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Aaron ~
Your asking for it. I slamed some big corps, and people went nuts.
yeah, the thing is i’m not so much slamming the big corp of wal-mart as showing how ridiculous inserting the ‘wwjd’ excuse into an argument like this is….
i was pretty mortified at this advertisement, and the fact that it runs on television. once again, christians are all about the boycotts.
What!?! Do they want me to take this PSA seriously? Gimme a break! We live in the twenty-first century where most of what people do Jesus wouldn’t do. Would Jesus eat at McDonald’s knowing what manner of damage it would do to his body? Would Jesus watch any sort of televised or filmed entertainment? Would Jesus use YouTube to “spread the gospel” knowing that there is questionable content on it? Phwa!
Would Jesus wear a designer suit and stand in front of an ornate stained glass window and make a professional looking PSA?
If you live in America you might as well pack up and move to a desolate island or live in a hole and make everything yourself. Michelle – I was probably one of those who “went nuts” because this ideology has no sense. Every single corporation in America is forced to support things that are probably viewed as “Anti-Christ”. Target, K-Mart, Sears, JC Penney, Kohls, the list goes on and on. They all support similar things. They all buy from China. I aplaud Wal Mart for not giving in to the real bullies and bad people, the unions. They are the ones who drive up the cost of everything and are as greedy and evil as anyone.
I get so sick of the emails that get passed around that say boycott Coke, or Pepsi because they support this or that. Here’s a little note to everyone, THEY ALL DO. They have to or they get sued or ridiculed. While no one business is perfect, this is what we have to deal with. If you personally dont like wal mart dont shop there.
I have received petitions of all things from churches in this very area asking me to boycott Wal Mart when it comes. Give me a break. I welcome it with open arms. And I thank the mayor for bringing them into a city that has nothing but a worn out and old K Mart that rarely has anything in stock I am looking for. As “evil” as the church and others have made wal mart out to be, there are far other evils in our own churches even that should be the goal of us, not corporate America.
It is sort of a ridiculous thought. Wal-Mart is one of the greatest “saviors” of poor and underdeveloped communities. There are more financially successful Americans living today because of Wal-Mart’s exceptional ladder to success than any other corporation. They’re a prime example of what the Anarcho-Capitalists call “Division of Labor.” If someone is willing to do the same job you are at a lesser rate, good for the economy! They’ll work hard, learn more talents, and eventually move up the ladder like you should be doing (or lowering your price). It is the best thing for a neighborhood. When I owned retail stores, Wal-Mart moved in. Guess what? They competed with me, but sent me over 70% of my business because we specialized in the product. When they had a sale on something cheaper than me, I sent my customers there with the coupons — and the customers loved me more. When my business closed down, we received a petition of over 500 customers begging us to return; some of those customers were Wal-Mart employees and managers.
Seriously folks … read the ‘paid by” disclaimer at the end. Yes, this guy is a Baptisst minister, but it’s not the church or a church who is funding it. In fact, I’d say this is a pretty good move by the UFCW … they’ve been trying hard to get people to understand that their bargain buys come at big prices. And I think they’ve realized that the “evangelical community” is one of their biggest groups and targets in that fight … why not go after them with one of their own?
they’ve been trying hard to get people to understand that their bargain buys come at big prices.
What big prices? Outsourcing to China? GOOD. When someone produces something cheaper than I can, it opens my world up to MORE opportunity to do more (for more money). When they ship a $1 radio to the US, think of all the boats that need to be manned, all the docks (both sides) that need hands and minds, the accounting groups for these companies, the tech infrastructure to track it all — the work that UPS and FedEx and locally owned freight companies gain, the utility companies that provide for the energy needs, the oil companies that mine and distribute oil to the nations.
Division of Labor is the best thing to happen to the world — it lets communist nations realize that capitalism is the ultimate financial structure; it opens the door for us to learn new traits for new markets that emerge. Are you someone who would “protect” the horse-shoeing business because the big-bad car business would hurt them? Do you support the gas-lamp lighting business because that damned electricity ruined it? Do you hate the blog because it is ruining the newspaper industry? Should cable TV be ended because it harmed the local broadcast market? Every dollar that the Chinese take might be $5 that you save here, $5 that you spend here. For every $1 we send to China, they invest in infrastructure that WE support — technology, accounting, research and development.
Globalization is humanity’s greatest recent discovery — only the State prevents it from truly taking root where it is needed most.
