Selling China - The Wal-Mart Effect - 2006
By Gordonskene Monday Sep 28, 2009 6:00pm
(In a word, Mao would shit)
With the G-20 Summit going full blast, I ran across this great documentary produced by ABC Radio National Australia as part of their Background Briefing series from February 2006. It's a reminder that, as much as we complain of being flooded by goods from overseas, we're doing our level best to heap gobs of shameless consumerism all over the world as well.
We joke about MacDonalds' on the Champs-Elysees in Paris - but all the Wal-Marts popping up all over China are something else.
Stan Curry - Radio Australia Reporter: “Lined up in all their red uniforms, Wal-Mart workers begin their day with an ode to Wal-Mart. Ludwig Beethoven is probably turning in his grave. And Chairman Mao too, must be a little astonished at how his legacy is being spun.”
Clay Chandler (Fortune Magazine reporter): “ When you actually go see how they run their employees at their stores, what I was struck with was the similarities between the Chinese Communist Party Organizational pattern. They get these people together in groups, they organize them in very small cells, everybody is very aware of what everybody else is doing within their cell, and encouraged to kind of talk about each other. They sing songs together. They do little drills to create workers solidarity. They run around in red shirts. And they do Wal-Mart Company cheers. They look like nothing so much as the old Red Guard of the Cultural Revolution.”
It's interesting to see how increasingly Gordian our entanglements are becoming with the rest of the world on economic terms. We can't just assume the isolationists stance because it no longer is realistic and hasn't been for many years. Therefore, solutions to our economic situations are more complex than they ever were. Snap answers and judgments no longer need apply.
And then there's that issue of Immigration . . .
(I would urge you to check out ABC Radio Nationals website as well as streaming audio - they are one of the best and as I have said before, they offer information about our own country not generally available here. So in addition to the CBC and the BBC, add this one to your daily dial hopping for useful information).
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I am truly hesitant to hold Walmart completely responsible for their Chinese employee behaviors. Most Chinese businesses are run that way in China, and they take a great deal of pride in that. When one element performs better in an area than another element, they celebrate their victory and strive for higher benefits.
Walmart does have issues, don't get me wrong. And what they pay, (or don't pay, actually) is slavery in my book. But I have been told by world travelers that it is how things are done in that country. So, not for me to judge I guess.
This does put perspective on the Chinese family that comes here to open their own restaurant or grocery, though. They are determined to be successful, it is practically bred in them. We could take a couple of lessons there.
While I respect your effort to find a balanced perspective I cannot agree to nor accept that "that it is how things are done in that country" and therefore it is not for you to judge.
If Walmart is exploiting the way "things are done" in a country that places little value on workers' rights, human rights, or human dignity it should have to answer for its behavior at an international level. You have every right to judge and judge you should!
Thanks for your comments. I think the bigger picture though isn't necessarily in the worth ethic as much as Wal-Mart has been key in a lot of the trade imbalances by way of cheap labor and outsourcing and crowding out other retailers. It's an issue that has become worldwide in its scope - workplace zeal notwithstanding.
>It's a reminder that, as much as we complain of being flooded by goods from overseas, we're doing our level best to heap gobs of shameless consumerism all over the world as well.
Just another ill being inflicted on the world in the name of profit.
At least when the Chinese buy things it says "Made here" on the back of them, soon enough they'll realise the fact of having a home market that dwarfs the US and then they can just drop the dollar, or burn it, use it as toilet paper, etc.
who doesn't go to that big store........I went one time........never again!! I'll patronize the locals. I will never go to WalMart unless they are the only place left to shop. I hope that never happens!!
you may find interesting. Mal-Wart has a TV commercial on now that tells you not to bother checking out prices at other stores, because they have done it for you. Can you believe their gall? They are also guilty of green washing--pretending that certain foods, etc. are organic when they are not. People who do not know better think that if the word "natural" appears on a label, then it is organic. It isn't. You can not even be sure the product is organic if the USDA Certified Organic label is on it. If it doesn't also say "100% Organic" then it isn't. Buy local and eat seasonal. Good luck. One other thing. They do not necessarily have the cheapest prices in town. They count on people thinking that they have them. Weasels, that's what they are. It is a real eye opener to just cruise through one of their stores every few months with an eye toward discovering their scams.
there either. Haven't for many, many years. I find the place loathsome and their merchandise crappy. They have 30 checkout lanes, of which only two are open. I will go to Target or K-Mart, which have their own issues, but are less evil. It always galls me that the list of the world's richest always includes the Walton clan and they can't provide affordable health coverage for their workers,
It's simple economics.
They come in and undercut the local stores, which actually pay a decent wage with benefits and 100% of the profit gets spent in the community,
Then replace them with lower-paying jobs with no benefits, with the profit goes to Arkansas (and China, of course).
And another community is gone. America has sold its soul.
You know what just occurred to me?
Some of the people carrying "OBAMA=HITLER" and "PELOSI=NAZI" signs at Tea Parties also go to white supremacist events where they dress up in Nazi uniforms and salute actual pictures of Hitler.
"They get these people together in groups, they organize them in very small cells, everybody is very aware of what everybody else is doing within their cell, and encouraged to kind of talk about each other. They sing songs together. They do little drills to create workers solidarity."
IBM used to do this back in the olden days (1930s to 1960s). IBM President TJ Watson was a huge fan of Hitler. Watson was one of the American Captains of Industry, like Henry Ford, that felt America needed to copy Hitler's plans for Germany for increased profits (like slave labor and mass roundup of anyone that spoke against the State).
