Wednesday, December 5, 2012

America Must Stop Subsidizing Evil And Greed Of Walmart And Others

By Manifesto Joe

I think we just had, in effect, a U.S. plebiscite on whether the American people want continued plutocracy, as we have known it for decades, or at long last some more populist alternative. Now comes time to look more closely at how the institutions that make up this country actually operate, and there's one huge corporate one in particular needs a good and proper ass-kicking.

Walmart is profiting, to the tune of billions annually, from government handouts. Their corporate welfare is mainly "indirect": In some locations, as many as 80% of their "associates" are food-stamp recipients. Since the pay at such corporate wage-slave institutions is so low, their hapless "associates" have no recourse to feed their families and themselves other than to turn to the federal government. This is a subsidy: The government puts up money to help Walmart's wage slaves eat, and therefore the taxpayers subsidize this evil corporate giant.

I recall one Walmart wage slave who heard something about me being a newspaper journalist, and stupidly said, "Oh, do you mean those nasty, biased people who suppress opinions?" or something to that effect. I stopped myself from commenting snidely about the general intelligence of Walmart associates, but did venture that I thought he probably wasn't being paid enough. "I can always go somewhere else," was his moronic reply.

Oh, did he mean, like, McDonald's, or Yum! brands, or Wendy's? An awful lot of their employees are on food stamps, too -- and Medicaid, and SCHIP programs. In other words, these companies are all getting "indirect" federal and state subsidies.

Here's a link about the Walmart situation. And here's yet another that accounts for "rival" companies.

It is especially painful for me to recall my encounter with the imbecile at Walmart, who characterized himself as "middle-of-the-road" politically (by Fox News standards?). It is very sad to see people getting reamed in their asses by porno-star-size peckers, and yet they don't even know, don't even seem to have a clue, about who's on the other side of the member. Not even while the violator is leering in their faces.

The recent protests at certain Walmarts show that some of their pathetic dupes at least know what's being done to them. Unfortunately, it isn't enough. A general strike that actually had the participation of more than 50% of the U.S. workforce would be the basic requirement. And, unfortunately, there are enough cretinous dildos like that checker I once encountered in a Walmart that nothing like that will ever happen. True, I have always had the option of never shopping there. But from what I've heard, the treatment of employees at their "rivals" is about the same, so there would be little point in voting with my feet in that way.

As a start, federal and state governments have got to start TELLING these vicious corporate rapists that they know what's happening. Then, they need to start outlining steps that can be taken to stop it. The idea that such people are "job creators" is ludicrous mendacity. People are unable to live on the meager wages that these greed-crazed plutocrats pay.

Would prices go up? Oh, certainly, at first. That's when you start hitting the pond scum with confiscatory taxes, so that they can't just go on pocketing the profits they would get from higher prices. Will they go elsewhere? Oh, of course they will threaten to do so. But what other viable country in the world would tolerate such evil and greed?

It's time to start kicking their evil, greedy corporate asses, hard and ceaselessly. This sort of trashy scum is destroying America just as surely as any terrorist network could ever hope to.

Manifesto Joe Is An Underground Writer Living In Texas.

5 comments:

Dieter said...

Walmart hasn't succeeded in all markets. A few years ago, Walmart shut its operations in Germany. The company never really felt comfortable dealing with its unionized workforce in Germany. Also, many Germans prefer to shop at small mom-and-pop local stores. Walmart also required employees to smile at customers, which Germans just thought was strange.

Manifesto Joe said...

As per the "smile" requirement, I used to wonder whether it was the Walmart "associates" trying to "come on" to me. That's the only reason I could think of at the time that some MHMR reject like that would flash a shit-eating grin at me when I was in a store. Now I guess they were being told to do that, or else. What a way to make a "living."

Anonymous said...

My Rethug-dominated State and House in Michigan just voted against all blue-collar workers like me last Friday. Michigan has become the 24th "Right to Work for Less" state in the plutocratic union. I had this horrible fear before I was apprenticed as a millwright that something like this would happen. 5 minutes after Proposal 2, which would've made collective bargaining a STATE LAW failed, my Governor and right-wing cronies passed this sh@t unanimously..,. So not only will my generation NOT get Social Security, but my pension will be horribly underfunded because all my worksites are required to be half scab to union now. Think I'm looking for a Canadian to marry now...

-WageslaveZ-

Manifesto Joe said...

I haven't been seeing much news lately, since I'm on forced hiatus from the business. But I have been noticing what's been going on in Michigan. Has the Tea Party taken over up there?

Unknown said...

They had to quit the german state, because their government would not let them off paying for the health care, which they were not going to use. Along with they had to bargin with their employees over working conditions or get fined, you know, real money, not the american dollar.
As for michigan, i'm from flint, the barren capital of automobilia. Those poor folks, my parents saw it coming, warrened me not to go back after a draft tour of duty. I went back to visit every couple of years, roads got worse each time, you know they had the finest freeways in the nation there, until the r's took over there. Such crap now.