Healthcare

I think it is safe to say the U.S.'s healthcare isn't all that great at all. I believe similar to what I believe is what the former president of Switzerland said that Healthcare is a human right. In America we believe that anything that provides a service to everyone is instantly socialist or something of similar matter. There are several issues at hand though. If the government regulates healthcare, something has to pay and rising taxes isn't going to be it. Yes I believe we need it but taxing isn't the answer. The other issue is medical school. It is EXTREMELY expensive. Doctors in the US make a lot more than elsewhere because they need to charge more to cover the debt they accumulated through med school. Solving the cost of medical education is the first step to having healthcare for all. If Obamacare is to pass, doctors are going to make alot less money with med school just as expensive. That loss in revenue is going to turn away a large amount of aspiring doctors since they will work into their forties just to get out of debt and one thing the world doesn't need is less doctors.

Wal-Mart

I think this is a fairly well made documentary. Coming into the subject cold (barely knowing anything about the controversy) it does a very good job of persuading viewers towards disliking the company. Fortunately for us, there are not any Wal-Marts close by so disliking the superstore titan isn't all that hard to do. Although the movie makes several valid points, I do not believe that all of them were entirely fair. Yes I think that Wal-Mart has not been upfront in giving employees the benefits they deserve and yes they cut corners to do all they can to reduce costs but they do help communities in the sense that they do provide cheap goods for less well off Americans. The thing I did not about the movie is that it gave no juxtaposition to their argument. They completely disregard any sort of counter to their argument.

Wal-Mart

Along with everyone else, I am not a fan of Wal-Mart. However, I think there are many questions that we can ask ourselves that will yield answers that might make us see the advantages that Wal-Mart has to offer. For example, I think it would be interesting to know how many of Wal-Mart employees were unemployed before the Wal-Mart came into their town? Wal-Mart does employ a ridiculous amount of people, and if they were to shut down, than the unemployment rates would be even more. Also, Wal-Mart does provide a cheap outlet for those who have tight incomes. Yes, the mom and pop businesses are being shut down by the big corporal tyrant, but these businesses on a national level do not employ many people and in most cases, Wal-Mart sells the same things as that mom and pop business, but for cheaper. Not to mention, I think the reality is that if we took any big-box retailer, such as Target or KMart, and did an intensive research investigation as was done with Wal-Mart, I think we would find similar horrors. Thankfully, there is not a Wal-Mart anywhere near where I live, so I do not have to make the decision about whether or not to shop there. However, if it was the only thing in the vicinity of where I lived, I can't say I wouldn't shop there.

WALMART

I think that WalMart is an incredibly unjust company. Its interesting how they are being targeted though, i feel like there are other company power houses that have probably done worse for economical territory in various demographics yet, WalMart is the only one being made an example of it. I also find in peculiar that the CEO of Walmart has no remorse for the kind of institutions hes imposing onto peoples lives. I think the idea of cheap labor is sickening, its a cruel way of taking advantage of a human but at the same time making them believe that what their doing is humane. I think that if more people were to know about the other companies who do this like NIKE and APPLE, they wouldn't stop purchasing their items. I think its easier to attack a business like WalMart.

Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart's motto is: "Save money, Live better, Wal-Mart," but how many people are actually living better lives because of Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has low prices and does make people's lives easier when they are looking for affordable prices but there are more costs than there are benefits. Wal-Mart franchisees have shut out all small family owned businesses from the communities they inhabit and the small shops previously running the town get run down once Wal-Mart starts seeing all the old business. On top of ruining families, Wal-Mart treats its employees horribly. In the book Nickel and Dimed, we read how Ehrenreich and other employees were treated by their managers. Many Wal-Mart managers have been found to be racist and this just adds to a list of reasons why I disapprove of Wal-Mart. Employees not only work an absurd amount of hours a day but they also get paid very poorly. The workers in the stores are not the only ones being paid unfairly either. Wal-Mart gets the majority of its products from China and the life styles and work conditions for the workers in China are drastic. Those who put Wal-Mart's products together pay high rents, and get paid very little. It costs a Chinese worker $.39 to put a good together but that same product is then sold for $14.99 in the states. Where is that money going? Why can't those Chinese workers get paid more. Wal-Mart employees have very few rights and I think consumers should know the truth behind Wal-Mart.

The Wal-Machine

The United States has made itself the shining example of democracy to the rest of the world, and has shown off its capitalism as something to be achieved by other countries. Wal-Mart is within the grey area of this known capitalism. As a capitalism nation, we believe that people should be allowed to gain a profit with minimal interference from the government. However, I believe that Wal-Mart has taken our system of capitalism, found loopholes that worked in their advantage, and corrupted the system. Wal-Mart has taken many small businesses, businesses that America prides itself on, and forced them to go out of business, especially with small towns. 

