I started reading1 The Wal-Mart Effect by Charles Fishman on the ride home from our trip to Florida. It is full of interesting information about how Wal-Mart effects the world we live in. Thus far, it has been relatively unbiased, as it details all of the positive and negative ways our world is impacted by the force that is Wal-Mart.
More than half of all Americans live within five miles of a Wal-Mart store; less than a ten minute drive away. Ninety percent of Americans live within fifteen minutes of Wal-Mart. [As of the writing of the book] Wal-Mart has 3,811 stores in the United States, including 10 in Alaska and 9 in Hawaii. That equates to more than one Wal-Mart for every county in the U.S..Everyone has their opinions about Wal-Mart, both good and bad, but most are based on personal experiences, hearsay, and the stigma attached Wal-Mart. This book gives you a lot of facts to base your opinions on: facts about how the company was started, facts about how it grew to where it is now, and facts about how they do business with their suppliers.
Has anyone read this book? I would love to discuss it with others.
- back I actually have been listening to it. I got it from Audible.com.
Labels: books
posted by Shannon Smith @ 8/07/2007
3 Comments
Links to this post
3 Comments:
That sounds really intriguing, Shannon. I'd like to get my hands on it some time.
I remember when I was in high school - my only good friend was a self-proclaimed agnostic. I would share with him why I follow Jesus and what Jesus taught about various things, but one thing he always gave me a hard time about was that I shop at Walmart. He said it was bad for the local and world economy, and that Jesus wouldn't do that.
Based on what you've read, what do you think?
Oh, and I got 'sex god' for my birthday this week, and I LOVE it.
It's hard to say. It is astounding how little scientific study there has been of The Wal-Mart Effect.
I think it is a lot easier to presume something than to prove it. Your friend's opinion that Wal-Mart is bad for the local and world economy is a common perception. However, the true effect of Wal-Mart is very complicated. Having listened to only half of the book, it seems that Wal-Mart definitely has its ugly spots, but it is not completely bad for the local or world economy.
I can think of conflicting reasons for why I should or shouldn't shop at Wal-Mart: Goods being shipped across the globe have a larger environmental impact, but shopping at Wal-Mart leaves me with more money to serve others. However, I'm not sure what role my faith plays in how I feel about the impact Wal-Mart has on the economy.
Was Jesus an economist?
Well, the common saying in economics is "there's no such thing as a free lunch."
Jesus, however, found money in the mouth of a fish....
His lunch wasn't just free... it paid Him :0)
I have no idea what that has to do with anything.
I think your point is actually really important: sometimes it can seem just plain difficult to live up the responsibility of reflecting Jesus to the world in everything we do, and we can reach a point where we're wasting time trying to figure out whether the economic impact of this thing balances the environmental impact of that thing and the whole time the guy right in front of you is waiting for you to love him...
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home