Guns, Walmart, and crony capitalism
After years of fighting big business, some astute liberals have finally concluded that the way to advance liberal policies is to actually get big government to buy in.
In a controversial New York Times op-ed this summer titled: “How Liberals Win,” Bill Scher noted: “The necessity of corporate support for, or at least acquiescence to, liberal policies is not a new development in the history of American liberalism. Indeed it has been one of its hallmarks.”
Scher is correct. From FDR to Obama, liberals tend to achieve their policy goals when they find a way to co-opt big business. This is good for liberals, of course, but for conservatives, it’s a double-whammy. Not only does this give us more liberal legislation, but it also skews the free market.
Public-private partnerships might sound harmless, but as Luigi Zingales points out in his book, A Capitalism For The People, they ultimately undermine the meritocracy. (And a belief in the efficacy of meritocracy is vital for the general public to support capitalism, and its inherent income inequalities.)
When big companies like Walmart cut deals with government, they get special consideration. This obviously hurts not only Walmart’s current competitors, but also future competitors not yet on the horizon.
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Yep.
Count to 10 on January 14, 2013 at 7:47 PM
I wouldn’t go there if I were you WalMart.
Finally, someone rolls out the I-word.
Bravo Congressman Stockman!
eyesky on January 14, 2013 at 7:48 PM
Uh-oh. I fully expect the TrueCon wing of the Hotgaserati to show up here and denounce Matt Lewis for criticizing Wal-Mart, that apparent bastion of conservative business ethic.
Wal-Mart is a rent-seeker nearly on par with GE, and this article seems to forget that Wal-Mart is no stranger to leveraging the power of big government to disadvantage competitors, like with their schizophrenic stance on minimum wage increases.
mintycrys on January 14, 2013 at 7:57 PM
For a complete and concise explaination of how this all works, see: Mussolini, Benito.
jaydee_007 on January 14, 2013 at 7:57 PM
Spawn and I work for Wal-Mart. I like my job, really I do, but if Wal-Mart puts me in a position where their policies are going to violate my principles-my principles will win out.
annoyinglittletwerp on January 14, 2013 at 7:57 PM
Wal-Mart is stupid especially in this economy.
Betcha they take a huge hit.
gophergirl on January 14, 2013 at 7:59 PM
gophergirl on January 14, 2013 at 7:59 PM
Wal-mart’s a good company. The problem is that the current CEO is an uber-lefty azz.
annoyinglittletwerp on January 14, 2013 at 8:03 PM
We’ve shopped Walmart for years. Have always loved it. They screw with the country by siding with a Marxist for a little profit… screw them! I’m done. And I will spend the rest of my life telling others to not shop there either.
But as for the other topic.. it’s called Fascism. Big Business loved Hitler too. Mussolini said it was a mistake to call him a socialist. He said a better description was to call them corporatists since they worked hand in hand with big corporations.
JellyToast on January 14, 2013 at 8:15 PM
Wal-Mart apologized last week for dissing hairplugs biden….
now 5 days later… they’ve stopped selling ammo
THIS IS WHAT FASCISM LOOKS LIKE
lm10001 on January 14, 2013 at 8:24 PM
While this article had a lot of potential, Matt doesn’t understand half of what he is talking about…
Like the (non existent) ‘gun show loophole’.
And how Walmart’s bottom line would be hurt by an assault weapons ban. Maybe some of them sell ‘ugly black guns’ but the last time I saw one of them in a wally world it was an AR styled rimfire piece of junk a couple of years ago. and then more recently the only things I’v seen in the semi auto category were a couple of Ruger Mini-14s and 10-22s.
Most of them don’t even sell guns anymore, beyond low end BB guns and air-soft.
Even here in the middle of gun country, my local one quit carrying firearms and ammo 10 years ago. I was surprised and pleased a couple of years ago when they put in an ammo display case and started selling some ammo. And I got excited again a year ago when they put back in the gun display cabinets….. But disappointed when they filled them with fishing rods instead.
I’d actually boycott Walmart for todays actions if there was some other place I could get fresh food within fifty miles, but none of the alternatives ever have anything that is fresh. So I’m stuck with them for food.
But I don’t think I’ll buy any more electronics or household goods from them anymore.
LegendHasIt on January 14, 2013 at 8:30 PM
I called Walmart last week to warn them of a backlash if they get in bed with this admin and the trolls in congress. I called them again today to respectfully notify them that I was done shopping at their store for any reason now that they have buckled and decided not to order anymore ammo.
jawkneemusic on January 14, 2013 at 8:37 PM
jawkneemusic on January 14, 2013 at 8:37 PM
I’m not quitting unless they start posting ‘gun-free’ signs on their stores. Anyway, I’m n Texas. Things operate differently here.
annoyinglittletwerp on January 14, 2013 at 8:39 PM
This isn’t new.
It’s called fascism and was the cause celebre’ of the socialists in the middle of the 20th century…
Skywise on January 14, 2013 at 8:55 PM
Maybe this will bring business back to small gun shop owners.
I only go to Walmart to shop for food. This week I think I’ll check Target out.
moonsbreath on January 14, 2013 at 9:11 PM
If you’re after high quality firearms Walmart is not the place to get them. Good grief there are tons of gun stores around with a better selection and far better quality.
Big Orange on January 14, 2013 at 9:14 PM
Fascism, straight up.
These corporations that are buying into these cronyism deals are going to get burned, hard.
Rebar on January 14, 2013 at 9:19 PM
Costco now accepts welfare cards.
WalMart’s youngen s/b ashamed. Their dad dies in his grave, again.
Schadenfreude on January 14, 2013 at 9:29 PM
Yet another reason – as if their treatment of workers in general and women in particular weren’t enough – that I refuse to shop at Wal-Mart unless physically impossible. Oh yes, and they intentionally milk the welfare system when they’re not being Scam Central for it!
For last Christmas I got a gift card to there and that was the first time I’d gone shopping at any Wal-Mart store for a year at least.
MelonCollie on January 14, 2013 at 9:46 PM
As bad as the ones who think doing business in Commieland is such a brilliant move. Stalin killed so many former Russian businessowners either outright or in camps, there are literally almost none of them left to warn us of what can happen overnight in such a nation.
MelonCollie on January 14, 2013 at 9:48 PM
Not particularly surprising and nothing new.
When a company can easily pad the politicians, move into a location which gets practically Kelo-ed (long before that Supreme Court abomination) from the property owners, special tax incentives, a few traffic signals magically appear and a small county has more of their police force watching out for shoplifters it’s hard for a mom and pop store to compete.
Then add to that a long-time WalMart strategy of pitting ChiCom slave labor against heartland USA manufacturing (non-union included) and calling it competition.
A couple years ago I took a trip on slAmtrak through a route I had not traveled by rail in about twenty years. Long ago (the Reagan years) I remember well the many small factories in the many small towns which lined the route. Then, about 2009, was struck by how many empty and shuttered factory buildings that train now passed by which pay to play had put out of business.
viking01 on January 14, 2013 at 9:53 PM