Wal-Mart Portrayed As Evil Empire, Again
By George Anderson
Harold Meyerson doesn’t like what he thinks Wal-Mart is doing to the nation
and its economy.
Mr. Meyerson of the American Prospect writes in a Washington Post
Op-Ed piece today, ‘Just as Ford, GM and the UAW once drove up wages for workers
who were nowhere near auto factories, so Wal-Mart drives down wages for workers
who never set foot there. Controlling as it does so much of the low-end retail
market, Wal-Mart has, with great success, pressured suppliers to cut their labor
costs. No other American company has done as much to destroy what’s left of
the U.S. clothing and textile industry or been so loyal a friend to the dankest
sweatshops of the developing world. And unless American unions can find the
political leverage to block Wal-Mart’s expansion into non-southern metropolitan
areas, the company poses a huge threat to the million or so unionized clerks
who work at the nation’s major supermarket chains.’
Harold Meyerson adds, ‘It may just be me, but I don’t recall the moment when
the American people proclaimed their preference for an economy driven by Wal-Mart
to the one driven by General Motors.’
Moderator’s Comment: Is Harold Meyerson correct in
his assessment of Wal-Mart?
Note to Mr. Meyerson: It is just you. The American people
have voted with their pocketbooks. They chose Wal-Mart.
[George
Anderson – Moderator]