San Diego Is Anti-Poor
San Diego just blocked Walmart’s plans for a new Super Store arguing that that Wal-Mart puts smaller competitors out of business, pays workers poorly, and contributes to traffic congestion and pollution.
Of course the council failed to state that social engineering isn’t their job and that the people who currently work at Walmart seem very happy with their jobs and have never protested their pay or anything else. Nor the fact that Walmart’s lower prices put competitors out of business but help low-income families buy more stuff and actually increase their standard of living. Of course no one wants low income families shopping in their neighborhoods so the easiest solution is to ban the superstore itself.
Another bad idea is the forced raise of the minimum wage. Mom and pop stores who are trying to stay afloat in California due the increase in real estate prices [& therefore taxes on triple-net leases when the properties are sold], increase in electricity & heating costs and the slow down in the housing market are hurt the most. [50% of new jobs created in the state since 2000 were real estate related. As the house market slides, the jobs will disappear as will the income of the people still in the business]. As a result they will be less likely to hire new employees or maybe even cut down on the hours of existing employees. At the same time, prices will have to be increased to make up for the increase in the wages. So the poor employees will see no real benefit in the wage hike while feeling the brunt of the increase in prices.
But atleast we’re still better than France, where the employer can’t fire anyone even if the business files for bankrupcy!!!!
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December 3rd, 2006 at 10:48 am
“people who currently work at Walmart seem very happy with their jobs and have never protested their pay or anything else”
How did you conclude that people who work at Walmart seem very happy with their jobs? I would be interested in the methods you used to make that conclusion. Would you like to work at Wal-Mart? Why don’t you? Perhaps because you have other opportunities?
Also, are you familiar with the tactics that Wal-Mart uses to prevent employees from protesting their pay and other things? If Wal-Mart even suspects an employee of planning a protest, that employee is considered to be taking the beginning stages of starting a union, and that employee is immediately fired. Workers do not have free speech rights to protest their employers. Sure they can quit, but with Walmart putting other companies out of business, often times there is no where else for them to work.
The employees cannot stand up for themselves, so the government does, which is what the government is supposed to do. The San Diego board is responsible to members of its communites, not to the bottom line at Wal-Mart. Remember, the government is by the people and for the people- not by Wal-Mart and for Wal-Mart.
December 3rd, 2006 at 11:03 am
Living in san diego, there are almost no mom-and-pop stores. everthings a chain or franchise. walmart isn’t putting anyone out of business here.
And if it is, its because of the lower prices that benefits the shoppers. As you said the government’s job is not to put up protectionist boundaries for companies but protect the consumer, right?.
If local businesses cannot compete with walmart, they should move into some other business. Thats capitalism.
When the government decides who can run what and charge how much and pay how much, thats socialism.
If people can’t afford to live in san diego, they can move to many many other parts of the country, which they are doing. which is my whole point. by not letting walmart build a superstore, the local government is making poor/middle-class people pay more for stuff and thus lowering their standard of living.
I bet you don’t shop at walmart.
December 19th, 2006 at 8:53 am
“people who currently work at Walmart seem very happy with their jobs and have never protested their pay or anything else”
You must have missed this story.
December 19th, 2006 at 10:10 am
>the local government is making poor/middle-class people pay more for stuff and thus lowering their standard of living.<
It’s lowering their standard of living by making them wage slaves.
Since you like Wal-Mart so much, why don’t you get a job there? That way, when you are checking people out of checkout lines for $7 an hour with no benefits or hope for promotion, you can think about how you are “maximizing shareholder value.”
December 30th, 2006 at 6:59 am
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