As head of the International Chambers of Commerce TJ Watson twice had their annual meeting in Germany in the 1930s, to celebrate how great Nazism was for Big Business. (Read Edwin Black's "IBM and the Holocaust" for more on that.)
TJ Watson indoctrinated all his employees into worshipping him as the Leader. There were photos of him everywhere and ALL IBM had to sing songs to his great leadership. There were mandatory weekend parties several times a year where every employee has to bring their entire family to worship TJ Watson. My dad worked for IBM back in the late 1960s and he can recall going to those events. (see "lyrics from the IBM Songbook, http://www.users.cloud9.net/~bradmcc/ibmsongb...)
"T.J. Watson - you're our leader fine,
the greatest in the land,
We sing your praises from our hearts
we're here to shake your hand.
You're IBM's guiding star
throughout the hemispheres,
No matter what the future brings,
we all will perservere."
I worked for IBM Canada back in the late 60's & early 70's. The manager of the Records Dept. found an old box containing a song sheet that, apparently, the employees sang each day. Very strange & we laughed about how absurd it was.
Hmmm...this was well before we had ever heard of Wally Mart.
Wow. Holy crap.
You know, it had already occurred to me that the American Dream was BS, but it hadn't occurred to me until just now that it's not just BS, but crazy, "A Boy and His Dog" BS.
It's kind of liberating, in a way. G'night, y'all.
Well, I'd certainly say you have particularly good taste, Clavis, if not marvelous judgment.
Haven't shopped there and will never shop there. They could take all the Walmart stores and move them to China. Then the Chinese can purchase their own cheaply made crap, because I would much prefer to buy things MADE IN AMERICA!
the corporatist global economy is finally falling into place. this means world peace is just around the corner as they squash diversity and competition with government subsidized and sanctioned measures geared to benefit big corporations. soon, china will look just like america with a starbucks, quinos, subway, and panda express on every corner. wall mart will supply our home needs. corporations will no longer want governments to war with each other, except for the third world nations that have yet to be dominated by the corporate world order. oh man, and to think i might have clean tap water as soon as nestle gets the water rights. oh happy day, joy joy joy
People will congregate in the cities, which will become like prisons, not to keep people in, but to keep people out. If you can afford to stay in, you'll survive, but if you lose your job, it'll be like a death sentence. Rather than lose your home and end up in a tent city, you'll be forced into the outside world, where chaos rules.
A bit hyperbolic, but you can see how there's some truth to it. We've seen how the farther country has progressed toward a purely capitalistic system, the more people have been left to "sink or swim." Quite literally, in New Orleans.
Hiel Walmart.
Kind of ironic that those "red commie pinko's" are the best at capitalism. I can just hear the lunchroom ladies in their primary schools now; "eat your eggroll, there are starving people in America who aren't lucky enough to have food."
There's Wal-Mart in China now.
But there's no Wal-Mart in Sweden, and probably never will be.
(over 80% unionized workforce!)
Really, I guess that's all you need to know about capitalism, today's China, Swedish 'socialism', and the difference between Social Democracy and Communism.
Do American Wal-Mart employees sing the Ode to Wal-Mart every morning? If not, I guess that's what freedom still means.
I have a sister in law who works at a Wal-mart in the rural Midwest. There really are no other major employers in town as the manufacturing as been sent overseas and most of the mom and pop shops had to either shut their doors or scale back the number of employees they could afford to keep when Big Wally came to town. I was back visiting the relatives and the family needed some milk for breakfast. My sister in law suggested that I run her into work and she'd go in buy the milk with some kind of employee discount she gets and then I'd take the milk back home to the family.
The store was just getting ready to open at 7am and I went in with her to wait while she got the milk. The employees ready to start their AM shift were all gathered around a couple of management people with everyone in their blue smocks. They started doing a chant and clapping. I can't remember the words as this was about 4-5 years ago but it was something about doing your best and working hard for Big Wally, the low price leader. It was really creepy and I haven't set foot in a Wal-mart since.
In the south, Walmart worked the evangelical mindset into its corporate environment, at least at the store level. In China, they work in the Red Guard approach. Pretty amazing.
I actually just started working for Wal-mart. It was the only place in my town hiring, and I have 20k in debt to student loans. They offered me the only position available: cart pusher. Its amazing that after 4 years of college- something that used to ensure a good paying job- I have ended up working as a cart pusher. Let me tell a few things about wal-mart. First off, my position is the lowest pay grade position. I make 8.00 an hour, but do quite a bit of work. They don't hire any of their cart pusher for full time, so that way we don't get health benefits or anything, which sucks because we are in a lot of pain and danger most of the time.
Here's more: They constantly know where you are. The cameras are set in every angle, so they can make sure you aren't standing around. I got yelled at for leaning against a wall for about 2 minutes after pushing about 80 carts in the 80 degree, humid day.
The craziest thing, though, is how they try to program you. The first video I watched in orientation was about how unions are bad, and if we unionize we will lose all the benefits that we work so hard for. The co-manager came in and fed us the same exact lines. Then they teach you the walmart chant,and make you repeat it, until you have it memorized.
It makes me so mad! But alas, what can I do? I have to work to pay off my bills, and this is the only job. The people I work with are nice, and so are most of the management. The problem with walmart, like all other corporations, is at the top.
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