My Motto is “Do it my way or watch your butt”

An interesting Slate article yesterday by Daniel Gross noted the parallels between Costco and Wal-Mart in contrast with the Democratic and Republican parties. As simply a demographic comparison, Costco tends to be in so-called blue states/areas, while Wal-Mart tends to be centered in the red states/areas.

While the article only makes a cursory mention of the ideology that drives management decisions at Costco and Wal-Mart, the two companies do sum up the two political parties quite effectively. A summary of Wal-Mart is a microcosm of everything that ED doesn’t like about the current state of the GOP.

Wal-Mart is overtly aggressive and will do about anything to ensure that it’s the clear alpha male in its industry (and the world for that matter). The AVERAGE wage at Wal-Mart is less than Costco’s LOWEST wage. The company is oft-criticized by labor groups for failing to provide adequate healthcare and benefits, for discriminating against women, for locking cleaning personnel in the stores at night to reduce the need for security personnel and forcing overtime without additional pay.

Aside from its shoddy labor practices, the company routinely forces its way into communities despite widespread protest. In a recent highly publicized attempted store opening in Inglewood in Southern California, Wal-Mart essentially tried to incorporate its own city so that the company could skirt environmental laws. A Wal-Mart sponsored ballot initiative was rejected by the voters of Inglewood. The company also has utilized its standing as the world’s largest company to force its own agenda. The company rejects music CDs and movies that it finds objectionable and forces suppliers of nearly every consumable good and/or product on the planet to conform to its standards.

But, at the end of the day, Wal-Mart is a wildly successful entity and has lined the pockets of tens of thousands of investors. The company from any monetary measurement is one of the most glaring and shining examples of American capitalism. And that all about sums up the Bush administration doesn’t it… as long as money is being made, everything is fine, despite the consequences of that growth (sadly, it’s tough to make an argument that the economy is in a wildly successful state, but that’s a different column).

Of course any card carrying Republican will counter that America can’t have it both ways. Although some get left behind in the Bush vision of America, the greater good is fed by enacting policy that places economic growth as trumping secondary issues such as the environment or workers rights.

Luckily for the rest of us, Costco shines as the beacon of hope on the hill. Pay STARTS at $10 an hour. Workers receive tremendous health benefits and are generally treated like they matter. As Slate notes, the results are that “Costco’s turnover is a third of the retail industry average of 64 percent and shrinkage – the amount of inventory lost to theft – is about 13 percent of the industry norm.” Although Costco might not be the biggest or the most profitable, the company has been outperforming Wal-Mart in many categories as of late and more importantly it’s creating an ecosystem of happiness for those whose lives the company employs. Isn’t that the indicator that should really matter?

http://slate.com/id/2104988/

Headline Quote Movie of Origin: Raising Arizona
Character: Nathan Arizona Sr.
Setting: H.I. and Ed have stolen one of the famous Arizona quintuplets, as “biology and other peoples' opinions conspired to keep us childless.” While being interviewed by the police, who suspect a disgruntled employee may have stolen Nathan Jr., Nathan Sr, owner of the Unpainted Arizona chain of furniture stores, explains his management style by stating, “Hell, they're all disgruntled. I aint running no damn daisy farm. My motto is ‘Do it my way or watch your butt!’"
The quote is relevant to this story how?: Nathan Sr.’s management style is an example of a red state business owner. That was a joke. Don't get all riled up, red state people.

Contact El Duderino at jaipf@hotmail.com.