If you thought that you knew what kind of company Walmart is

[DiabloTX]

I am curious as to what or which sins the executives at Walmart committed?

[Thruster]

Apparently they sinned by not showing preferential treatment to a former employee. Of course every other individual that finds themselves in a similar predicament should comply with their obligations but not these people. Every other claimant that has made recompense to an employer for interim costs should understand and castigate the company for not morphing into a charity to accommodate these people. If not, they must be sinners.

Jesus was famous for advising us to not honor our obligations. Any "christian" will tell you one should always be true to one's commitments as long as it's convenient.

Wal-Mart has an obligation not only to it's injured employees. Current employees, insurer's, creditors, and customers all have a stake in a company's operations. Caprice is rarely a productive methodology for resolving financial issues. They stepped up and put out a couple of hundred grand for an incident they had no part in. All they asked was that they be allowed to recover those funds. It happens EVERY day. It's common and accepted practice. And it's necessary. Can you imagine the legal tempest when everybody who actually followed the rules suddenly decides their situation warranted a "christian" resolution?

The bad guys here are the CNN, the attorneys and the judiciary. ALL of them. They owed these people a higher degree of diligence than they delivered. They all got paid for their efforts, well paid I'm sure, for their part in this family's drama. From what I can surmise they all exploited this situation and left these people swinging in the wind. And yes, we will all participate in the fallout to some degree.

Of course the assumption is that the family did not push for a short settlement against the advice of their representation. That remains to be seen. Although it wouldn't surprise me if they did.

[SD67]

If Jesus promoted non-profit then the Roman Catholic Church is in biiiig trouble!

[Jackal1]

I think this just took a wrong turn in Tulsa.

[LTARGlok]

Oh boy, someone pulled out the JC card.

A topic discussion is all fun and games til someone claims Jesus is on their side.

So are you saying here that morality is not something that should ever play any role in how people view the world and act???

Should corporations never have any sort of moral conscience in how they behave??   Should they only be governed by the law and their bottom line, and never the human cost that is involved in their decisions??

I don't see what has happened to this family as being a very "fun" subject that should be made light of. 

Consider this:  How would you personally feel yourself if you were the husband in this family?   Your son returns dead from the war in Iraq, your dear wife's brain is all but gone, and now WalMart insists that you must now face financial ruin on top of all of that??

There is something known as human compassion.  People should feel UPSET over what has been done to this family.  They did absolutely nothing to deserve such a cruel and mean fate. 

Their dead soldier son cannot be brought back, and the damage that this horrible accident did cannot be undone either.  But WalMart could choose to drop their lawsuit to collect this money.   Or at the very least, they could offer them a compromise, and only take back the money from the settlement that is left, instead of making them destitute. 

But no, much like Shylock, WalMart insists on getting every last ounce of their full pound of flesh, and making this tragic family bleed dollars, as well as blood.

The other winners here are indeed the lawyers for both sides.   For they will also get all the money that they have coming to them for this long legal battle.

This is a sad commentary on our nation, that rich corporations and lawyers thrive and prosper, while the common man ends up getting the short end of the stick.

[LTARGlok]

I am curious as to what or which sins the executives at Walmart committed?

Greed would be the only original sin that would come into play here.

However, the Vatican just officially added several new social sins a couple of weeks ago, after a very long study on the subject of Sin by the head of Sin and Penance at the Vatican.  This was in the news a lot earlier this month, so hopefully you heard about it in the press.

Among these new official sins are causing social injustice, and also causing poverty.   Certainly this case is unjust, and will clearly cause the family to become poor.   So yes, I can definitely say that WalMart's lawsuit here was sinful according to the teachings of Christ.

Excessive wealth is now also officially considered a sin.  WalMart is clearly wealthy enough to be able to afford to show some compassion here, and make an exception in this specific case.  Fortunately there are many good rich people in the world that give a lot to charity.   

