December 14, 2006
The Wal-Marting of America
I woke up in the middle of the night last night, about 2:00 a.m. After trying to drift back to sleep for about an hour I gave up and turned on the tube in an effort to be lulled to Lullaby Land. In the channel surfing process I caught the very end of a Frontline special called “Is Wal-Mart Good for America?” Though I only saw a few minutes at the end of the program, it was easy to see that there is a wide divergence of opinion on that question, mainly around the question of cheap goods for U.S. consumers versus good jobs for American workers. I plan to watch the whole show online. You can too if you click here.
Related to that, I recently signed a “pastoral letter,” authored by the staff at the Baptist Center for Ethics, to be sent to executives at Wal-Mart. (APP Board member Jim Evans also signed it.) The letter calls on them to be a “Golden Rule company,” reflecting that teaching of Jesus in their employment practices. In part, it reads:
We believe that Wal-Mart has been given and entrusted with much wealth, power and influence. We believe that much is required of and demanded from Wal-Mart in terms of its responsibility to working families. That responsibility necessitates that Wal-Mart treat well its employees with such things as:
- fair-living wages, not poverty-level wages;
- generous health care benefits, not eliminating low-deductible health care plans;
- decent places to work that treat women with dignity and equality;
- respectful schedules for children in school; and
- good benefits for sound retirement
I admit that I have some mixed feelings about Wal-Mart, but I’m convinced that we need to pay close attention. I’ve been concerned since reading Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed, one chapter given to her experience as a Wal-Mart employee. (Her website is another good place to peruse, especially in using that book.) We’ve become so used to the Wal-Mart phenomenon we may be missing just how much that business model is impacting us as a society.
When I had a choice about buying dishwashing detergent yesterday, I shopped somewhere else.
A Good Resource for Baptists and Others
So having mentioned the Baptist Center for Ethics, you might want to check out their resources for churches in the study of poverty. You can check it out here. Though developed for Baptists, others will find these helpful. And the website has some good articles on the subject, whether or not you include mine in that list!
Another Deep Well of Resources on the Web
My friend Kimble Forrister (Alabama Arise) turned me on to a good resource online. Demos: A Network for Ideas and Action provides research material especially of interest to APP when it comes to economic issues. From the “About” page, they say their Expanding Economic Opportunity Program “addresses the widespread economic insecurity and declining opportunity that characterizes American society today. Our efforts are focused on envisioning and ensuring the future middle class, by promoting new ideas in the areas of higher education, income and asset-based policy.”
I was especially interested personally in a piece called Paycheck Parlysis. It describes the problems immediately ahead for young workers, especially in the blue-collar market. With declining benefits and the reduction of manufacturing jobs, the middle class is at risk. There are issues for college grads as well. “Faced with a volatile economic mix of high student loan debt coupled with a destabilized job market and skyrocketing costs of living, insecurity is the new reality for college graduates as well.”
Yikes! As a dad with one recent college graduate and another in his freshman year, each with loans to deal with, this is real stuff to me.
A Little Inspiration Please
Perhaps my greatest musical infatuation of the past couple of years (except for Alison Krauss!) has been Mindy Smith. A fragile, angelic voice coupled with solid, intriguing songwriting, I love this stuff!
I’ve been wearing out her latest CD, Long Island Shores, and singing along especially with the first cut – “Out Loud.” As I sang last night it struck me how these lyrics speak to the cause of the APP.
Hey friend why are we always hiding?
It's no wonder that we're sinking down.
Why should we stand in lonely shadows
With so much light around?
Hey Friend why are we always crying?
So many tears are going to dry us out.
Whatever they're selling we gotta stop buying
‘Cause our pockets are empty now.
I’ve thought about it and I’ve prayed about it out loud, out loud.
And we can talk about it, we can pray about it out loud, out loud.
Hey, friend, why are we always fighting?
Who’s left to hit when everybody’s down?
I know we’re afraid
But love is trying to save us anyhow.
Ain’t it time we need to change?
Need to change a few things a few things,
A few things.
I think it’s time we need to change a few things,
A few things.
“So much light around.” The APP is working to shed that light on the causes of and solutions to poverty in our state. And there’s a lot of light to share. We need to keep at it, because, I agree with Mindy, it’s time to change a few things.
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