6 Waltons (Walmart) have more wealth then the bottom 30% of Americans.

[Jaskalas]

Who cares? I am sick of this idea because one person has money it hurts another.

Communism. Those people BELONG to their government, as property. So their wealth does as well.

 

[gonzaga1751]

Stop blaming the Waltons for going to the Chinese blame the Government for making them go there.

 

[waggy]

good for them. if you are upset about it start a business to beat Walmart.

I really don't blame the waltons or hell any business for going to the chinese. I put a good part of the blame on the US goverment, some on the consumer and then teh business.

 

[Ausm]

If the middle class and working poor decide to freely give their money to the rich in exchange for a good or service, are we supposed to stop them if we deem the transaction is unfair?

Do you even grasp the basic concept of the 99% vs the 1%?

 

[bfdd]

so like i said they employ over 2 million people, you can't expect them to do that for free and even if they profit in tiny tiny amounts off of an individual there is just so many of them that they will amass huge amounts of wealth over very short periods of time.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

If it's any consolation I can say from having worked for WM, that Sams family is completely screwed up. The only thing that mattered was making a buck and the family placed a distant second. For all their money I pity them and consider Sam a failure. Then again I don't hold making a fortune the measure of a man. How he is as a father does. Ymmv.

 

[Matt1970]

Republicans defend this Economic model to the death for some reason?

Typical Liberal resonce fgrom the cluleess. Walmart is what it is because of the American demand for cheap cheap products.

 

[lord_emperor]

Won't a lot of the bottom 30% have negative wealth thanks to debt?

I mean if I have $1 net worth and every one else owes $1, I can have more combined wealth than an infinite number of people.

 

[Doppel]

And?

The family started a company from nothing and through hard work made a shit load of money.

It is the American dream.

Don't see a problem with that.

Nothing is stopping anyone in the bottom 30% from having a business idea and making it successful through hard work.

U don't think they benefit from lobbying then? Because I didn't realize the American dream was sport fvcking the political system with money and buying senators, I missed that in my civics class I guess.

The Walton's are ridiculous but in a sense the bottom of society have no wealth at all, just income and outcome match it dollar for dollar if not debt so in a way I probably have more wealth than many millions of Americans too.

 

[theeedude]

I know what they're doing but what changed to make it so easily done? Other than their sheer size. IIRC, NAFTA started their move to Mexico and to China from there. Is global free(near free) trade the issue?

Yeah. It's not free trade, China openly manipulates its currency, pollutes its environment, and represses its labor. Importers and resellers like Walmart benefit from it, so they make the politicians pretend it's "free" trade. It's only free for the middlemen, everyone else is paying for it.

 

[dank69]

Won't a lot of the bottom 30% have negative wealth thanks to debt?

I mean if I have $1 net worth and every one else owes $1, I can have more combined wealth than an infinite number of people.

Well that is what it says right in the OP.

 

[KlokWyze]

and?

The family started a company from nothing and through hard work made a shit load of money.

It is the american dream.

Don't see a problem with that.

Nothing is stopping anyone in the bottom 30% from having a business idea and making it successful through hard work.

america

 

[woolfe9999]

If it's any consolation I can say from having worked for WM, that Sams family is completely screwed up. The only thing that mattered was making a buck and the family placed a distant second. For all their money I pity them and consider Sam a failure. Then again I don't hold making a fortune the measure of a man. How he is as a father does. Ymmv.

You actually worked for WM? My condolences.

 

[pcgeek11]

Basically agree, the 6 walton kids would have squat if it were'nt for their dad. They took a great success story and perverted it in the name of greed. They ran local small businesses out of town and cut wages for workers that used to work at those samll businesses.

They would not have been able to do any of that without the "poor" people agreeing to it by spending their money at Walmart vice spending the money at the locally owned business'. The poor people did it to themselves.

 

[highland145]

Yeah. It's not free trade, China openly manipulates its currency, pollutes its environment, and represses its labor. Importers and resellers like Walmart benefit from it, so they make the politicians pretend it's "free" trade. It's only free for the middlemen, everyone else is paying for it.

Correct, so we're screwing ourselves by trading with them. Shouldn't we (USA) change our trade policies?

Again, did this start with NAFTA or similar trade gimmies offered to corps? Or some more "sinister" one economy mess?

I'm still suggesting that the pols on both sides are in the corp bag.

 

[DominionSeraph]

Nothing is stopping anyone in the bottom 30% from having a business idea and making it successful through hard work.

They cannot be as successful. Capitalism redistributes wealth from workers to owners. If all the workers are owners... that's communism, and then who is there to exploit?

 

[JS80]

They cannot be as successful. Capitalism redistributes wealth from workers to owners. If all the workers are owners... that's communism, and then who is there to exploit?

That is patently false. Capitalism redistributes wealth from investors to workers while making the pie bigger.

 

[DominionSeraph]

That is patently false. Capitalism redistributes wealth from investors to workers while making the pie bigger.

And how stupid are you that you think that's the only mechanism in capitalism or that the pathetic line you just graphed in any way fully describes the whole?

