[lbo-talk] Re: WMT goes orgo

[Miles Jackson]

Wojtek Sokolowski wrote:
> Miles:
> 
> 
> --In short, the problem's not Wal-mart; the problem is the inevitability 
> of Wal-mart style organizations in a capitalist economy.
> 
> 
> [WS:] I doubt.  The problem with Wal Mart is two fold, policy choices made
> by government that create loopholes an labor and environment protection, and
> choices made by Wal mart management to exploit those loopholes.  This can be
> supported, among other, by the fact that US corporations that supposedly
> cannot profit without paying substandard wages and cutting benefits in the
> US, somehow manage to do well in the EU where by law they have to pay higher
> wages and benefits.  This means that they pay lower wages mainly because
> they choose to and can get away with it, rather than because "markets" force
> their hand.  

In fact, Wal-mart's profit margins are smaller in the EU, and they have 
recently decided to sell off their operations in Germany.  This is 
pretty simple, Woj: they pay low wages to increase profits, and if they 
can't pay low wages, they move their operations.

The point I want to stress here is that the problem with Wal-mart or 
Whole Foods or General Electric is the fact that the organizations are 
compelled to maximize profits in a capitalist economy.  The politics or 
beliefs of the capitalists are surprisingly unimportant; capitalism 
requires owners to put an Orwellian boot in the face of workers again 
and again and again.

Miles