Wal-Mart: the High Cost of Low Prices

[CrissCrossTian]

Wal-Mart is THE most controversial corporation in the world. They object to any form of Union involvement in their business, promote the use of Welfare so they do not have to pay for health insurance for THEIR employees, destroy local businesses, intimidation and discrimination.

<a href="http://opposingdigits.com/vlog/?p=70" target="_blank">Watch the Movie: Wal-Mart: the High Cost of Low Prices</a>

[madthumbs]

Slavery: A Global Investigation (http://opposingdigits.com/vlog/?p=212)

This 80-minute documentary, based on the book Disposable People, exposes cases of slavery in the rug-making sector of Northwest India, the cocoa plantations in the Ivory Coast, and even the homes of World Bank officials in Washington, D.C.

Filmed in India, Brazil, West Africa, London, and the US, the documentary shows how slavery fits into the global economy. The filmmakers actually buy slaves in Africa and help to free child slaves in India.

Slavery won the Peabody Award in 2001.



Modern Slavery (http://opposingdigits.com/vlog/?p=116)

This short DVD10 minutes longfeatures stories from Slavery: A Global Investigation, and is an effective tool for raising awareness about modern slavery.



The Judaic Role in the Black Slave Trade (http://opposingdigits.com/vlog/?p=667)

In this brilliant foray into the hidden dimensions of the chronicle of black servitude, Tony Martin, professor of African History at Wellesley College, lectures on the role of Judaics in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, and the impact of racist rabbinic texts on the formation of the contemptuous view of Africans which led to the justification of their enslavement. Dr. Martins speech is introduced by Michael A. Hoffman II who provides insight on recent scholarly developments concerning the Curse of Ham. Brief concluding remarks are offered by historian David Irving.



WAL-MART: The High Cost of Low Prices (http://opposingdigits.com/vlog/?p=70)

[greenpeace_mike]

Wal-Mart?

I have heard about them. hey madthumbs, where do you get all the videos?

[stoli_sambuca]

I watched the documentary, but to be honest, this was not such a great documentary film. I'm guessing that the film maker wanted to argue that ...

- Wal-Mart externalizes certain operations
-- This saves Wal-Mart an enormous amount of money
-- This also creates number of problems including environmental problems
- Wal-Mart is essentially subsidized in many ways
- Wal-Mart utilizes international trade organizations in order to make use of extremely cheap labors (to put it mildly)

I watch a fair number of movies including documentaries (though I haven't watched too many movies for the last couple of weeks). There are good documentaries that deal with similar subjects such as

The Corporation
Manufacturing Consent - Noam Chomsky and the Media
Enron - The Smartest Guys in the Room

However, Wal-Mart: the High Cost of Low Prices is not a very good documentary.

[Christoph]

Anybody knows a good site about Wal-Mart?

[stoli_sambuca]

Anybody knows a good site about Wal-Mart?
... what exactly are you trying to find out? How Wal-Mart treats its workers? Stock price? Balance sheet? How Wal-Mart works with factories overseas?

[Christoph]

I am sure there is a anit-Wal-Mart campaign or NGO anywhere.

[stoli_sambuca]

I am sure there is a anit-Wal-Mart campaign or NGO anywhere.
There are quite a few websites ...

http://walmartwatch.com/
http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/
http://walmartworkersrights.org/
http://www.wal-martlitigation.com/
http://www.walmartclass.com/

[madthumbs]

For a laugh:

http://www.zug.com/pranks/walmart/

[Christoph]

I wrote the word 'Scheiße' with a chocolate bar on the letter, and mailed it back, wondering if they would get the joke. I then put the money into a tech-heavy stock portfolio which about a year ago lost every cent that it made for me.


:D

Thanks stoli_sambuca for the links!

[Christoph]

(CNSNews.com) - Wal-Mart "has officially declared war on the Democratic Party" just three weeks before the Nov. 7 midterm elections, according to a group that wants to "change" the nation's biggest retail chain by unionizing its 1.3 million employees.

"Rather than embrace our positive vision for a better America, Wal-Mart has officially declared war on the Democratic Party, elected leaders and every American who believes we should pay workers a living wage, provide affordable health care to all, protect American jobs and keep America safe," Paul Blank, campaign director for WakeUpWalMart.com, said in a statement Friday.
....

http://www.crosswalk.com/news/1436905.html

[danrak]

I've read several articles stating wal-mart has failed in some countries. I wish I could find them again. They were interesting reads.

The major thing I hate about wal-mart is they edit CDs and DVDs. But I do not buy them there, so I guess it doesn't effect me any.

[Christoph]

Study finds Wal-Mart contributes to poverty


A study focused on the effects of Wal-Mart stores on poverty rates found that an estimated 20,000 families nationwide have fallen below the official poverty line as a result of the chain's expansion.

The study -- Wal-Mart and County-Wide Poverty -- written by Stephan Goetz, a professor of agricultural and regional economics at Pennsylvania State University, and Hema Swaminathan for the International Center for Research on Women, was published in the latest issue of Social Science Quarterly....

http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2006/05/15/daily29.html