Olsson Up Against Walmart

“Is Wal-Mart Good For America?” affords viewers a thoughtful analysis into the dubious ethical methodologies employed by the Wal-Mart Corporation.

When one goes to fill out a job application there are probably many thoughts running through ones’ mind. “Is this the right job for me, how much is the base pay, do they have good benefits, etc.” However not too many people take the time to do the research on the company that they are applying for. Instead they find out how great the company is or how horrible once they become apart of the company. Although there are some companies that are well known prior to people applying to them. Publix and Walmart are two well known retail companies that hold great and horrendous job standards.

Gilded age 1878-1889 was the age of fast growth of industry and immigrants in America history.The production of steel and iron rose radically than other time.In contrast, the Western resources increased such as silver,lumber, and gold. As well as the transportation also improved. Railroad develop and move goods from resources rich west to east. At this time a lot of American reach on the top of wealth through selfishness business deals. The gilded age gets it is name from the many great fortunes created (Mark Twain).

‘Is Wal-Mart Good for America?’ is a documentary that examines the relationship between Wal-Mart’s rapid growth and its impact on the US economy ever since it blossomed in trade productivity in the mid 20th century. The documentary, published on February 2014 by PBS Frontline, conveys a deep understanding of how Wal-Mart changed the living standards of many Americans and took consumerism and retail logistics in the U.S. to another level; by cutting costs through offshore outsourcing to China and employing cheap Chinese labor.

The Joad’s and other migrant workers spent entire days in the fields, leaving before sunrise to pick crops and finishing well after dark. Without migrant workers picking, the farmers couldn’t run their farms. The same goes for fast food and other low-income workers today; they work as cashiers, make food, and clean around their facilities. Neither of these groups feel they receive a livable wage for these jobs, as the previous paragraph explains. Additionally, the owners of these large corporations are similar to the large-scale farm-owners in The Grapes of Wrath. The farmers in The Grapes of Wrath often called the police regarding migrant workers’ “Hooverville” camps or if there was any sign of protest from the so-called “reds”. This is similar to when the CEO of McDonald’s, Jeff Stratton, had a McDonald’s worker arrested after she spoke up during a convention about her inability to provide for her family because of low wages. According to “$5.2 billion McDonald’s CEO has $8.25 per hour mom arrested”, after the worker commented that she had been there for 10 years, he simply said “I’ve been there 40 years.” (Pizzigati 1) The large-scale leaders in both the 1930’s and today disregard low-income workers’ worth and workers struggle to provide and make ends

Families as a whole will argue the point that an increase in minimum wages will allow families the abilities to put more food on their tables, while providing the base necessities need in the family. However, most analyses of the minimum wage focus on its unintended employment consequences. (Freeman, 1996) Some major companies have agreed to increase the minimum wages in some States, nevertheless, the amount that the wages have been increased by is not enough to get a family from beneath poverty. Proven the fact that job markets in some cases are not working in the best interest of their employees. It has been noted that tax cuts and other government cuts can benefit the employees while putting money in the major company’s pocket. However, the worker who received an increase in their wages feel they are benefiting from the increase. Not taking into consideration the more they make, the more they will have to pay out. Receiving a pay increase also puts the employees into another tax

The article “Labouring the Walmart Way,” author Deenu Parmar talks about how Walmart is able to achieve selling goods at a lower price then any average superstore. The author goes on to explain that Walmart’s antiunion efforts, employee selection, low prices and high retention rate all contribute to their major success. Walmart’s stance on ant unionism allows them to keep wage cost down and keep all their profits up. Not allowing a union keeps Walmart with the power to keep low wages and force unpaid overtime. The author goes on in detail about Walmart’s employee selection process and the unique attributes they look for. Walmart looks to employee staff that will not look to unionize the company and employees that are afraid they wont be able

