Wal Mart as a Role Model

IT IS THE LARGEST CORPORATION in the world, of any type, with annual sales over half a billion dollars, and thousands of stores throughout america and around the world. Everyone in america has shopped at wal mart, except paris hilton and conscientious objectors. Just when shareholders start thinking that the stock price has maxed out, and further appreciation is impossible, up shoots the stock price, and more billions accumulate in the bank accounts of the walton family, which consists of only a half dozen people or so, who own most of the stock, each with something like twenty billion dollars to his or her name.

Since I live near fayetteville, arkansas, the annual shareholders meeting, which attracts twenty thousand people and annually fills up the university of arkansas basketball arena with investors and entertainment celebrities, interests me; I take great care to stay away from fayetteville during the last week in may.

each year big names like miley cyrus, elton john, james taylor, and all manner of A listerers crooningly expound the virtues of their sugar daddy. This year's remarks by guest speaker tom cruise perked up more ears than usual; (at least he didn't try to sing.)

Wal mart a role model? for what? exploitation? A great benefit to women? How so, minimum wage jobs, few benefits, discrimminatory lack of promotions for the ladies? Slave labor in third world garment making countries? There used to be something called "the garment district" in new york city, which stopped locking the girls to their sewing machines several decades ago. Now, thanks to role models like wal mart,  padlocks lock workers to sewing machines in places like bangladesh and india.

Many years ago alice walton, one of the billionaire wal mart family heirs, was arrested for drunken driving and paraded before a fayetteville judge, and on the front page on the local newspaper. I wrote a scathing letter to the editor, pointing out that other DUI offenders are not nearly as well humiliated with front page publicity. For my trouble i was reminded that celebrities are public property, and i never got even a note of thanks from alice, let alone a gift certificate.

So, as far as I'm concerned, tom cruise can take his gratuity, jet it back to his L. ron hubbard cult in california, and prepare to look pretty for another movie performance devoid of any trace of acting. Alice walton can enjoy her texas ranch and american only art, and wal mart can continue to exploit workers and transfer wealth upward as fast as american indolence and apathy allows. You'll find me over at target, where there is still some vestige of hope for a successful, moral corporate enterprise.