I myself am a volunteer with the American Red Cross for one day a week, helping disabled people who are still trying to live on their own.    So I have some personal experience with how much disabled people struggle to get by and need our compassion and help.   Last December I also donated several hundred dollars to buy warm new blankets and sleeping bags to local families with children that are now homeless.   This past winter has been unusually severe, and our local family shelter ran out of supplies, due to a much higher than normal demand.   Fortunately there was a huge outpouring from our local community that took care of the shortage.  This happened after a homeless single father with 3 daughters living in a motor home was profiled by local TV news.

Each and every one of us are all sinners.   The only difference between us is the nature and degree of our sin, and our willingness to atone for them.  At least I make some feeble attempts to atone for mine, and occasionally be the sort of person that Jesus would want us all to ideally be.  However, I am certainly not superior to anyone else here.   For we are all God's children.

[Thruster]

"WalMart is clearly wealthy enough to be able to afford to show some compassion here, and make an exception in this specific case."

That may well be true. What you don't seem to get is the probability that they are legally bound not to.

[SD67]

Whilst I am not unsympathetic for their plight,their lawyer should have taken this into consideration when he negotiated the settlement. WalMart may indeed be legally bound to enforce their actions. If they did not a precedent would be set that could conceivably bankrupt the company.

[Neubob]

And who are you to judge how much wealth is excessive? Walmart set out on a mission and they're achieving it. With brutal efficiency, in fact. You want to get on them for something? Get on them for building ugly buildings. Other than that, I think they've done a pretty effective job at beating the competition--whose buildings are often just as ugly.

I suppose the laws of jesus and the world of survival of the fittest just aren't meant to be compatible.

[lasersailor184]

So, you don't think the fact that US auto makers decided to make over half of their cars in Mexico, Canada, Korea, etc, had quite a bit to do with that?

No.  Not at all.  The Auto Union Workers were DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE for killing American car industry.  And our car industry won't revive itself until they fire ALL of the union workers, cut all benefits indefinitely, and then reform their corporations.

[lazs2]

I am gonna continue to shop at walmart cause I like the cheap stuff for the most part.    If they don't have the good stuff I go somewhere else but...

I will buy mobil one oil there for $21 a 5 quart instead of $35 at the napa store.   I will buy name brand stuff there or non name brand that I don't care about.. that doesn't have to last.

Walmart saves the average lower middle class person about $2000 a year...  you want to put a $2000 a year tax on poor people by getting rid of walmart?

lazs

[SteveBailey]

So, you don't think the fact that US auto makers decided to make over half of their cars in Mexico, Canada, Korea, etc, had quite a bit to do with that?

Are you really that foolish? The factories moved because the unions had artificially driven wages up beyond the natural scope of related job descriptions.  Without these inflated wages, there would have been no reason for the automakers to spend the money to move their factories. Unbelievable how obtuse your post was.

[Jackal1]

Hmmmmmmmmm......I didn`t realize Wally world sold autos.

[AWMac]

In Tulsa, WalMarts are a source of comedy relief.
5 guys sittin in the Sportin Goods dept with rods in their hands askin "Hey I think yer gettin a bite..."  some customers get it...some move on fast.
Slingin Friesbees from the Toy dept towards any other dept is fun.
Grabbin ahold of a dept post microphone and annoucning that the birds overhead are Sparrows and NOT Bats and the lil girl will be okay is fun.
"Those without Shopping Cart licsense are subject to moving violations. Please report to the Auto dept for more information."

It goes on and on....  Don't knock Tulsa until you've been to a WarMart in Texas.

 

Mac

[Sled]

Correct Steve, they moved the manufacturing of their cars to foreign companies for cheaper labor. (greed)

Why? All they were concerned about was doing it "cheaper". They forgot that quality, and the fact that Americans like to buy American cars that are actually made by Americans, is one of the main things that the American car buyer is looking for.

Now for "obtuse" statements....... This little jewel is the best example on this thread

Unions are bad... period.  Unions wrecked the US auto industry.

My statement, which you called "obtuse" is not a blanket statement, and is true.

Your statement is a knee-jerk, blanket statement, full of emotion and lacking truth. Not even the auto industry would agree with it.


You are loosely correct in that if the American auto industry only paid the American auto worker the same as say a Korean auto worker, they would find it much easier to compete. But please tell me how an American auto worker is going to support a family in America on $20.00 a day (or less)?