In this week’s lecture the theme of choice was “Consumerism and American Values”. When first hearing the word consumerism I tend to think of many things such as the economy, money, shopping, and etc. I thought it was a very interesting topic because Wal Mart was the target for this section. In the first essay titled “The Wal Mart You Don’t Know” the author attempts to persuade the audience that Wal Mart is nothing but a capitalistic company. Using the rhetorical appeals of pathos, ethos, and logos he conveys his argument that Wal Mart is capitalistic in a very good way. In the essay the author challenges the credibility of Wal Mart’s product production and draws the emotions of the consumer with his logical approach. Before reading the article

In the essay titled “Labouring the Walmart Way”, author Deenu Parmar explains the unhealthy effects of Walmart, how to stop them, and the challenges of doing so. Parmar begins by detailing how Walmart has done little for local economies. By hiring financially vulnerable people, the franchise insures that no one would dare to unionize; thus ensuring employees will only earn the bare minimum, and thus out-competing local competition. Parmar also goes on to explain how a local community removed Walmart. They were able to do this through the use of fierce union protests that made the store unprofitable. Finally, Parmar states multiple reasons throughout the essay that trying to stop Walmart is a challenging task. Upon the most notable of this includes

Olsson shows how difficult it is to get promoted in Walmart, which contributes to her argument that Walmart does not treat their employees as they should. In addition, it shows why employees can’t have better lives because they make minimum wages for a long period, and work extra hours without getting paid for it. Olsson suggests, “he asked for a promotion, but three months later he was still doing the extra work for no extra pay” (6). Olsson’s point is that Walmart employees can’t get promoted even when they try, instead Walmart is using them and make them work harder. Increasingly during her article Olsson makes it clear that Walmart exploits their employees. Furthermore, Olsson presents us with another alarming fact that show that not only it is almost impossible to get promoted in Walmart, it is more difficult to get promoted if the employee is a female. According to Olsson, “Wal-Mart today has the same percentage of women in management that the average company had in 1975” (5). In other words, the percentage of women in management did not change from 1975, when women weren’t equal in a work atmosphere as they today. Olsson provides statistic that improves her argument and reveals Walmart unfairness.

What companies have been the standard that all other companies are compared to in American History? Why?

In the video, "Is Walmart Good for America", Hendrick Smith investigates how Walmart is changing the American economy. Throughout the video, one thing is made clear, Walmart is a monopsony, being that it has effective control of the production of many of the items that the company buys.

Walmart was founded in the summer of 1962 by Kingfisher, Oklahoma native Sam Walton. Although Walton’s original vision for the store was relatively modest, the half century since its founding has seen Walmart morph into one of the biggest companies in the world. Today headed by one Doug McMillon, Walmart boasts more than 5000 stores in the United States of America alone and employs more than 1.5 million people.

There is also a birthright problem that must be addressed in an imminent reform. There are too many people getting by using their parent’s or grandparent’s inheritance. They are able to slide by virtue of the tax breaks that inheritance money secures. Their relatives may have earned this money, but people should not be born entitled to an amount of money that allows them to thrive without any exertion. This not only allows them to refrain from helping the country, but it also allows them to live more comfortably, in some cases, than even accomplished professionals. This circumstance will definitely occur with the Walton family--the owners of Wal-Mart. The multi-billion dollar family has so much money they are worth more than the entire bottom forty-two percent of Americans. This will allow their great-great-great-great-grandchildren to live more comfortably than heart surgeons who save lives routinely. This is one of the numerous somber truths in America; the entertainers and big businessmen and women take home far more money than the people who save or

Hardworking American soldiers are being put in dangerous missions to help ship cargo for military technology corporations. Meanwhile, all of the tax payer's money that goes to the military goes straight to corporations that focus on improving military advancement in weaponry, instead of soldiers' hospital bills or survival needs. In addition to the immoral acts of corporations, companies like Parson's Corporation are given a significant amount of money to spend, only to produce low quality products to make more money for themselves. Yet, CEOs are still living luxurious lifestyles without having to worry about a single concern.