Wal-Mart goes GREEN?

In January 2003, for various political and economic reasons, this blogger decided to boycott shopping at Wal-Mart. Five years later, in February 2008, I walked back into a store in Beijing.

I believed corporations actually respond to the purchasing power of consumers. For example, if Americans demand more products "Made in the USA", eventually, retailers will respond by stocking more locally manufactured items. It's really not that complicated. It's called "give the people what they want" economics.

CNN Money
Wal-Mart returns to 'Buy American' roots. Really?
May 12, 2011
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Another case in point is Wal-Mart's recent business decision to install solar panels on 130 of its California stores by 2013:

PC Magazine
Walmart Goes Solar In California
September 23, 2011
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I've always found that if something is important, people, governments & corporations always find the time, energy & money to pay for IT (whatever it is).
Force of Nature: The Unlikely Story of Wal-Mart's Green Revolution (Hardcover)

Corporation Update: Shortly after I wrote this POST, Wal-Mart announced it would cut health care benefits for some part-time workers. Read More...
*Derivative photograph of marketing montage, Wal-Mart Visitor's Center, Bentonville, Arkansas (May 2010).
*Wal-Mart Store Entrance, Beijing, PRC (February 2008)

Stimulated Numbers?

Compare: This FY (fiscal year), DoD will receive approximately $126 billion for sustaining military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. How does this dollar amount compare to added domestic spending under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009?

Contrast: It included $53.6 billion in direct financial aid for local school districts to prevent massive layoffs & cutbacks, with the flexibility to use Stimulus Funds for school modernization and repairs (State Fiscal Stabilization Fund). Basically, it was the Federal Government's 50 State BAIL OUT in order to keep PUBLIC SCHOOLS across this country OPEN for business.
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In 2009, while GOP candidates hammered the Obama administration on the auto industry bail out, ZIP was said regarding the school district BAIL OUT. IF you're a school teacher or auto worker, ask yourself, "does the GOP really care about protecting my job?"
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Economics 101
Until Americans start voting with their wallets, it'll be almost impossible to create new manufacturing jobs in a tight global marketplace.

Toyota BUILT a billion dollar Tundra assembly plant in San Antonio, Texas because market research shows a large segment of the American truck buying public actually values where a product is manufactured.

Corporations like IBM, Microsoft, GE, Apple, GM, BP & Exxon-Mobil ONLY salute one flag: PROFITS!

Americans need to start making informed decisions about the products they buy. IF consumers value products "Made in the USA", corporations like Target & Wal-Mart will respond to the economic benefits of stocking more home grown products. Small changes in individual buying habits will eventually send a loud dollars & cents message to the world's multi-national corporations.

Once again, in case this blogger failed to hit home the central message of this particular post, IF American consumers don't value the country of origin of a product or service, why should a corporation? Free Market? What Free Market? Read More...

Photo of Portable Toilet by Peter Rimar, Baghdad, Iraq (March 2004).

A Year Without "Made in China":

One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy (Paperback)

The American Worker?

Photo by Peter Rimar, East Grand Forks, Minnesota (October 5, 2011).

Why Unions Matter (Paperback) (See all Politics Books)

Herman Cain for President in 2012?
Up until today, beyond some soft humor about the candidate, I've refrained from writing anything serious about his candidacy. Indeed, I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt regarding his views on the issues. This specific quote changed everything for this blogger:

"Don't blame Wall Street, don't blame the big banks, if you don't have a job and you're not rich, blame yourself."
~ Herman Cain

This man is NOT ready to be President.

When asked the same question by the Joint Economic Committee, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve was able to wrap his head around the frustration being expressed by the Occupy Wall Street Movement:

“They blame, with some justification, the problems in the financial sector for getting us into this mess, and they’re dissatisfied with the policy response here in Washington. And at some level, I can’t blame them.”
~ Ben Bernanke

Let's just pretend the whole 2008 Wall Street Meltdown didn't happen. When members of the Tea Party protested against the Wall Street Bailout they were anointed as Patriots. And now, with corporations making record profits and NOT reinvesting profits back into the American economy, all of a sudden, the protesters in New York City are so-called "anti-capitalists"? Talk about political double-speak.


Even if Mr. Cain politically disagrees with the protesters, at the very least, the candidate should have acknowledged and supported the "right to peaceably assemble" protected by the First Amendment.

Hermanator Update:
(October 9,2011)
The GOP's latest Flavor of the Month is already feeling the heat for his remarks regarding the Occupy Wall Street Movement. Additionally, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is suffering from yet another case of foot-in-mouth disease. Read More...

