In the wake of a stunning defeat in politics, the religious right scored a tiny victory by convincing Wal-Mart to say “Merry Christmas” this season. Now all of us non-Christians will still not shop there.Seriously, maybe this year we can save the whole “War on Christmas” rhetoric. Please! WalMart (and Macy’s) have the right to say whatever they wish to say to their customers, and we can choose to shop there or not.Does it make a difference to you? I mean, all rights aside, it pisses me off when I get deluged by Christmas every year, and it just seems so exclusive to assume everyone celebrates that one holiday over the season as a whole (which has Pagan roots) as a DEFAULT. Am I over-reacting?
Wait, Alex, I think you’ve hit on something.
Europa is in need of missionaries.
Let’s load up the short buses with Christians, and pack them with rocket fuel and send them on their way!
What a challenge for Jeebus!
Santana wrote an excellent instrumental song called “Europa” which could be their national anthem. It’s very good for procreating to.
It’s Christmas time on Europa, I hear.
Dave,
Of course you’re not. You can never be too prudent when it comes to people like that.
Just resist them at every turn and you go to bed with your pride every night.
I found Robert Reich to be enlightening when it comes to the topic of globalization and world economy. One of the points that stood out for me was that no matter how many environmental laws we repeal, no matter how many unions we break, we will never be the world’s cheapest labor market and we shouldn’t try to be. We do the work when our labor force is the most efficient. I would argue that investments in education pay great dividends. One can look at the GI Bill as an example from post WW2. While I understand that there were a good number of factors contributing to the post war development of a strong middle class, the GI Bill was an important part in creating an educated middle class, which helped our transition from a labor economy to a service economy.
Reich goes on to argue that we’re really looking at a growing divide between the consulting and creative problem solving workers and the laborers. The consulting group is usually college educated and works as designers (in my case), architects, lawyers, scientists and so on. The laborers break are more of the landscapers, waiters, contractors and so on.
I certainly don’t want to disparage the laborers as I know that some do very well. We’re so busy now that I’ve had to hire someone to come and clean the house twice a month. I had a choice between a few different people and when I interviewed them I asked if they owned the business, if their employees got benefits and what their business practices were. I ended up going with a young woman who started her own business and hires her sister. I was willing to pay a little more because I place great value in giving a shot to the person who is starting their own business. I don’t believe she has a college degree, but I think she will do well. I think this is the exception rather than the rule.
My opinion is that investments in education should be a priority. Additionally, I would like to see something done about health insurance. If we had some type of hybrid universal health care I am convinced we would see more people start their own small businesses and more people would retire earlier allowing room for the next generation to move up. The reason I hear most people don’t start their own business is that they can’t leave the benefits of their existing job. People work a lot harder for themselves than they do for a corporation and I think we would actually see national productivity go up. I understand that taxes would increase, but right now owning my own business I pay gross sums to a private inefficient bloated bureaucracy that raises my rates 15% every year and puts me on trial every time I need to go to the doctor, so I’d be willing to trade that for increased taxes and another bureaucracy that covers everyone. Insurance, it seems, currently works in direct opposition to need. Those who can afford good care have good benefits. Those who can’t afford good care normally don’t have good insurance. I would suggest that our society would benefit from more healthy people. I know, I’ve heard all the criticisms. I just keep looking for something better than what we currently have.
The problem I have with WalMart has more to do with discouraging competition than it does with the ownership’s personal views. WalMart, for me, represents excesses in capatalism. The goal of capatalism is to beat the competition and make the most money. However, in extreme cases, the success of some companies actually precludes competition, which is why we have anti-trust laws. I would argue the ultimate success for one person in capatalism is usually bad for society as a whole.
If we continue to work towards better investments in education and healthcare, companies like WalMart would have a less destructive impact here. Investing in education won’t be enough as we also need to overcome what I perceive to be a culture that somewhat stigmatizes intelligence. I think it should be both a cultural and an investment goal to focus on education to do well in the face of globalization. Another goal would be to encourage small businesses.
