Wal-Mart isn't evil

I've thought this for a long time, but it isn't always easy to articulate the particular thoughts in a coherent manner. Today I found somebody that did that for me, ;-). Wal-Mart wants to move into my old hometown of Garden Grove.

The area that they want to occupy has been struggling financially for many years. Stores have come and gone in the complex seemingly without end and the cycle shows no signs of stopping. A few streets over you will find a large Costco warehouse that is bustling (especially on the weekends).

If a paid membership shopping location can keep that busy I'm sure Wal-Mart will do well and likely bring in more business to those other stores in the area. Right now people don't have a reason to draw them into the complex.

Here is how an author on an Orange County blog (Orange Juice) explains the situation in response to those complaining that a Wal-Mart supercenter will hurt local businesses and the poor.

Wal-Mart Supercenter stirs up controversy in Garden Grove

In truth, Wal-Mart serves the poor better than any other retailer. The Wal-Mart in Santa Ana is one of the top grossing Wal-Mart stores in the nation. It is always full. The folks that shop there are predominantly poor Latinos. Why do they shop there? Because they can buy nice items for their home at a low price. It really is that simple.

As for the employment and salary issues, let's face it - Wal-Mart creates hundreds of jobs at each of its stores - many of those stores serve economically depressed areas where there are no jobs to be had. They also employ elderly workers that simply cannot find work at all.

As for the health care issue, Wal-Mart recently led the charge against high-priced prescription medicines when they dropped the price of hundreds of generic medicines to only $4 per bottle. Then they began to open low-priced medical clinics - which are often the only resort for the working poor.

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What about small businesses that are allegedly run out of town by Wal-Mart stores? Guess what? There are no constitutional guarantees that give folks the right to run uncompetitive enterprises. You can operate such businesses - but the consumers will decide your fate. That is harsh but it is reality. Ever watch those nature shows on Discover [sic] or National Geographic? What happens to the old and sick wildebeests that can't keep up with the herd? They become lion food. That is just the way of the world - the circle of life if you will. In business you either keep up with the herd or you die. That is the risk you run when you open a business.

I know this firsthand. I used to own and operate a small chain of stores dedicates [sic] to collectibles. My wife and I had a lot of fun and made a fair amount of money but eventually the Internet took a lot of our sales, as did various collectibles swapmeets/shows. They ran us out of business. We ended up closing some stores and selling the rest. I went back to school and worked for a few years in marketing and advertising and then moved on to industrial work and ended up working as a safety director for various contractors. I bring this up because it is an example of what you do when your back is up against a wall - you start again. I now owe $55,000 in student loans, but I also have two degrees and a great career working for a very successful restoration and environmental abatement contractor. Was it easy? No. I had to work very hard to get to where I am today. And that is the moral of the story. There is no easy money - just hard work.

Those are pretty good arguments in my book. It isn't perfect, but where are we promised that life will be easy? The Constitution does NOT promise equality of results (in contrast to what modern liberals and activist judges seem to believe). Rather it (and the Declaration of Independence) favour free opportunity. That isn't to say that everybody gets the same amount of money when they're born or in school, but everybody can succeed if they put their mind to it. You aren't held back simply because you're poor, or a minority, or religious.

I wish that I was still living in Garden Grove in some ways. It sounds as though things might be looking better for those areas that have been struggling for years. Hopefully the Wal-Mart will be approved--especially since it won't require eminent domain to support it, and it hasn't asked for any government hand-outs to support the store!


~Matt

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