Wal-Mart and Class Inequalities Essay - 2374 Words

Wal-Mart has become a staple company in many communities. It is a place where individuals can find most of their needs, and many of their wants. The appeal of Wal-Mart can be found in its slogan, â€Å"Always Low Prices.† It is the appeal of low prices during a time of economic recession that entices consumers. What many consumers do not recognize are the means by which Wal-Mart ensures these low prices. The media coverage of Wal-Mart during the recent months has not been favorable towards the company, and with lawsuits pending regarding issues such as low wages, anti-union practices, and sexual discrimination, Wal-Mart provides an avenue for examining media and alternative media depictions of the issues. This analysis will†¦show more content†¦Although the author mentions why some critique this corporation, the overwhelmingly understated claim is that Wal-Mart is ultimately the victim and critics are simply misinformed. Perucci and Wysong (1999) would agree that this mainstream article from USA Today is giving merit to Wal-Mart and fails to even partially explore the wage-related claims. This article is also representative of the superclass’ ability to control the information industry. This can be seen by the omission of detailed coverage of the issues and who is to blame. Inequality.org reports on the controversy of Wal-Mart in two related articles, â€Å"The Wal-Martization of Everywhere† and â€Å"Low Road/High Road.† The first article claims that although â€Å"Wal-Mart is the world’s biggest private company, with $245 billion in annual revenues,† (Hellerman, 2004) there are reasons to be concerned with the success of Wal-Mart. One of the major claims related to class inequality in this article states that a typical employee earns $13,860 annually, which isn’t enough for a family of three to rise above the poverty line. The majority of the article focuses on some of the claims supporting Wal-Mart, more particularly an economists claim that â€Å"Wal-Mart is the greatest thing that ever happened to low-income Americans,† (Hellerman, 2004) allowing them to stress their income and buy thingsShow MoreRelatedWal Mart1969 Words   |  6 Pages a. What are the functions of Wal-Mart for society? Wal-Mart is an  American  multinational retail corporation and one of the leading discount department retail stores (Wikipedia).  It is the highest- grossing company in the United States (Fortune 2008a), and is by far one of the most successful companies worldwide. 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