The United States of Wal-Mart | 
| Author: John Dicker
Publisher: Tarcher
Category: Book
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Avg. Customer Rating:  28 reviews
Sales Rank: 30438
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.7
ISBN: 1585424226
Dewey Decimal Number: 381.1490973
EAN: 9781585424221
Publication Date: June 16, 2005
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Product Description
An irreverent, hard-hitting examination of the world's largest-and most reviled-corporation, which reveals that while Wal-Mart's dominance may be providing consumers with cheap goods and plentiful jobs, it may also be breeding a culture of discontent.
It employs one of every 115 American workers. If it were a nation-state, it would be one of the world's top twenty economies. With yearly sales of nearly $260 billion and an average way of $8 an hour, Wal-Mart represents an unprecedented-and perhaps unstoppable-force in capitalism. And there have been few corporations that have evoked the same levels of reverence and ire.
The United States of Wal-Mart is a hard-hitting examination of how Sam Walton's empire has infiltrated not just the geography of America but also its consciousness. Peeling away layers of propaganda and politics, investigative journalist John Dicker reveals an American (and, increasingly, a global) story that has no clear-cut villains or heroes-one that could be the confused, complicated story of America itself.
Pitched battles between economic progress and quality of life, between the preservation of regional identity and national homogeneity, and between low prices and the dignity of the American worker are beginning to coalesce into an all-out war to define our modern era. And, Dicker argues, Wal-Mart is winning. Revealing that the company's business practices have been shaping American culture, including the nation's social, political, and industrial policy, The United States of Wal-Mart provides fresh insight into a controversy that isn't going away.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 23 more reviews...
 The Downside of Perpetual Growth. October 13, 2008
The author states that the goal of this book "Is an examination of how one company has single-handedly altered our expectations of what we deserve as consumers and what we will tolerate as citizens."
One of the points Mr. Dicker has demonstrated effectively is that the consumer gets low prices while employees get low wages often without insurance. Another troublesome aspect of those low prices is the source of those low price items. Suppliers are forced to outsource to be able to provide goods at a low enough price for WalMart.
Those cheap prices have other costs that aren't visible.
Another complaint Mr. Dicker addresses is where the WalkMart employees go for health insurance when it's not provided by the employer.
An intriguing bit of information was the leaked internal WalMart audit from the Summer of 2001 printed by "the New York Times". This was used as an example of how cost obsession can subvert labor standards.
There was some history of WalMart and Sam Walton. The growth of the company, the history of some retailers, a comparison of WalMart with A&P. This was all very interesting as a history/trivia lesson.
Paul Samuelson was quoted on cheap labor vs. wage loss- "Being able to purchase groceries 20 percent cheaper at WalMart does not necessarily make up for the wage losses."
The importance of Chinese labor to WalMart is discussed.
John Dicker got a lot of solid points across with this book. I do think that he could have done it without some of the language though.
 Great book and easy read. December 13, 2007
Oh heavens! What you will learn about the disgusting behemoth called Wal-Mart!!
If you are like me and hate W-M and the ruination of small business they have caused in America, you will love this book. If you happen to like the Waltons and their family business, read this for some eye-opening experiences. Please remember the Waltons are among the top 6 richest BILLIONAIRES in the WORLD---and that is each one individually and as a combined family! Yet, the communities they come into somehow agree to give these filthy rich people tax breaks to entice them to open. The reality is that W-M has done their homework and would open in that community anyway.
Sorry about the lecture. The book is great!
The United States of WalMart August 1, 2007
I decided to read this book because I have read so much press about WalMart. I wanted to learn some more about this enormous company that has popped up all over America. If you follow the news, you know the usual WalMart stories - union busting techniques, products not made in U.S., the legacy of Sam Walton. Besides those things, I did learn some very surprising facts and information I was not aware of before such as:
The high amount of WalMart employees using public assistance for housing, healthcare and welfare. For every WalMart store in the United States that has 200 employees, it costs us an average of half a million dollars in tax money. (pg 208)
In neglected, ghetto neighborhoods with old abandoned buildings, WalMart really does provide jobs for people who can't get jobs elsewhere. In addition, people in those areas have to drive a few miles to get to a grocery store, so WalMart does help them out.
In a "Buy American" public campaign, WalMart gave contracts to American suppliers for products. However, WalMart didn't like one supplier's costs and intervened and bought the fabric from Taiwan.
Former WalMart CEO David Glass was asked during an interview about the age of some children who work at sweatshops in Asia to create products sold in WalMart. David Glass responded by saying "you and I have might perhaps define children differently" And later says it is difficult to discern the age of Asians since they are short. (pg 111)
In California; Safeway, Albertsons, and Krogers had to reduce benefits to stay competitive with WalMart
Overall a very informative book which shows different sides of WalMart. With 1.2 million employees in the U.S., all of us have seen a WalMart, most of us know somebody that works there and a lot of us shop there.
We have seen walmart and it is us. October 16, 2006
Savagely funny and pointed, Dicker pulls no punches in his crystalization of the walmart juggernaut as it seeks to dominate a retail landscape near you.
Probing both the good and the bad, Dicker manages a balanced account of Walmart and is sensible enough to point out that Walmart, essentially, is a colossal version of the american consumer. It, Walmart, pursues cheap because we the customer want it that way.
Sprinkled with anecdotes, Dicker provides interesting reading for anyone who follows Walmart.
Wal-Mart Exposed July 14, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I will admit right up front that John Dicker has written a clearly biased book against Wal-Mart. He is out to expose all that is bad about Wal-Mart and is reluctant to point out any good things about Wal-Mart (if there even are any). That being said, there are plenty of bad things to write about, and Dicker covers them all. The poor wages, forcing stores on communities that don't want one, foreign sweat shops, putting local small businesses out of business, and practicing censorship by not selling CDs and other items that don't mesh with the "family-friendly" image of Wal-Mart. The quintessential problem with Wal-Mart is that with every charge that is thrown at it, it views the each problem as a public relations matter and think that they need to work on adjusting their image, not their behavior.
In the end, Dicker does briefly play devil's advocate and points out that Wal-Mart provides jobs for poor people (even if they are paid very little) and provides affordable goods in communities where other retailers refuse to go. Dicker suggests that rather than get people to stop shopping at Wal-Mart, we should ask Wal-Mart to be a better company. Easier said than done.
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