To: Alan Smithee who wrote (101183 ) 4/15/2005 1:10:15 PM From: Grainne Read Replies (1) | Respond to The cause and effect relationship between WalMart and poverty is that its growth has very deliberately destroyed a lot of family wage jobs in America. As you can see, now supermarkets are trying to lower wages and insurance benefits because they cannot compete with WalMart if they do not. And yet Americans spend less of their income on food than almost anyone. We could afford to spend enough on food to support a middle class economy. And we buy an incredible amount of third world manufactured junk. Just total junk! That is why there are so many tv shows about how to get rid of your junk. WE have gone totally nuts with consumerism, but our spending doesn't support American family wage jobs. If you look at, let's say, the Northern Europeans, they spend more on food and have fewer material possessions than we do (although their material possessions are sturdy and well designed in Europe). They pay more of their income in taxes, but everyone is middle class and has good, public health care. From statistics I heard discussed on a financial program the other day, the median income in America has not risen in 27 years. The Bush administration would argue that it is creating jobs, but they are not for the most part family wage jobs with health insurance benefits. So quite a few people who are fully employed at places like WalMart are unable to support their families. I believe the minimum wage needs to be high enough so that someone working fulltime can afford food and somewhere to live. That is not always the case now. Homeless shelters are reporting an increase in the number of people who do work fulltime but cannot afford housing. Personally, I think that is immoral. These people need to buy their groceries and junky goods at WalMart because now they cannot afford to buy them anywhere else. So our consumer dollars are supporting Asia, but not the welfare of Americans so much.
