March 8,
2006
The Bouncy
Smiley Face vs. the Joy Killers
Huge
companies inevitably endure intense scrutiny from both the media and the
public, but in recent years, no company has been as unabashedly maligned
as Wal-Mart. Considering the number of employees, employee salaries,
affordability of products, tax dollars generated – more simply put,
considering these unmistakable signs of a successful business – this
popular and rampant vilification is, at the very least, excessive.
One could
only surmise that these festering sentiments helped buffer the state of
Maryland’s recent legislation directed toward companies with more than
10,000 employees – legislation that, at the present time, applies solely
to Wal-Mart.
The new
rule states that any business with over 10,000 employees must spend at
least 8 percent of its payroll on employee health benefits. If they do
not meet this percentage, the difference is to be handed to the state
government. (One representative apparently suggested restricting this
rule to companies that advertise with bouncing yellow smiley faces, but
this was promptly rejected on the grounds of being “too obvious”.)
Maryland’s
state government has decided it is a good idea to dictate how businesses
are to spend their profits. Wal-Mart CEO H. Lee Scott can no longer
spend his allowance on baseball cards. I guess no matter how old you
get, parents are still parents.
The
government has essentially turned the Wal-Mart workers of America into
its own union. It even has a catchy acronym – WWA. All this in lieu of
the fact that the labor unions have been the most disgruntled about
Wal-Mart’s success from the very beginning. It’s rather hilarious,
except for one important thing. America does not need more unions.
America needs effective, competitive businesses.
The reality
is that legislation such as this sets a dangerous precedent for the
amount of power governments are able to wield. Taking this to its
logical extreme, a government can seize any company’s assets and use
them however they think best.
“Surely
Wal-Mart can afford it.” So what? It’s not your money. Allow me to
repeat. It’s not your money!
Perhaps
even more frightening than this outrageous breach of freedom is the
ability of the unscrupulous media and the incessant whining of labor
unions to influence the general public. Remove the buzz about the
harmful influence of Wal-Mart on the smaller “Ma & Pa businesses.”
(Don’t forget the low-income Ma’s and Pa’s who save money by shopping at
Wal-Mart). Remove the buzz about the daily floggings of barefoot
toddlers occurring in the foreign warehouses where Wal-Mart finds
cheaper labor. Remove the buzz about the low wages Wal-Mart employees
receive. (The average fulltime employee receives $10.41/hr, which is not
bad for a job whose only requirements are a pulse and a middle school
graduation certificate). Remove the buzz about Wal-Mart being one of a
handful of “corporate giants” that are, by definition, evil. (See Shell
Oil, Microsoft, Starbucks). Without the thrashing Wal-Mart’s reputation
has taken in the media in recent years, there is no way this legislation
gets passed.
I’m a
sports fan. Upon considering this situation, I could not help but notice
the unmistakable “angry about others’ success” aura surrounding both
Wal-Mart and the New York Yankees. It seemed a comparison worth
pondering.
Being
neither a gutless frontrunner nor a spoiled, gluttonous New Yorker, I am
your stereotypical, embittered Yankee-hater. Among the obvious
differences in this situation, there seems at least one worthy of
mention. About four teams in Major League Baseball have enough money to
buy a shot at beating the Yankees. Unfortunately for baseball, the
wealth stays put and everyone loses.
Wal-Mart,
on the other hand, employs nearly 1.5 million people. Its discounted
products are sold to an average of 138 million customers a week. This
success story is not just for a handful of businessmen with offices on
the top floor of a skyscraper. It is also for a multitude of workers and
consumers. Contrary to what most people hear, Wal-Mart actually shares
the wealth, which is a vastly superior claim to the ones that most
companies can make.
In
retrospect, I will continue to gripe and complain about the Yankees,
because this is right. But as for the Wal-Mart-haters, have some
perspective and consider an off-season from the sport of Wal-Mart
demonizing. And as for the Maryland government and the increasing number
of state governments considering similar legislation, before you
haphazardly manipulate the freedom of Americans everywhere, consider
those of us who like the bouncing smiley face and will zealously defend
it against power-starved, joy-killers everywhere.
© 2006 North Star Writers
Group. May not be republished without permission.
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