At last the truth comes out. They don't want to admit that private charity even takes place, or that anyone but government has the power *or the inclination* to help other people who, for whatever reason, cannot help themselves by themselves.

he wrote a book:
http://www.amazon.com/Conscious-Capitali...
I see it as pure marketing NOT pure thinking-there's a whole movement...

With whole foods, the CEO could actually just be mouthing the liberal platitudes that he thinks his customer base wants to hear. Probably not...but that could actually be the case.

If I had to be dependent on EITHER Walmart or the Government ..

WALMART ALL THE WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is Margaret Thatcher body slamming Socialism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w15kDYI... How the council wishes the downtrodden Tribute Slave had no recourse to this zealous patriot of Capitalism.

Please accept my condolences for you and your family!

I am not against Whole Foods in any way...well, I disagree with the CEO's concept of "conscious Capitalism" what the bloody hell?!

It has to be a jealousy of a successful model; or more perhaps that they don't want charity to succeed - they want all "help" to come from the government

Their letter is showing that they really are about control. If WalMart is giving to charities, then the lower classes are not relying on the government handouts that they dole out to the masses. Therefore if they can convince WalMart to quit, the masses will be more reliant on them.

g, my mother passed away a couple of weeks ago, and one of her favorite musicals, which she performed in was Fantasticks -I also have a daughter who is a Libertarian actress. here's to your rational best self interest ahead!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79RfA5BiU...

I am an actor. Having been "Outed" as a Conservative, I don't work much, but that's for another day.
While living in Arkansas, I was cast in a Musical called "The Fantasticks", and our main SPONSOR was ... WALMART. Herein is an account of how this Mean, Horrible Corporation Treated my small Community theatre Group.

They provided a check for Performance "Rights" (which are not Cheap.) ANYTHING we needed for props, costumes, etc... The local WALMART stores were opened to us to basically HELP ourselves.

During casting, 2 members of our cast were employees at Walmart. (In NW Arkansas, you cannot throw a penny in the air without hitting a Walmart Employee.) Said employees were PAID by WM as if they were "on the Clock".

After a Successful run of the show, WM was paid for their sponsorship (repay advance for rights, etc). The money PAID to the WM employees was Matched by Walmart as a DONATION to our Theatre Company.

Everyone gains shopping at Walmart. All my lower rich friends do after they find out they are saving their own money. The myths about Walmart keep the snob libs out until after midnight. LOL

It is opposition for the sake of opposition. They cannot let anyone off who defies them. In my varied career, I had a small mail order firm which employed 18 people including me. They wanted to unionize. After seeing the terms of compliance, I closed up the firm and went on to make money at a different endeavor. Not so easy with Wal-Mart, but in my fantasy, they do just that. The Waltons, I imagine, don't need the money, nor the aggravation. What a panic and economic disaster just the threat of that would cause!

wood, you are lit up! You walked with your business. Best way for you to personally send a message. I actually like self check-out. I am faster and more efficient than most checkers I deal with. Occasionally, I get a fabulous one. I would say the odds are 1 in 20. For instance, sometimes, if they are great, they can say things like, ma'am these paper towels are buy 3 get one free-and nodd to the bagger who runs quickly to to get the fourth one. things like that are great customer service.

Ok let me first start by saying I have no problem with Walmart taking advantage of what the "GOVERNMENT" provide in process for a person or business to "get their way". Want that to stop GET GOVERNMENT OUT OF THE WAY, and STOP FREEKING over-regulating everything on the planet to meet your liberal crackpot mindset.

Having said that, my problem with Walmart is in how customers are treated, in particular Sam's Club. And by the way, if Walmart donates millions to help the poor, what brain-dead moronic imbecilic twit would have a problem with that, sheesh. Any how, I wrote this letter to the CEO of SAM's.Walmart and others, and have not stepped back into a Walmart or SAM's since:

"Let me begin by saying, I have been a SAM's club member since 1990, and this is 2013. That means for 23 years, I have been a customer of "Wal-Mart" and "SAM's" club.

