Merry McChristmas Everybody!

Here, here, Doc!

I am with you. I hate complainers.

DonDiego just doesn't get something.

Why would someone, . . . someone with no stake in Wal-Mart Stores, Incorporated want to tell the corporation what to do, . . . how to run its business, . . . what to pay its employees?
It is not anyone's business except for those who own and/or manage and/or operate the business, . . . and that includes the employees.

Demos, the organization which provided pjstroh the argument that Wal-Mart could give all its employees a raise describes itself as follows:
"Demos is a 501c3 non-profit organization that sees the need to come together to lay out a clear vision for creating economic and political equality for millions of Americans, and to push our leaders to achieve that vision."

"economic and political equality"? What does that mean?

Equality, noun,
1. the state or quality of being equal; correspondence in quantity, degree, value, rank, or ability.

So, . . . everyone is supposed to earn the same?
Or, in spite of the organizations self-definition, maybe they mean not equality . . . just closer?
And who decides just how close? And, most importantly, how do they take it from some and give it to others?

A look at the Demos home page, linked above, suggests they have more in mind, anyway. Not just earnings, . . . but wealth. i.e. They do not want only to make incomes equal they want to distribute what people own to make that equal too.
For example they address the Racial Wealth Gap as follows:
"Whites’ share of the nation’s wealth is 31 percent greater than their share of the nation’s population. Blacks’ share of the nation’s wealth is 80 percent less than their share of the population. That is, to bring their share of the wealth in line with their share of the population, you’d need to increase black wealth five-fold. Hispanics’ share of the nation’s wealth is 72 percent less than their share of the population. To bring their share of the wealth in line with their share of the population, you’d need to increase it by 3.5x."

Hmm, . . . increase Black wealth by 5X, Hispanic wealth by 3.5X?
DonDiego wonders where's all that wealth gonna come from. When Demos takes over, DonDiego'll sure be glad he's not Chinese-American; they are really gonna get hosed!

Does pjstroh actually agree with this nonsense? Take from the rich, and give to the poor. Until everyone is "equal".
For the record DonDiego does not want to dictate to anyone what they should pay or what they should earn. Or how much they should own? Or what they should do with their wealth.
Why? Because it is none of DonDiego's business!

DonDiego encourages everyone to try to achieve whatever they want to achieve as best they can. Oh, . . .and if they do not want to achieve much, DonDiego's OK with that too. But he really, really doesn't want those who do not achieve much, . . . whether by choice or otherwise, . . . to expect someone to make everything "equal".

And in return for this all DonDiego wants is to be left alone. Please.

[n.b. To at least alleviate the name-calling expected to follow, . . . DonDiego recognizes that some unfortunate persons really need help, . . . whether because of medical conditions, personal failings, or even bad luck as well as myriad other reasons.
He recognizes a place for Government in helping folks out. But it cannot be the major function of Government to command the economy to achieve equality. (Well, it can, but it never works; witness the fall of the Soviet Union.)
DonDiego contributes a bit to charity, . . . not as much as he pr'bly should; heck, he doesn't know what'll happen to himself or teechur tomorrow. But some. And he gives it to the charities of his choice. He recommends others do the same. But he doesn't tell them to. It's none of his business.]

Wow! Don Diego doesn't seem to like my source very much. i have no idea what their mission statement is...And I honestly dont care. Their mission is irrelevant to the point which is not a matter of opinion at all but simple math. Walmart makes billions of dollars a year which they overwhelmingly use to favor their investors instead of workers.

I wont touch the ridiculous strawman argument of making everyones pay "equal" Nobody has argued thAt. i'm pretty sure the CEO of Costco makes more money than his employees...although, unlike Walmart, his employees dont need food stamps to make ends meet. And last time I checked their stock has outperformed Walmart for the last several years. Like I said before , it is a false choice to choose between workers and investors.

I also wont touch the strawman argument as to why people should care about things that dont affect them directly. Don Diego doesn't believe that himself as demonstrated by his daily complaints about Obamacare.

But Don Diego does make the the mistake of believing that a nation with a growing class of impoverished workers does not create problems for everyone else. It most certainly does. Poverty brings about crime, civil unrest, less consumption and buying power from the population, more corruption, more food stamps and nanny state programs. But its really the civil unrest part that is most worrisome. People need to eat. If you dont force their employer to provide for basic needs then those workers will get it from the government...and if you take that away too then you will have pitchforks in the street ala Marie Antoinette. History is a pretty good guide for how people react to oppressive societies.

