This diary originated as a comment within JR Monsterfodder's diary,
Yet Another Message for Wal-Mart-Shopping Liberals, which scrolled off of the page at the speed of light.
I made my comment after the diary had already scrolled off of the page. I thought this would make a decent diary, I think this issue is important, and so posted my comment as a diary.
I hope I have not broken any rules.
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First off, let me say that I have never been in a WalMart, and I will never go in a WalMart. I totally hate this company. But we will blame WalMart for what is a larger systemic issue in this country at our own peril.
The larger problem is the conflation of the term 'labor arbitrage' with the term 'free trade'. We are being forced through trade agreements, made by both Republican and Democratic administrations, to compete on wage rates. We simply cannot compete on this basis.
Real wages are being attacked from both the top and the bottom of the scale. If WalMart had a lot fewer workers to choose from they would be, by the market, forced to pay a better wage. They are not, because there is a large supply of labor out there willing to work at WalMart wages. Many of what are now WalMart employees got laid off from the PillowTex's of what is now the great American manufacturing wasteland.
'Americans can compete with any worker in the world' is a great slogan, but that is all it is, a slogan, 'kinda like 'Democrats are the party for people who work for a living'. It is simply not intelectually honest in this day and age to make these kinds of statements. Americans can not compete with eleven cent an hour labor, and what we as Democrats stand for hasn't been really reflected by the leaders of our party since Harry Truman. Make no mistake, Democrats in Washington are selling you down the river just as fast as Republicans.
So shop at WalMart or don't, the problem remains, and the effects will be the same, 'cause whether you buy at WalMart or buy it somewhere else, it all comes from the same place.
Global Trade: Blame China, blame us
Start with Wal-Mart. That company's well-known business model is to squeeze its suppliers for lower prices, always. According to a recent "Frontline" report on PBS, "Is Wal-Mart good for America?" that means pressure for those vendors to "abandon their factories in the American Midwest, as well as transfer production from their factories in Mexico and Taiwan to China."
The result, "Frontline" says, is "massive Chinese conglomerates, such as the television manufacturer TCL, will dominate more and more of the market." And it's not just Wal-Mart.
Last week The New York Times reported that the auto industry sees China as the next big exporter. Companies ranging from DaimlerChrysler to Delphi auto parts are looking for projects. It won't be long before Chinese-built parts -- and then small cars -- show up in U.S. showrooms.
The driving force: Chinese auto workers are paid about $1.96 an hour for wages and benefits. Detroit's tally for the same workers is $36.55 an hour. Revaluing the yuan won't fix that imbalance.
The question of blame comes down to this: Do we want cheaper products or are we consumers willing to pay more for American-built goods? So far the answer has been clear.