Over the years I have watched this establishment's formerly great customer service deteriorate steadily. Sat. June 29, 2013, the decline of the service standard I used to love, finally hit bottom, to the point where I will no longer step foot in either Wal-Mart or SAM's Club.

I understand I am only one customer. SAM's Club and Wal-Mart are so large they really do not care about me as a customer, which is fine. Sam Walton said, "There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else." Well as Donald Trump is so famously known for saying... "YOU'RE FIRED!!!"

Back to Saturday June 29, 2013. My wife and I went into SAM's Club for a usual shopping effort. We filled out shopping cart with the usual stockpile of necessities, plus the impulse purchases we usually fall prey to. After hour two hour roam through the aisles, we made our way to the front of the store to check-out. I notices three excessively long lines with cashiers working feverishly to check everyone out. There were also approximately eight to ten rather empty lines.

As I looked closer, since my last visit, SAM's Club had retrofitted the majority of the checkout lines with "Self-Checkout" machines.

Let me say this. "IF I WANTED TO BE A CASHIER I WOULD HAVE PUT IN AN APPLICATION AND APPLIED TO BE ONE!!! There is nothing at all wrong with being a cashier, I spent numerous summers as a cashier and bagger at a grocery store, however; IF I HAVE TO DO SOMEONE ELSE'S JOB I WANT A STINKING DISCOUNT ON WHAT I BUY!!!"

This was the last straw in the splendid 23 year display of steadily declining customer service. The SAM's Club motto seems to have changed from the heyday of Sam Walton who also was quoted as saying, "We let folks know we're interested in them and that they're vital to us. cause they are." to, "If you ignore the customer long enough eventually they will just go away." meaning they are a nuisance and annoyance. Well my wife and my family just went away. "Mission Accomplished."


This was part of my letter to them. If you have issues with Walmart and them "using" Government, maybe the problem is not Walmart maybe the problem is GOVERNMENT!!! The more Government intervention, the more problems, then the Government tries to regulate to fix the problems they created in the first place, and this continues until the eventual collapse the system under the weight of regulation, laws, and government intervention from STUPID bureaucrats who's only goal in life is to collect a paycheck and create enough paperwork to justify their worthless existence.

Want a perfect definition of Government bureaucrats: Need look no further than the Vogons in the Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy.
Guide Description:

Vogons, i.e. Government Bureaucrats are one of the most unpleasant races in the Galaxy. Not actually evil, but bad-tempered, bureaucratic, officious and callous. They wouldn't even lift a finger to save their own grandmothers from the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal without orders - signed in triplicate, sent in, sent back, queried, lost, found, subjected to public inquiry, lost again, and finally buried in soft peat for three months and recycled as firelighters. The best way to get a drink out of a Vogon is to stick your finger down his throat, and the best way to irritate him is to feed his grandmother to the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal. On no account should you allow a Vogon to read poetry at you.

Its interesting that you mention Whole foods in your commentary. They were featured in another post where "Minority Activists" shut down whole foods efforts to open a store in a poor neighborhood in Washington, fearing it would gentrify the neighborhood bringing "whitey" in and causing property values to rise thereby causing black folks to move out...and I guess become more oppressed. It is interesting the liberal mindset, I guess they assume that since poor people frequent Wal-Mart and rich people frequent whole foods, a store locating in an area will bring in the respective population. They obviously do not understand the function of the "Invisible Hand". IE: If you build it the WILL NOT COME, rather it gets built because there is a demand perceived by the corporation that is investing its capital. IE: It is built BEACUSE THEY [the customers] ARE ALREADY THERE

Well said! VERY well said indeed!!

I would like to know the whole story. we know these things happen but I feel like we seldom know the details.

I am fine with those deals. I don't like the special tax breaks they get. I have often wondered about the real story behind our trade agreement with China. Bill Clinton hails from Arkansas and he signs a trade agreement that Wal Mart seemed ready to take advantage of before anyone else. I may be a conspiracy theorist but something seemed strange.