The Wal-Mart industry is a multimillion-dollar company, and has found different ways to cut corners with this. Its employees are forced to work horrible hours (many if not all are beyond regulation), they are denied the liberty to have unions, and are given minimum wage for their services. Also, the problem with big companies like Wal-Mart is that even if they fire you, they have another application in the office waiting to take your spot. Normally, I would say that the system will work itself out, but with big companies like Wal-Mart abusing the system, we need change. I'm not advocating for absolute equality, which often leads to communism societies that give everyone the same pay, but I am advocating that we create a way to monitor the bigger companies such as Wal-Mart, K-Mart, etc. to make sure that they are abiding the rules. But the government should not get involved beyond that point. What makes this country great is that we have the ability to build ourselves up and create a business from nothing and pass it on. My father's small business has been around well over a century, and was passed down from my grandfather. We should stop companies like Wal-Mart from stopping others from achieving their American Dream. 

The Wal-Mart Monster

I had my suspicions and doubts about Wal-Mart, but after watching "The High Cost of Low Prices" and remembering Ehrenreich's experience working at Wal-Mart I am appalled and loath everything that is Wal-Mart. Many argue that they bring many jobs to small towns and provide consumers with less expensive goods, but the negative externalities far outweigh the positives. I never knew the conditions of the workers in China making the products, or the poor healthcare provided for the Wal-Mart employees, or the stalker-like video cameras to patrol "union suspicion" until the movie we watched in class. How can a company so large, with so much corruption, hide it so well from the majority of the public? Or are we just too naive? I began looking up Wal-Mart facts to further my investigation into the company. I learned that 1) this year, everyone in the world will make an average of 1.1 purchases at a Wal-Mart 2) each week nearly one-third of the U.S. population visits Wal-Mart's U.S. stores 3) Wal-Mart parking lots alone take up roughly the size of Tampa, Florida 4) In 2000, Wal-Mart was sued 4,851 times (about once every 2 hours) and most shockingly 5) The Walton family has given away about 2% of its net worth to charity, Bill Gates is giving away 48% of his net worth and Warren Buffet 78% of his net worth. No wonder the company of Wal-Mart is so corrupt when its owners are selfish and greedy. Wal-Mart brags about donating to charities, providing benefits to their employees, and boosting the number of jobs .But at what price? I could go on and on but I will end with this...I will never shop at or enter another Wal-Mart again.

Richest country in the world

It is not until I came to US that I had a grasp of what Marx was talking about. In China they sure preaches about socialistic ideals and drawback of capitalism, but the reality is China is a huge bureaucratic capitalistic country, capitalism in its crude and early form. Its hard to believe in such an ideal when the so called communist government is terribly corrupted and the society they build is very capitalistic. And the fact is we look at the richest and most powerful country in the world, it is U.S., the empire and guardian of capitalism camp.

But when I actually got here, so many imaginations are shattered. It is the richest country in the world, supposedly represents liberality and justice but when I watch the news, listen to lobbies makes their TV speeches, and read through the war logs, and talked to the friendly yet hopeless beggars in the streets of Chicago all I could think of is the anti-capitalism propaganda, the portraits of those fat business man sitting on the people of the world. With this much wealth, all of these suffering, can be eliminated. But capitalism clearly doesn't encourage that.

And the more I study U.S., the more cynical I become, and I got hands on Marx's work for the first time not because I need to take a test on it but because I want answers. What caught my attention was the European countries. They are actually look very close to the utopia so-called communists tried to built. And the more I found out about the history of communists and soviets the more I heard the voice of Marx saying: "Capitalism will be burred in the grave it diggers for itself." Since very young we are taught its a natural process, the jump from capitalism to socialism and finally to capitalism. When I look at those socialistic European countries I realize those are the oldest capitalistic countries in the world. Its their advance in productivity and wealth that grants people power to push society to the next level. Productivity decides society, with a mere socialistic revolution, but poor productivity, the country will slip back to capitalism as we see in China. Vice versa, U.S.A has more social benefits and projects compared to the "communist" China. It is a natural force, and I finally understand why Marx said he was not a Marxist when the term is used for the revolutionaries, because he believes in such natural transformation as the revolution. And such a true socialist revolution has not taken place in China yet, but it's going on in U.S. for it has a long history of capitalism.

What interested me the most is Chinese TV programs are not shy talking about U.S. comparing China and U.S., because yes U.S. is inhumane in a lot of the ways and the government might want people to feel that the strongest capitalistic country is inhumane so we should take the other path, but these TV shows have very seldom talk about Europe and its systems. That is understandable also because those are the true socialist. They are awe-inspiring when I first read stories about them after all these years stuck in China only imaging a democratic and socialistic utopia. This European inspiration sure will cause problems in China.