The Candidate's Final Chapter?
(December 3, 2011)
This message was written by this blogger for Mr. Herman Cain: 

"Don't blame the media, don't blame dirty politics, if you don't make money after running for President, blame the fact that you were caught "looking for love in all the wrong places".
~ Self

Dear Mitt Romney

First, if you're going to use a visual prop to roll out a 59 point jobs plan, it's a good idea to think about where that product is actually made. Apple iPhones & iPads are assembled in the People's Republic of China via Foxcomm (a Taiwanese-based company).

Additionally, at the end of July, Apple ($76 billion) was sitting on more CASH than the U.S. Treasury ($74 billion). Which means the second largest American company in the world in market value (after Exxon-Mobil) has the financial means to help create new manufacturing jobs in this country. 

Why didn't you put Apple's feet to the fire for outsourcing American jobs?

But then again, why should a multi-national corporation pay health insurance, provide its workers with decent wages or adhere to basic environmental standards when the Chinese government is ready, willing and able to undercut the competition. America is getting its butt kicked in the global economy. There's an ARMY of migrant workers (somewhere between 170 to 200 million indentured men, women & children) who work 350 days a year for $150s a month (along with basic room & board). IF a Chinese worker complains about the health & safety in a factory, the CCP's Public Security Bureau offers that worker a FREE, all-expense paid vacation to a lovely re-education camp in Inner Mongolia.

While the Tea Party screams about the Federal Budget Deficit, I wonder why this conservative movement has avoided discussing this country's continued unbalanced trade relationship with the People's Republic of China. It's rather curious that a so-called grass roots movements (bankrolled by the Koch Brothers) advocates Free Trade instead of Fair Trade.
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Second, during this Press Conference, you discussed holding the Chinese government accountable for its unfair trade practices and manipulation of its currency.

"I will not stand by while China pursues an economic development policy that relies on the unfair treatment of U.S. companies and the theft of their intellectual property. I have no interest in starting a trade war with China, but I cannot accept our current trade surrender."

You're right. No debate. However, maintaining peace in Asia has reached a critical juncture. You need to understand that the DPRK is a proxy of the CCP and PLA. Period. Also, American corporations, which over the last ten years happily relocated part of this country's industrial-capacity to Asia, share some of the economic blame.

Could you please sit down and have a conversation with Jon Huntsman about how things work in the real world?

One problem the West has with dealing with the People's Republic of China involves how the Chinese people generally view their own society. The country's vast educational system feeds its students a steady diet of historic, foreign victimization (i.e. the Opium Wars). 

Unfortunately, its created an US vs. THEM mentality which borders on xenophobic cultural nationalism. It shares some of the same political characteristics of Islamic Fundamentalism without the theologically based underpinnings.


Instead of painting the Chinese people as the enemy, your campaign message should be BUY Made in the USA. How hard can it be to turn a negative message into a positive one? Once again, IF American consumers don't value the country of origin of a product or service, why should a corporation? IF you're elected President, you'll have to confront the Chinese government on Human Rights, state-sponsored cyber-attacks, the South China Sea, Taiwan, Rare Earth Minerals and the DPRK. The best way to keep the CCP off-balanced is to speak about freedom of expression and human rights.

"An army of principles can penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot."
~ Thomas Paine

Prior to 1979, the CCP spent 30 years trying to erase Chinese history & culture. Today, it's a different story. The only way to counter this political, social, economic and cultural linkage is to address the Chinese People and the Communist Party as separate institutions.

A global trade war targeting poor Chinese workers will only feed the Communist Party's vast propaganda machine. Many folks forget that during the Cold War, leaders in this country linked trade with the Soviet Union with the ideals of freedom of expression and a respect for human rights. It's a bit curious that today's crop of leaders don't hold foreign governments (along with American corporations) to ANY political, economic, social or environmental standards of conduct.

China Watch Update :
(9/27/11)
Taiwanese Officer arrested for spying for the CCP
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Power, Trade, and War (Paperback)

Romney Foreign Policy Update:
(10/7/11)
This blogger actually sat down and watched this candidate's televised speech from the Citadel. Afterwards, I questioned whether this man actually understood the global implications of his remarks. Evidently, I was not alone.
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...perspective...

Beijing, PRC (May 2008).

Apple Update:
(1/29/2012)
When this blogger originally posted the above commentary about this technology giant, it was to point out that if you're running for President (a.k.a. Mitt Romney), and you're concerned about turning around the economy (which is slowly recovering after the worse economic downturn since the Great Depression), Apple is the WRONG so-called American company (?) to use as a Made in the USA economic model for creating new manufacturing opportunities (i.e. jobs) in this country.

In 2008, this blogger lived in Shenzhen, China for six weeks. The information and analysis contained in the following CBS News report highlighting Apple's manufacturing operations in this Chinese city is both factual and accurate:

CBS News
The dark side of shiny Apple products
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Photos by Peter Rimar.