Phukher Interviews Sam "Union Crusher" Walton: Labor Value Usurper
How one family made $250 billion on the backs of their impoverished workers.
All persons fictitious disclaimer
The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred.
Sam "Union Crusher" Walton Background
The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 was the beginning of the end of the Golden Age of American Aristocrats. The immense family fortunes of the Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, and other demons were split among their spawn and confiscated through inheritance taxes.
The rise of organized labor finally ended the Golden Age of American Aristocrats. Without monopolies and trusts to concentrate capital and political power, and with the necessity to pay working families livable wages, it became impossible to build the multi-generational wealth of true aristocrats.
Fortunately, times changed, and Milton Friedman came along to convince politicians and a gullible working class to go in a different direction.
Once the political climate changed, Ronald Reagan busted the air traffic controllers union firing 11,345 federal employees. With the collapse of organized labor, corporations were again able to exploit workers with impunity.
The southern United States was already union adverse. Most of Dixieland had so-called Right to Work laws, a key tool in the fight against organized labor.
Walmart started in a remote corner of Dixieland in the small town of Bentonville, Arkansas. Sam Walton had an aggressive growth strategy of providing the lowest possible price for all consumer goods.
With no labor union hindrance and an aggressive growth strategy, Wall Street showered Walmart with cash to grow. And grow it did.
It covered the rural south with Walmart stores, wiped out central business districts and downtowns everywhere, and diverted all the money and resources that previously fueled local economies to investors on Wall Street.
While it destroyed the small-town culture in the South, it enriched investors, particularly the founders of Walmart, Sam and Bud Walton.
Thus, the Walton family became the first of a new breed of American aristocrats and launched the second Golden Era.
The Interview
[Phukher Tarlson] Mr. Walton, thank you for taking time away from hell to visit with me today.
[Sam "Union Crusher" Walton] You’re welcome, Phukher. Milton Fried-man spoke highly of you. He said you were sympathetic to ruling aristocrats, so I thought it was worthwhile to grant an interview.
[Phukher Tarlson] Are you comfortable in hell?
[Sam "Union Crusher" Walton] Oh, yes! Hell is full of indentured servants who willingly serve. Just like on earth, they do my bidding, but I don’t have to provide a livable wage. After all, they are already dead, and they don’t need anything.
[Phukher Tarlson] Wonderful. But how do you convince them to serve you?
[Sam "Union Crusher" Walton] They are so conditioned to believe Walmart looks out for their welfare that they don’t question it. They do what I ask and are thankful for the opportunity.
I once had our company spokesman say, “Walmart has a long history of providing competitive wages and benefits to our associates. We believe that we can best serve our associates' needs without the interference of third parties like labor unions.“ They actually believed that bullshit. Can you imagine!?
Walmart has a demonstrable history of paying minimum wage and avoiding all benefits, even if it means their employees are eligible for government subsidy programs. Yet, when we spouted bald-faced lies, the public believed it.
[Phukher Tarlson] Were you ever concerned about the rank-and-file associates working for you?
[Sam "Union Crusher" Walton] I was concerned they might unionize. I’m not responsible for their financial situation. I provided them with opportunities to make money. It was better than making no money at all.
[Phukher Tarlson] So you relied on their desperation and reasoned that anything is better than nothing?
[Sam "Union Crusher" Walton] Of course! There is little or nothing in the way of social safety nets in America. The rich have always lobbied against that because we would have to pay for it. Either we would pay for it in taxes, or we would pay for it with inflation and a decline in the value of our wealth. Both situations are bad for the wealthy.
Plus, a desperate workforce is more compliant and less likely to unionize, and they can’t demand higher wages. If they didn’t work hard enough, put in extra hours, and so forth, I would fire them. Even if they were stellar employees, I would always refuse to pay them more, and they would keep working for me. Hard work that benefited me was a requirement. What other choice did they have?
[Phukher Tarlson] Were associates just a commodity?
[Sam "Union Crusher" Walton] We dreamed up the idea of calling them associates to make them feel like they were a part of something. It was all marketing bullshit. In reality, they were labor inputs, raw materials, and dehumanized inanimate objects. Our managers viewed them as merely numbers on a balance sheet, something we could make as small as possible.
[Phukher Tarlson] What resistance did you run into when you expanded beyond the South?
