Walmart Is Good For America Essay

Wal-Mart has been a juggernaut in the supermarket industry for many years in the United States. There are people in the U.S. that believe that Wal-Mart is bad for the country, and that it should either change its policies, or get shut down. However, there are also people that believe that Wal-Mart is great for our society. This is the correct thinking. Wal-Mart is great for America because it saves a great deal of money for the people that shop there, it creates many job, it protects its employees from unions, and it helps to lower prices set by the suppliers

The first reason that Wal-Mart is great for America is that it saves money for the customers that shop there. Wal-Mart, as advertised, has lower prices on its merchandise than most other

stores. With so many impoverished people in America, this can help them afford food. Many people will argue that Wal-Mart is bad for Americans because it doesn’t pay as much as some other stores; for example, “The average hourly worker at Wal-Mart earns barely $18,000 a year at a company that pocketed $6.6 billion in profits last year” (Olsson 3). However, the money that the people are losing, is easily made up in the savings that they get from shopping at Wal-Mart: “That loss to workers would still be dwarfed by the $50 billion-plus that Wal-Mart consumers save on food, never mind the much larger sums that they save altogether (Mallaby 2). Basically, the money lost by employees working at Wal-Mart is easily made up by how much they save on food shopping there.
Another reason that Wal-Mart is great for America is that it creates many jobs. With the rapid expansion of stores, also comes many more jobs being created in America. According to one report, “In 2005, Wal-Mart created 125,000 U.S. jobs and is continuously adding thousands each month” (Hoenig 1). In other words, Wal-Mart is creating many jobs in America. The jobs that Wal-Mart creates will allow many people to find a job in an economy where one may be hard to find. People against Wal-Mart will claim that the store outvalues its competition and causes many of them to shut down, which results in people losing jobs. According to one expert, “For every Wal-Mart supercenter that opens in the next five years, two other supermarkets will close” (The Long Arm of Bentonville, Ark.). However, “The charge that Wal-Mart puts local “mom and pop” stores out of business is a validation of the company, not a demonizing of it” (Hoenig 1). Hoenig’s point is that the reason Wal-Mart is putting these stores out of business, is simply because it’s better for consumers to shop there because of the lower prices.
In addition, Wal-Mart is great for America because it protects its employees from unions.

For many companies, unions can be potentially harmful. Many companies that allow or accept unions end up failing or losing money because of the unions unreasonably demands. If Wal-Mart accepted unions, and ended up failing as a result, millions of jobs would be lost. Unions can be described as bad for a company, for instance: “By forcing unreasonably high wages, they ultimately drain businesses’ potential for growth, and bring the whole ship crashing down” (Hoenig 1). The essence of this argument is that unions are harmful to a business’s growth, which causes the business to fail in many cases. Many who oppose Wal-Mart will bring up the company’s aggressive union busting. Wal-Mart is often described as a company that vehemently opposes unions. One expert says, “Each manager, he says, is taught to take union organizing personally” (Olsson 6). While Wal-Marts union busting tactics may be questionable, the only reason they oppose unions so much is to protect the company and employees.

Finally, Wal-Mart is great for America because it protects the customers from the employers. Part of the reason that Wal-Mart’s prices are so low is that it prevents the suppliers from raising prices. This allows the things sold at Wal-Mart to stay affordable for poor families. Some people will bring up the fact that Wal-Mart leaves no room for negotiation, which hurts the suppliers. According to a supplier “It’s

very one-sided, there is no negotiation, there is not much negotiation at all” (00:10:55-00:10:59). However, the only reason Wal-Mart puts pressure on the suppliers is to help the consumers save money.
People who think Wal-Mart is bad for America will often point out that workers are paid less than at other stores. This may be true, but those costs are made up for in the stores low prices on food. Furthermore, Wal-Mart doubters will bring up the company’s union busting tactics. Wal-Mart may be aggressive with regards to unions, but that is only to help the company and the people that work there. In addition, Wal-Mart skeptics will point out that Wal-Mart often causes other stores to go out of business. While this may be true, Wal-Mart more than makes up for it with the jobs it produces. Another reason Wal-Mart doubters bring up is that Wal-Mart is hard on suppliers. While this may be true, they do this so the consumer can save money. Wal-Mart is overall great for America.