Okay libertarians… pile on
The reason Wal-Mart gets the “blame” for changes in economies and normal supply chain relationships is because they are so enormous that they really do have an impact on those things. That gives them the power to do a lot of good or ill. The worrying thing is that they are not transparent because they are a private company. They have the power to affect a lot of lives in much the same way a government might but not the same accountability. I am not saying they are necessarily evil by the way just a new type of entity we need to learn to deal with similar to the times of the agricultural, industrial and technological revolutions.
I would argue sometimes the products they sell are just cheaper not better. They is a mentality emerging that disturbs me a bit where we say ?that is so cheap when it breaks I?ll just throw it out and buy another?. Seems very wasteful of resources.
I agree with Bernarda that Barbara Ehrenreich’s “Nickeled and Dimed” is an interesting book although it is not just about Wal-Mart. Another good one is ?The Wal-Mart Effect? by Charles Fishman. That last one presents some positives and negatives about Wal-Mart.
Excellent post Spanders ? I agree that education is the key to improving standard of living and moving society forward. Universal healthcare is just something everyone deserves like food and a place to live. In my opinion governments should provide a safety net that sees all citizens getting the basics.
monika,
Yep, that’s exactly what I worry about when it comes to economic globalization in general. Who’s governing who? Who’s accountable to who? Who’s exploiting who? There’s no global ‘worker’s bill of rights’ to protect the little guy, just consumer consciousness which is easily manipulated. And there are no checks and balances outside of general competition. (I know that there are many who believe that competition is enough. I suppose it’s enough if you’re on the winning team, but I believe the net effect of unchecked competition is the consolidation of power mirrored with receding opportunities and choices.) An international economy is inevitable – I just want to be able to say the same thing about freedom, opportunity, civil liberties, and general quality of life.
EDIT :
Regarding my statement on ‘unchecked competition’ – Of course I am referring to those frequent times when one entity finds a way to eliminate the majority of its competition. So I guess I agree with competition being a good check on power, so long as competition remains. I think I’m confusing myself so I’ll shut up now
“It’s Christmas time on Europa, I hear.”
Every day is xmas when you are lucky enough to live in the icy slush of a freezing dark ice covered global sea feeding on yummy hydrocarbons belched from thermal vents! I’m just glad I don’t live on that hellish Earth where conditions are obviously too warm, sunny, and oxygentaed for life to exist. All hail the god of Europa for making our paradise just right for life!!!
christmas didn’t get big around here until television came along.i wonder with the advent of the internet if it
will die down some.
Does anyone think we should join the EU? (just curious)
Unrelated but urgent:
EVERYBODY GO SEE THE BORAT MOVIE! IT IS ABSOLUTELY ONE OF THE FUNNIEST FILMS OF ALL TIME!
Be warned: This movie is extremely graphic at times, and those uncomfortable with homosexuality or religion-bashing should NEVER even consider watching it.
But we’re atheists, so we should support this film.
Intelligent response. You quoted me and then just throw out name calling? I welcome an intelligent debate on the subject.
Anyway, I should note that I am not “against” labor unions and I don’t think they should be abolished. I merely ment that most current labor unions have made piss-poor decisions in the last 20 years and it has affected our manufacturers competitiveness. I would love to see them use there influence and money to invest in training and education much more than they already do. And less focus on protecting any job at all costs. Everyone would benefit from a shift to a much larger skilled workforce, as opposed to workers doing jobs that machines should of been doing 10 or more years ago.
As for the owners being crooks. I agree many are, which is why I included poor decision making as another contributor. You seemed to have totally mis-understood what I was saying.
Great topic!
I say, let Wal-Mart say whatever they want – they say “Merry X-mas” because most of their customers are xians and they want to make a lot of xmas $$$$!!!
I personally like Wal-Mart. At the beginning of 2006, my DH and I went over our budget. (That’s a scary thing to do!!) We could NOT believe how much $ we spent in 2005!!)
We decided to cut back. I did a really thorough price comparison of groceries between Wal-Mart and Publix. (My favorite grocery store here in FL) I found that I would save about 15% by shopping at Wal-Mart. That’s good for me, good for my family, and if it’s good for Wal-Mart, so be it.
Now, about xmas. I’m over it! If someone says “Merry Xmas” to me, I’ll say, “Have a nice day.” I’m not going to enter into a discussion with a minimum wage-earner-who-lives-in-a-trailer-park about the pagan origins of the holiday!