(Oh, and thanks for alleviating any forthcoming name-calling by calling some people "unfortunate" and "in need of help or medical counseling" .... We should all be glad that Don Diego is the adult in the room)

Says Dr. Cheerful lol.

Dude, other than lather Tim Tebow's balls, all you do is complain. Obama, liberals, black people, resort fees, all you do is complain.

By the way, Tim Tebow's former teams sure are struggling without him lol. They're all in the playoffs!

Broncos: 9-1, Best Record in NFC
Jets: 5-5, hold second AFC wild card spot
Patriots: 7-3, lead AFC East

What does Tim do these days, other than not have sex with women? I'm guessing you relate.

So PJ - how much have YOU profited from WalMart in your Mutual Funds?

....and BTW Target and K-Mart pay the same wages as WalMart. Wendy's and Burger King pay the same as McDonalds.

Wait a minute, I was just googling about wal mart and food stamps and I came across this

"Walmart U.S. has 1 million hourly employees making full-time hourly wage of $12.83 on average, Walmart said on its website. The federal minimum wage is $7.25, according to Department of Labor."

https://blogs.marketwatch.com/behindthestorefront/2013/11/18/wal-mart-in-hot-water-over-reported-thanksgiving-food-drive-for-employees/

Geez 12.83 isn't that awful bad, hell ,with all the hoopla I figured they were making min. wage. I agree it's no career with a juicy retirement wage (don't they get vested in stock).

J

BTW the only food stamp related bit was that about half the sales at big box stores are food stamps. Didn't see anything about the workers on food stamps. Admittedly didn't spend a huge amount of time either.

I know! Its a shame isn't it? I wonder if they have a website that tells their employees to return Christmas gifts to raise cash.




And here's my question to you, JP: How many of your tax dollars have been spent to pay for foodstamps and healthcare for workers of multi-billion-dollar-profitable corporations?

__There pjstroh goes again, . . telling people what DonDiego doesn't believe. DonDiego has been directly affected by Obamacare; he has already lost his doctor. He expects medical care in the USA to become segmented, as more and more medical professionals opt out of Government "programs". Folks who can obtain care outside the Government programs will get quality care; folks who are within the Government programs will experience longer-and-longer waits for lower-quality care. [Again, witness the Soviet Union.] DonDiego isn't sure where he'll find himself.

__And telling people that DonDiego believes "a nation with a growing class of impoverished workers does not create problems for everyone else." For poor old DonDiego the question is why are people impoverished. Is it because they are not paid enough or is it because many are ill-prepared to earn a good living. The Government provides everyone 12 years of "free" education; DonDiego observes some graduates don't know much and don't bring significant productivity into the workplace. Some end up at Wal-Mart.
DonDiego does not agree it is a function of Government to "force" someone to furnish someone else their basic needs. DonDiego isn't surprised pjstroh favors such Government force.
DonDiego agrees the prospect of civil unrest is worrisome; he opines it may arrive sooner than most of his fellow citizens expect. However, pjstroh is overly optimistic if he thinks those in the streets will be armed with pitchforks. DonDiego hopes the unpleasantness doesn't find its way to Tomato Ranch Ridge.

__DonDiego does not know where pjstroh came up with the phrase "medical counseling", or what it means , or why he put it in quotes. But at least pjstroh didn't call poor old DonDiego any uncomplimentary names.

Probably less than I spend each year on property taxes - the majority of this money goes to unionized teachers who can retire at 55 in Illinois - some with > $100K per year. This is roughly equivalent to $2.5m cash in a 401k because investment advisors will tell you to not withdraw more than 4% per year from your nest egg or you will risk outliving your money. A pension cannot outlive its money as long as there are sucker taxpayers paying it.

Not bad for working 9 months per year.

42% of Teacher in District 211 have six figure pensions

Why the venom towards Walmart ????

When a company violates workers rights 2 million times............IN ONE STATE ALONE.........that is why the venom. I'm not going to spend hours googling every state in the nation, but just as an example, here is the way Walmart treated their workers in one state.

WallyMart violated workers rights over 2 million times ! JUST IN MINNESOTA !!!

Linky: https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/article/2008/07/02/wal-mart-violated-worker-rights-more-2-million-times-minnesota-judge-rules.html

Walmart's history of cheating workers out of wages, forcing them to work thru breaks, and low, low less than poverty wages is widely known amongst folks who don't bury their heads in the sand.

And as a former vendor to Walmart, I can also attest they treat their vendors like crap too !