Many workers qualify for basic assistance including entry level teachers,
soldiers, office workers, service workers all over. At some level an "earned
income credit" that results in a negative income tax rate should be considered a
form of dole. Now with the recent national healthcare initiative many companies
that traditionally employ the entry level have put out a "no hire FTEs" order
that will be a dire situation for young people trying to get their start in
life. They will all need multiple part-time jobs.
So this is not entirely
Walmart's fault. Yes, they could do more. Sadly the folks who need Walmart's
impossibly low prices are not just their employees. They are retirees and
disabled folk on Social Security, entry level workers with small children trying
to get enough calories and shoes for their scant dollar to slog their way into
an ever-more difficult future. Having been there I know what a hard cycle it is
to break. I'm not trying to paint Walmart as some higher social cause here but
I think the real problem lies elsewhere.
The system is broken. It's
impossible to tell any more where the money is coming from and where it goes.
It's not too hard to see a lot of the economy moving off the books until it gets
straightened out.
For what it's worth I've had friends who were part of the
"Walmart family". They are fanatically loyal and generally don't have a rougher
slog than the rest of the service industries. [ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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