Well, it’s a step in the right direction! Wal-Mart, the developed world’s most egregious profiteer whose senior executives are not either indicted, on trial or in jail, has announced that it will make some health insurance available to the 50% of their employees who are not currently eligible (that’s right, half of their work-force, around 650,000 people are currently out in the cold!). Of course, you’ve got to wonder how the workers are going to pay for this benefit with average wages under $20,000 per year.
This is not going to get me into Wal-Mart. I still go to Costco! Their average wage is 70% higher than Wal-Mart’s and their Chief Executive actually has a pay packet that bears scrutiny. You can look at what Costco’s top guys are paid without getting a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach.
How does the senior executive corps at Wal-Mart manage to sleep? I’m not sure what innovations they’ve introduced that really make our lives better. Bill Gates’ wealth doesn’t bother me, he’s driven innovation and productivity and his charitable impulses are admirable. Wal-Mart? Well, let’s see, they’ve destroyed communities, nearly bankrupted some of their suppliers, exploit their workers and build giant, ugly boxes around the country to which people drive miles and miles, persuaded to do so only by what I can characterize as a mass psychosis and an ephemeral hope of savings. And, by the way, I do wonder how much additional oil we use every year in this country just to get to Wal-Mart for those savings? I bet it’s significant!
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