[Sam "Union Crusher" Walton] Organized labor was greatly weakened by the time we expanded beyond the South. We didn’t run into any real problems until we tried to expand to California. Organized labor is still strong there, and they called bullshit on our bullshit. Assholes. We have many properties we purchased that sit as undeveloped stores. We may never complete those projects.
[Phukher Tarlson] Would California really rather have unemployment than employment at an unlivable wage?
[Sam "Union Crusher" Walton] Apparently so. I suspect they realize that subsidizing our business profits by providing government assistance was not a winning deal for them. Usually, bureaucrats aren’t that smart, but California pays better, so they get better people in key positions. Even at the local level, we got little or no traction with our arguments about economic development.
[Phukher Tarlson] Yeah, when I was at Faux News, we demonized California constantly. Significant portions of our viewership are actually afraid to go there, which is good. If they saw how much better the quality of life is there, they might have started questioning the veracity of our lies.
[Sam "Union Crusher" Walton] I had a company spokesman say, "Our commitment is to listen and respond to our associates' needs directly. We don't believe that a labor union is the solution to the challenges our associates face."
No one in California believed it. I hate California.
[Phukher Tarlson] So does every American aristocrat, even the ones that relied on the strength of government and built their fortunes in California!
Out of curiosity, since the primary problem Walmart’s associates face is low wages, how were they supposed to believe labor unions weren’t the solution?
[Sam "Union Crusher" Walton] It takes a great deal of gaslighting, but we made several weak arguments that collectively provide a facade of strength.
Direct Communication: Walmart argued that unions impede the direct communication between management and employees as if employees can more freely and directly express their concerns and suggestions to management, despite the obvious fear of repraisal.
Costs and Dues: Walmart pointed out that union membership involves dues and fees, which employees pay, suggesting that the money spent on union dues would be a loss to the employees as if collective bargaining wouldn’t have raised wages to more than offset the dues.
Flexibility: Walmart claimed that unions could decrease flexibility in the workplace. We argued that union rules can make it harder to implement changes quickly and efficiently, like firing people, as if that were bad.
Conflict of Interest: Walmart argued that unions represent a conflict of interest for employees, as the union's priorities, which included higher wages and benefits, may not always align with the individual interests or needs of all employees.
Economic Impact: Walmart asserted that unionization leads to increased operational costs, which in turn would affect pricing, hiring, and overall company performance. They argue that keeping costs low is essential for their business model, which benefits consumers through lower prices. We frightened associates with the false specter of store closures.
Negative Impact on Company Culture: Walmart claimed that unions could negatively impact the company culture by creating an "us vs. them" mentality between employees and management.
The last lie was the lynchpin holding the rest together.
Divide and conquer.
No individual has a chance to negotiate against Walmart, or any employer for that matter. We would far rather have a million individual battles than one huge battle with a union backed by a million employees.
By convincing associates we were on their side as if they were one of “us”, then we had the million easily won battles we wanted instead of the one big battle we didn’t want.
[Phukher Tarlson] Were you surprised the ruse worked so well for so long?
[Sam "Union Crusher" Walton] Honestly, I was surprised. I think your good work on Faux News really helped. You guys actually got the working class to vote Republican! It’s astonishing to see slaves voting for slavery. Well done!
[Phukher Tarlson] How did all this chicanery benefit you and your family?
[Sam "Union Crusher" Walton] I get periodic updates in hell from new associates who arrive daily. I last heard that my family’s fortune was around $250 billion!
Jim Walton, $67.3 billion[13]
S. Robson Walton, $66 billion[14]
Alice Walton, $65.1 billion[15]
Lukas Walton, $23.8 billion[16]
Christy Walton, $11.6 billion[17]
Ann Walton Kroenke, $9.4 billion[18]
Nancy Walton Laurie, $9.4 billion[19]
Think about what would have happened if we were unionized. I imagine 90% of that would have gone to workers, circulated in the economy, and elevated everyone’s standard of living.
Far better for that money to be concentrated in the hands of about half a dozen of my family members, wouldn’t you say?
[Phukher Tarlson] Yes! That’s how we get multigenerational aristocrats. People who’ve done nothing to deserve their fortunes other than being born into the “right” family.
[Sam "Union Crusher" Walton] Exactly!
[Phukher Tarlson] Thank you for visiting with us today. May the power of Walmart last forever!
[Sam "Union Crusher" Walton] My pleasure, Phukher. You’re a great advocate for the aristocracy. See you in hell soon.