wal-mart

In the United States, slavery has been outlawed for over 140 years. Americans as a whole agree the practice was flawed and evil. Far fewer Americans address the issue of modern slavery. What is slavery in the modern sense? We must first examine the definition of slavery. Webster defines slavery as “The owning of slaves as a practice.” Slaves are defined as “A human being who is owned by another.” Modern slaves are minimum wage employees. The largest slaveholder is Wal-Mart. How does Wal-Mart own people? Wal-Mart controls how other companies produce their products, they do not offer healthcare, and they do not protect their workforce.
Wal-Mart lables itself a “Low Price Leader”. We need to question their methods of leading low prices. How do they keep the prices low? Most products are made overseas. Those that are made in America are purchased at a price that hurts the manufacturer. In 2002, Wla-Mart bought $12 billion in merchandise from China. Nearly 10% of all Chinese exports to the US were sent to Wal-Mart. What does this mean, making products overseas? These are not the factories we valued in America for over a century. These are sweatshops wehre women and children work for hours on end and receive pennies a week. The “Fair Trade Act” was fair to one corporation: Wal-Mart. Even manufacturers struggle to see a profit when cooperating with Wal-Mart. Eventually, most coroporations give in and produce their items overseas.
Wal-Mart is not known for treating employees fairly. The perfect example of this was Black Friday, 2008. A Wal-Mart temporary employee was killed in the rush for products. Slaves were beat to death or worked until they dropped. This slave was trampled by an angry mob, seeking the cheapest sale. My mom, Salina Jett, has always held strong opinions about how business should be conducted. When K-Mart decided to keep stores open on Christmas Day, she vowed not to shop there. She can count the number of times she’s since entered the store on one hand. When Wal-Mart faced inquiries on Black Friday, 2008 regarding the death of an employee, she quit buying products there.
“They have no regard for human life. There was not enough security that day. For God’s sake they have intercom systems on their shelves. They couldn’t get a blowhorn and calm the crowd? They could’ve provided wide screen tv & refreshments to keep people calm. Could’ve made experience nicer. Could’ve found out what people were there for, limited item purchase per person. Could’ve postponed opening when man was killed. Instead they let it all go and tried damage control.”

How did master’s provide for ill slaves? Some allowed “Witch Doctors” amongst the slaves to care for others. Some would send for the local doctor. Many just let the slaves suffer. Wal-Mart endorses public aid in its breakrooms. Signs are posted advising employees how they can benefit from the system since they do not make enough to pay for private insurance (wal-mart movie). In lieu of offering healthcare, Wal-Mart offers public aid. Employees are discouraged from calling off for any reason, including illness.
Real change will not occur until we as a society insist on taking responsibility for human lives. Wal-Mart focuses on profit margins, at the expense of anyone. They put people out of work instead of sending them to work. Instead of encouraging “fair trade” they demand and manipulate policies and procedures to prevent growth of American businesses and companies. Salina Jett adds, “I used to love Wal-Mart. Now they’ve made these remodels and you’re in a warehouse, not a store.” She would like to see changes made in the way Wal-Mart values its employees. “They have the power to make changes in society, but they choose to use it to line executives pockets. They can say they offer stock options, but the stocks are crashing and the execs are keeping the profits.” Modern abolitionists must seek other retail options, and pay the higher price if necessary. We must ask ourselves what is the price we are willing to pay for low prices? Everything has a cost. If we are getting a deal, someone somewhere is paying the difference, possibly with their life. Is it worth it?