Jesus Fucking Christ.

"Blah blah blah, I has a line!"
Fucktards.

 

[bfdd]

Yeah. It's not free trade, China openly manipulates its currency, pollutes its environment, and represses its labor. Importers and resellers like Walmart benefit from it, so they make the politicians pretend it's "free" trade. It's only free for the middlemen, everyone else is paying for it.

The Treasury and the Federal Reserve openly manipulate our currency as well. Looks like the Chinese are just trying to even the playing field. Seriously, you are an idiot. You guys who spout this non-sense realize everything China does is a reaction towards America. They do not wish to be screwed anymore than we do and history shows we've been trying to screw people for awhile now.

 

[DominionSeraph]

The Treasury and the Federal Reserve openly manipulate our currency as well. Looks like the Chinese are just trying to even the playing field. Seriously, you are an idiot.

With the narrowness of that perspective, you really don't have the room to be calling very many people "stupid."

 

[Jhhnn]

That is patently false. Capitalism redistributes wealth from investors to workers while making the pie bigger.

Yeh, that's why the income share of the top 1% has doubled in 30 years, and their share of wealth increased, as well.

And I'm sure that's why we have to support the lower 40% of Americans with transfer payments from the govt so they can keep their heads above water, too.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, between 1979 and 2007 incomes of the top 1% of Americans grew by an average of 275%. During the same time period, the 60% of Americans in the middle of the income scale saw their income rise by 40%. Since 1979 the average pre-tax income for the bottom 90% of households has decreased by $900, while that of the top 1% increased by over $700,000, as federal taxation became less progressive. From 1992-2007 the top 400 income earners in the U.S. saw their income increase 392% and their average tax rate reduced by 37%.[13] In 2009, the average income of the top 1% was $960,000 with a minimum income of $343,927.[14][15][16]

In 2007 the richest 1% of the American population owned 34.6% of the country's total wealth, and the next 19% owned 50.5%. Thus, the top 20% of Americans owned 85% of the country's wealth and the bottom 80% of the population owned 15%. Financial inequality was greater than inequality in total wealth, with the top 1% of the population owning 42.7%, the next 19% of Americans owning 50.3%, and the bottom 80% owning 7%.[17] However, after the Great Recession which started in 2007, the share of total wealth owned by the top 1% of the population grew from 34.6% to 37.1%, and that owned by the top 20% of Americans grew from 85% to 87.7%. The Great Recession also caused a drop of 36.1% in median household wealth but a drop of only 11.1% for the top 1%, further widening the gap between the 1% and the 99%.[17][18][19] During the economic expansion between 2002 and 2007, the income of the top 1% grew 10 times faster than the income of the bottom 90%. In this period 66% of total income gains went to the 1%, who in 2007 had a larger share of total income than at any time since 1928.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distribution_of_wealth#In_the_United_States

That's some flow of wealth from investors to workers, I'm tellin' ya...

Why, it's a wonder that the investor class hasn't gone broke, givin' away their money like that...

 

[CPA]

Hell Warren Buffett and Bill Gates are worth more than all the Waltons added together.

And don't forget George Soros.


BTW, can anyone tell me what these three have in common?



They're all Liberal Democrats. Evil, rich, 1%er, Liberal Democrats.

 

[waggy]

If it's any consolation I can say from having worked for WM, that Sams family is completely screwed up. The only thing that mattered was making a buck and the family placed a distant second. For all their money I pity them and consider Sam a failure. Then again I don't hold making a fortune the measure of a man. How he is as a father does. Ymmv.

you have it slightly wrong. Sam walton pushed America fist and most. He wanted most of the stuff in the store American made. After his death the family had control and a board of directors gained control. Then the stock of walmart shot up and the prices went down and the quality went down.

After Sam died the store changed a LOT. sure they got bigger and make more money. but it is not what sam wanted in the store.

 

[Jhhnn]

And don't forget George Soros.


BTW, can anyone tell me what these three have in common?



They're all Liberal Democrats. Evil, rich, 1%er, Liberal Democrats.

What do they have in common?

None of them whine about their taxes.

All of them support ending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy.

None of them support the fallacious "Job Creator!" meme.

None of them inherited their money.

All of them admit to luck playing a huge role in their success.

 

[Craig234]

you have it slightly wrong. Sam walton pushed America fist and most. He wanted most of the stuff in the store American made. After his death the family had control and a board of directors gained control. Then the stock of walmart shot up and the prices went down and the quality went down.

After Sam died the store changed a LOT. sure they got bigger and make more money. but it is not what sam wanted in the store.

Article from PBS on Wal-Mart and China:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/secrets/wmchina.html

It shows that Walton was not only far more interested in buying from China for low prices and 'America' was only when it could compete, but he took steps to hide it.

It describes him saying 6% of goods were from China while an analyst said 40%.

Tianenman Square made him concerned... about bad PR and the need for a 'middleman' to hide Wal-Mart's purchases further from the US public.

Your post shows his PR campaign worked pretty well.

Which is what you'd expect to do well - cheap prices from China, good PR hiding it.