"If Wal-Mart has a “comic side”, I'm not laughing..." A responce.

*Update: The final draft is now available below.
This is a response essay to an article by columnist Sebastian Mallaby for my English Comp I class at Pensacola State Collage. If you would like to read his fantastic article, you can find it Here. It really is a well crafted article and you should defiantly read it before taking on my response.  

Final Draft: 

If Wal-Mart Has a “Comic Side,” I'm Not Laughing...

      Although columnist Sebastian Mallaby does not say so directly in his article “Progressive Wal-Mart, Really!” he apparently assumes that the poor in America are doomed without Wal-Mart. So by stating that, if the critics of Wal-Mart prevent the expansion of new branches, they will prevent “ordinary families” from sharing in the gains that the company offers. He continues to even argue that poor Americans will be the number one group to suffer from its absence. At the very least, this is completely preposterous! One could go as far as to say Wal-Mart is one of the major causes of poverty in the United States. Wal-Mart, with its skewed views on what a “Great Value” truly is, has left no one wondering why the critics have a field day at the defense of the company, let alone its ability to stifle the poor.

     Let us focus for a moment on the main argument used by the author: Wal-Mart isn’t bad for poor people; it's good for them. While on the surface, this seems like a point that could have some validity. The fact is that Wal-Mart has lower prices than most retailers on almost anything one could want from food to TVs and even tires. However, at what cost does the customer pay for these low prices? The truth is that nothing in this world is free, and everything has a price. Wal-Mart is the United States' largest employer at just over 2 million employees, second to IBM, which only has 436,000 employees. Yet the average Wal-Mart starting salary is only $18,400 or $8.85 for a 40 hour work week. To top that off, most discount retail companies give its workers only 28-40 hours per week. With the poverty line for a family of five at $27,500, if I'm not mistaken, that makes Wal-Mart not only the USA's top employer, but the top employer of the poor as well. Hey! Poor people need jobs too, right?

      Wal-Mart and wages, wages and Wal-Mart. When you talk to someone about Wal-Mart, as a place of occupation rather than a shopping center, wages will always be part of the conversation. The reason is that wages are a big deal to employees, and Wal-Mart's practices are almost always to blame. Instead of giving workers health care benefits, paid time off, holidays, or any other fringe benefits, it is left up to the employee to find his or her own source of medical insurance. Also, in the case of about 110,000 people, that burden falls to the taxpayers in the form of Medicaid. The author wants to tell you that the average Wal-Mart customer makes around $35,000 per year, but he contradicts himself when he states, “The wage suppression is so small that even its 'victims' may be better off. Retail workers may take home less pay, but their purchasing power probably still grows thanks to Wal-Mart's low prices.” Wait. What? You mean to tell me that because I am allowed to shop at Wal-Mart, my wages are lower by default? No. Just, no! If Wal-Mart were simply to increase its pay for each employee by $14,800, the average cost of one person per year on Medicaid, not only would Wal-Mart be one of the most sought-after jobs world wide, but it would take almost 2 million people out of poverty almost instantly. Doing so would save the country millions of tax dollars in poverty-relief areas such as Medicaid, Food Stamps, Welfare and earned-income credits.

      What Mr. Mallaby doesn’t see is the fact that critics are not just professionals that judge a company; everyone is a critic in some way, form, or fashion. Also, if most of the opinions that flood the media about Wal-Mart are negative, then it is obvious that the company needs to make some changes and improvements. In the end, Mr. Mallaby admits, “Companies like Wal-Mart are not run by saints.” At least we can agree upon something, Mr. Mallaby.*

 *Both drafts are covered by the below copyright.

First Draft:

If Wal-Mart has a “comic side”, I'm not laughing...

      

Although columnist Sebastian Mallaby does not say so directly in his article “Progressive Wal-Mart, Really!”, he apparently assumes that the poor in America are doomed without Wal-Mart. Stating that if the critics of Wal-Mart prevent the expansion of new branches, that they will prevent “ordinary families” from sharing in the gains that Wal-Mart offers. It goes on to even state that poor Americans will be the number one group to suffer from it's absence. At the very least, this is completely preposterous! One could go as far as saying that Wal-Mart is one of the major causes of poverty in the United States. Wal-Mart, with its skewed views on what a “Great Value” truly is, has left no one wondering why the critics have a field day at the expense of Wal-Mart, let alone their ability to stifle the poor.

      Lets focus for a moment on the main issue brought up by the author: Wal-Mart isn’t bad for poor people, it's good for them. While on the surface, this seems like a point that could have some validity. Fact is, Wal-Mart has lower then most prices on almost anything you could want from food to TVs and even tires. But, at what cost do we pay for these low prices?! The truth is, nothing in this world is free and everything has a price. Wal-Mart is the United States largest employer at just over 2 million employees, second to IBM , who only has 436,000 employees. But yet, the average Wal-Mart starting salary is only $18,400 or $8.85 for a 40 hour work week. And to top that off, most discount retail companies give it's workers only 28-40 hours per week. With the poverty line for a family of five at $27,500, if I'm not mistaken, that makes Wal-Mart not only the USA's top employer, but the top employer of the poor as well. Hey! Poor people need jobs too, right?!

      Wal-Mart and wages, wages and Wal-Mart. When you talk to someone about Wal-Mart, not so much about shopping, but as a place of work, wages will always be part of the conversation. The reason being is that wages are a big deal to employees and Wal-Mart's practices are almost always to blame. Instead of giving workers health care benefits, paid time off, holidays, or any other fringe benefits, it is left up to the employe to find their own source of medical insurance. And in the case of about 110,000 people, that burden falls to the taxpayers in the form of Medicaid. The author wants to tell you that the average Wal-Mart customer makes around $35,000 per year, but contradicts himself when he states that even if Wal-Mart was suppressing wages, they recover from that with gained purchasing power at Wal-Mart. Wait... what?! You mean to tell me that because I am allowed to shop at Wal-Mart, my wages are lower by default?! No, just no! If Wal-Mart was to just increase its pay for each employee by $14,800, the average cost of one person per year on Medicaid, not only would Wal-Mart be one of the most sought after jobs world wide, but it would take almost 2 million people out of poverty almost instantly. Saving the country tax dollars in ares such as Medicaid, Food Stamps, Welfare and earned-income credits.

      What Mr. Mallaby doesn’t see is the fact that critics are not just professionals that judge a company, everybody is a critic in some way form or fashion. And, if most of the opinions that flood the media about Wal-Mart are in a negative light, what Does that say about Wal-Mart as a company?! “Companies like Wal-Mart are not run by saints.” at least we can agree upon something, Mr. Mallaby

Zackary Bruley ©2013

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