try going where those factories are located.

Their city life has increased quite a bit. But this is a small segment of the entire country. It would be like going to NYC and then driving to Trenton and finding people eating grass because they don't have any food.

The issue in all of this isn't so much free market, it is the exploitation of cheap labor. Were any of these factories to pay a legitimately close living wage they would complain about paying labor too much and causing their profits to drop.

You can't argue unions are bad when you are using the alternative of paying damn near nothing.