U.S. can be much much more. Its current status the existing system doesn't match it's title as being the richest country in the world. But I do believe such wealth and high productivity will lead to change. People will want more than just free business, free this and free that because that is just an jungle. We can be more humane than that. And U.S. will be, and hopefully China will be too.

Wal-Mart... It's everywhere and taking over

Wal-Mart is everywhere. Approximately five minutes from where I live you will find a Wal-Mart.  I can easily travel another twenty minutes and find another Wal-Mart by Gurnee Mills with its companion Sam’s Club right next to it. I always see the parking lots full of customers and actually know some of the employees that happen to work there. The thing is that I really don’t find myself shopping there. The times I do find myself going in are because they are the only stores that really stay open late.  Being Hispanic I find myself going to the little Mexican shops that reside all over Waukegan that have what it is that I’m looking for. I know that Wal-Mart has almost every product imaginable but does it? Is a company like Wal-Mart geared to only to a certain race or people? To many of the Hispanics that I asked if they go to Wal-Mart many say “No.” It’s expensive and not the kind of food that I’m interested in. So although it may be everywhere what kind of people and shops is Wal-Mart really affecting or wants to go after?

Wal-What?

We are a country that prides itself on the free market. What do we do when a company not only monopolizes that market, but takes hundreds of millions in government money, and put their employees on government funded programs because they don't even make enough to live? Easy answer: shut them down. It's not good for the economy, people from small businesses are losing jobs, and it's been shown that Wal-Mart doesn't even hire enough employees to cover the store due to cost. The employees often put in overtime (not even getting paid for it). Wal-Mart has a lack of respect for it's employees, the working conditions should be illegal. Speaking of lack of respect, the amount of attacks that have happened in Wal-Mart parking lots with lack of action is sickening. This is not a company for the people by any means.

Healthcare in the U. S. of A.

The cost of healthcare in the United States compared to the other countries is outrageous. The amount of people that go bankrupt from health related expenses, or that don't have health insurance at all is unbelievable in the U.S. When Switzerland was asked if people go bankrupt from healthcare expenses they said it was unheard of, and if it did happen it would be considered an outrage. Now there were quite a few instances in other countries where healthcare is actually so cheap that the expenses almost aren't getting paid, and the doctors don't get paid very much (under appreciated). The best thing the U.S. can do is make healthcare more affordable, get everyone health insurance, it is a basic human right to be able to afford to go to the doctor if you need to. The idea that anyone just suffers when sick is ridiculous.

Sick In America

I learned a lot from watching this documentary and i felt as if there was a lot that could be gained by learning about other nations Health Care. I thought it was interesting how Taiwan created a melting pot of all the other Health Care programs in other countries. It was a creative way of developing a dominate, ideal, and universally successful health program. It was cool learning more about the U.K. health care considering that my cousin is a citizen over there and he has told me about it before and how it is a very good idea. The only downside i see is the amount of money added to taxes that are used to push forward what seems like a free health care system.

A Little Of Everything

What was most interesting to me was how this film traced multiple different health care systems, detailing their strengths and their fallacies, before detailing the one that is clearly seen by the makers of the film as the superior system: that found in Switzerland. The thing that interested me about Switzerland's system was the fact that Switzerland's system is basically an amalgamation of the best parts from all the health care systems. They picked the best facets from multiple different cities. This interested me, but it definitely did not take me by surprise. The fact is that in this day and age, it seems like everything has been made. Everything seems to merely be an updating, a development, a new way of presenting what we already have. I did not expect the 'best' health care system to be a completely new idea, but was still interested to see that it mirrored much of todays societal progress in that it took the best of everything and came up with something 'new.'

Externalities in Supersize Me

The negative externality of the documentary "Supersize Me" is the negative externality associated with the fast food industry and a person's well-being. Although the food at restaurants such as McDonalds is relatively cheap, making it affordable for many who have low salaries, it doesn't cover nearly as much nutritional value as it should, causing trouble for one's health. Another negative externality of fast food is the costs associated with the poor health. When someone eats too much food from places like McDonalds, they end up with health problems like diabetes and high cholesterol. Many of the people who eat a lot of fast food cannot afford good food as well as health insurance. So, when someone needs medical assistance due an unhealthy diet, tax payers are having to pay for something they had no connection with. 

Taiwans health care system

Before the movie I never paid much attention to the health care system. After watching it I feel that the United States has to rethink their plans. I was really interested when the movie started talking about the way Taiwan's health care system works. They consulted people that knew about other countries health systems and examined them to avoid the same mistakes that other countries made with theirs. It makes sense to me. Why would you want to recreate the problems of another country so they can become yours? Taiwan has managed to create equal access for its people, eliminate waiting, and be able to have your choice of doctor. While they may be having to increase their GDP from 6.23% to 8% its sure a hell lot less than what the U.S is paying. So it may seem that the choice is between the people going into depth or the hospital, but I find that maybe it's not all one sided as it may seem.