After xmas last year, I told all my friends and family that we were no longer going to exchange gifts with them. Our son is 14 – so, what happens is that someone sends him a gift certificate, and then we send their child a gift certificate!! Ridiculous! I told everyone to just keep their money and spend it on their own children. Send me a photo of the kids if they want to give us something!
I’m going to give my son gifts for his Dec. birthday, and for Solstice – but I don’t even want to decorate this year! Bring it all down from the attic – I do ALL the decorating – then I put it all up again, and up to the attic it goes. What is the point????? I DO like looking at the stores with all the twinkling lights, and seeing the houses decorated. I’m not anti-xmas, but I’m just not interested in getting all “christmas-y” myself this year.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL OF YOU!
Pagan roots sure, but they didn’t start advertising in OCTOBER!!
pixel,
They’re also freaking out about me going to london for thanksgiving, but whatever.
I agree with you on the decorating thing. I always hated doing it. And this year I finally don’t have to because I don’t have any decorations! Plus I live in Germany now, so I don’t have to go to my parents houses and decorate there either. I’m actually going to Cairo for christmas this year. All my friends are like “why are you going there? don’t you want to celebrate and stuff?” and I’m like “all christmas is to me is 4 days off, so I’ll pop over to Cairo for a long weekend.” The best part is I don’t think I’ll see any christmas stuff in a muslim country
I guess the big problem with this is that xtians outnumber us so much it’s ridiculous. Although….according to adherents.com, atheists/agnostics/humanists/non-religious people are the third largest group at 1.1 billion (rounded). America is weird though, since it’s a developed and advanced nation with a huge majority of people being religious. So globally for every 1 of us there’s 2 of them, and in the US, for every 1 of us there’s like 6 of them (again rounding). Anyways, back from my statistics tangent, the big retailers are going to cater to the majority of their shoppers. It’s not a good thing, but they will. I know plenty of xtians that would get all pissy if a store didn’t say merry xmas and would complain. On the flip side, I don’t really know that many atheists that would complain if the store DID say merry xmas (in my local area). thus the problem.
Wow! It’s Dangerman!
Good to hear from you!
Your holiday plans sound very interesting. Cairo for Christmas!
Excellent!
Drop by more often.
I think you may be over-reacting a bit. Every year the same debate happens, and it seems to be getting worse. But I think the whole argument is rather humorous. The companies go overboard with political correctness, and the Christians freak out about it. It?s as if they?re looking for religious inspiration from a store clerk or a sign on the wall. Most people probably wouldn?t even notice if it weren?t for the media and over-zealous religious fanatics like Bill O?Reilly, who has launched what I call a Christian Jihad
I support WalMart’s right to do what they please in this regard, but I don’t think you’re wrong to be alarmed. The campaign against WalMart over this issue was a deliberate attack on the idea of religious and cultural diversity–that should be scarier to people. That these paranoid Christian-supremacists have enough economic power to influence WalMart makes me afraid of what else they’ll be able to influence with this tactic. They already have WAY too much power because the government refuses to tell Christianity it’s not special anymore–I fear anything that suggests they’re getting stronger.
I realize that WalMart made this decision for economic reasons, and again, that is their right. But I hope, when/if this happens to other businesses, they can stand against it.
Wal-Mart has the legal right to say “Merry Christmas” until some group of persons passes a law to say they can’t. You’re right: I don’t see it as a big deal if they can, but nor is it a big deal if they can’t.
Don’t think you’re living in a fantasy pure-libertarian utopia where no individuals interact and have total choice and access to natural resources to consume or build into something useful for themselves.
I have done my best not to shop at Wal-Mart for years. I give my business to their competitors. But unless Wal-Mart never cut down a tree to build one of its stores full of crap, or never served hamburgers or murdered chickens in their cafeterias, I am in FULL support of passing laws against Wal-Mart — forcing them to do or not do whatever the hell I want.
Just to be clear: prisoners also have the right to say whatever THEY want, too. Their right to free speech doesn’t affect YOU in any way or where YOU shop.
REMINDER: The war on christmas starts the day after thanksgivings.
happy holidays!
wal-mart has the right to say it but since reading this article i dont think iam going to shop at wal-mart.
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