“capitalism is the ultimate financial structure”
although this may be be correct in the financial realm, that doesn’t make it the best way to live… as we’ve seen in our country, it just breeds consumers and affects the entire scope of society, even down to the very fiber of our churches…
although this may be be correct in the financial realm, that doesn’t make it the best way to live… as we’ve seen in our country, it just breeds consumers and affects the entire scope of society, even down to the very fiber of our churches…
Bull. Capitalism does NOT breed consumerism — that is an outright myth and has been dispeled for decades by the Austrian School of Economics. Capitalism breeds savings and thrift when you have stable money. Consumerism is bred by fiat currency or what one would call “unstable” money — ie, debt. Consumerism occurs when people see that their money today will be worth less tomorrow (due to inflation which ONLY occurs because your government prints more and more of the stuff every week), so they spend it today. Combine that with easy credit (again, from Federal Reserve inflationary schemes) at low interest and no risk, and you see why people spend money. Why save something that is worth less tomorrow? Why not spend something that is easily replaced?
The U.S. is not a capitalist society any longer, nor is it free. We have our savings stolen through State inflation, our money is backed by nothing but weapons and criminal offensive maneuvars, our income is taxes to oblivion and our freedom to enter an enterprise is regulated away. Go to Hong Kong or Dubai or Singapore or Ireland or Estonia or Denmark and you see more economic freedom — closer to capitalism. They’re still all based on fraudulent fiat money, but their lack of heavy regulations and their lessening of distillation of the money supply lead to more savings, more business freedom and more ability to support your family AND your community through thrift. The U.S. is on its way down, thank God, maybe it’ll shut up those “Blessed Nation” Christians who have no idea what they’re talking about. Who owns your home? The bank? Who owns your car? The bank? Who owns your clothes and furniture? The bank? Who owns your property? The State?
Those who reguarly write on this blog are predominately theologians focused primarily in matters of studying faith (gathering what I have from reading the posts and threads). Then, all of a sudden, we become economists and business men when a post on Wal-Mart comes out and speak CONFIDENTLY on such matters as if any of us have a true clue.
My appologies for generalizing.
In my extremely limited scope of this sector, compared to my brother who works on Wall Street, I have STRONG personal thoughts as well on the matter, although I perceive most of them as being born out of a bigger ignorance of the topic at hand. I just wonder if it’s worth my time to write about things I realy don’t know about?
Somethihng for me to ponder, and you as well if you’d like.
On a positive note, I’ve enjoyed everyones input.
I’ve been studying economic theory for 15 years, Erik. Am I an expert? Not educationally, but I’ve read and debated the theories on economics all the way up to a Federal Congressman — and have discussed economics with a myriad of professors and published writers. So what? It doesn’t make me any more “right” or “wrong” than someone who only has a high school level of economics learned. What matters to me is that my economic theories pan out in reality, unlike the vast majority of theories that are just that — theoretical and not proven in real life.
Some people may have talents in a variety of areas — what’s wrong with that? Some of us have an endless desire to learn for our own purposes. Do you share the Gospel with those that don’t know it? You do? How dare you share something you’re educated in with those who aren’t.
As for a brother who works on Wall Street, I’m not sure how much that has to do with economic theory or if it has more to do with voodoo economics
I, too, enjoy the variety of input (and output) here.
I couldn’t read all the comments. But I have never boycotted a business because other christians were, or from an ad like this.
I only do if there service pissed me off, and I have the power as well as multiple opportunities to take my all mighty dollar else where.
But I am only a teacher perhaps if I were D.T. or O.W. these places would give a rats behind.
I think that there are a certian number of marketers who have recognized pop-christian culture as something to manipulate, and Christains need to raise awarness to the maniupulation taking place.
I like the GAP’s red campaign, and never shopped there previous to it. But if you purchase something at their outlet stores the procedes don’t support the AIDs releif effort, and I can’t afford outrageous prices at Hawthornes branch.
I try to stay out of the complexity these types of arguments, becasue they like my boycott reasons are typically driven by emotionalisum and not much else.
theologian? economist? wow, I thought I was just poor white trash….
thanks for the compliment! ha ha
Jason… LOL
A.B Dada – those credentials certainly give you a platform to stand on, so much so, that I’ll go back and re-read what you wrote simply because of your expertise.
My point was that so many people talk out of their ass now-a-days, that it’s not worth my time to listen to people who don’t know what they’re talking about. And being that this is a blog primarily centered around faith, I wasn’t sure who should be talking and who should be listening when considering a business post.
15 years spent on any topic SHOULD make you more “right” than a high school education on the same topic, that’s why people go to and listen to finacial planners and not their auto mechanic for input on how to plan for retirement.
As for my brother, even as someone who works on wall street, he’s pulled all of his personal money out of it. Voodoo is exactly what he does.
It reminds “me” of a pastor I once knew, who once he found out about the inner workings of church, simply had to get out of it. (I’m a recovering pessimist who’s relapsing).
Thanks again for the wisdom A.B., I’m going back to re-read.
Much Love Bros
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