New kid to own the block

While you were away on the holiday break and possibly not checking the news, the Wal-Mart Corporation descended on New York City. From a recent Times article, I learned that Wal-Mart plans to open locations in all five boroughs of the city. When I realized that Wal-Mart is determined to move into our backyard, I did the only natural thing—I went online and registered for a job application. As it seemed on the Wal-Mart website, the corporate conglomerate advertises extravagant healthcare plans with full dental and 401(k) matching, so why the heck not?

After the retailer’s plan went public, it met immediate opposition from the New York City Council, which, of course, includes Columbia University’s District 9 representative, Councilwoman Inez E. Dickens. Dickens campaigned in 2009 on the platform of helping out small businesses and keeping them from getting swallowed up by larger chains—to “revitalize the small business community.” She wrote that the road to economic recovery is “jobs, jobs, and more jobs.” Lately, city politicians from Dickens to newly elected Governor Andrew Cuomo have been repeating the word so frequently that you would think they believed it was an incantation to make actual jobs appear.

Unlike the frighteningly pro-business anti-tax “Democrats” from Cuomo to Mayor Bloomberg, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and the members of the City Council are well aware that the Wal-Mart takeover will have none of the positive effects that it promises. This is why the Council summoned representatives of the chain to a hearing where they planned to discuss the impact of the proposition. Unfortunately, Wal-Mart’s people failed to show up. Apparently these elected city officials are peons who are not worth their corporate time or, more terrifyingly, low-level employees powerless to enact real change to defend their city. Instead of meeting with the City Council, Wal-Mart fabricated a pandering, sanctimonious website that bristles with ridiculous testimonials.

The imperative to defend New York against Wal-Mart is real. To start, the chain’s abuse of taxpayer dollars is nothing short of scandalous. According to a public advocate’s report, Wal-Mart depends on hiring employees who qualify for Medicaid and subsidized care to avoid paying healthcare costs. In 2009, it robbed the public of $2.95 billion in tax revenue—and, at long last, was forced to admit it. Far from enriching the cities that it infects like a virus, median household incomes tend to drop, even plummet, after Wal-Mart moves into the neighborhood. But what about those jobs, jobs, jobs?

First and foremost, the claim that Wal-Mart creates jobs is a shocking lie. In the cities that Wal-Mart has infiltrated, from Chicago to Cleveland to Miami, other retailers lose 10 to 40 percent of their business, and many are forced into bankruptcy. The results are widespread and calamitous: Wal-Mart kills three jobs for every two it creates. Wal-Mart, with its public representation specialists and advertising campaigns, has fairly successfully masked the fact that it has a damaging net effect on local employment.

What is the nature of these new jobs anyway? From the website and the instructions on my new registration form, it would seem that Wal-Mart is making a special appeal to college students and recent graduates. The popular wisdom is that a tough world awaits even graduates of the best universities. Wal-Mart could serve as a bridge between academic life and “real” jobs. Not to mention how many of the listed qualifications remind me of Columbia students: eager, enthusiastic, hardworking, and listens well to others. It is not so crazy to wonder if Wal-Mart, newly arrived in the Big Apple, will seek to employ some Columbia students. But in terms of jobs at Wal-Mart, the average annual pay is around $20,000—a figure well below the federal poverty level—so that 1.3 million Americans who work there stay poor.

The promise of “jobs, jobs, jobs” has been overused and abused across the nation to defend projects that are harmful and arguably unconstitutional, like the new Creationist theme park in Kentucky. Such a justification is equally invalid—and factually absurd—as it is when applied to Wal-Mart. People should shop at Wal-Mart or apply to work there only when there is no alternative for them financially. Furthermore, Columbia students should support the city in any way possible to prevent big business from winning another round against our best interests.

Amanda Gutterman is a Columbia College sophomore majoring in English with a French concentration. The Far Side of the Familiar runs alternate Wednesdays.