The basis of capitalism is the working class producing a surplus value over the cost of their wages that allow the owning class to live in ease and luxury. How great that surplus value has become in modern capitalism was recently illustrated by some American statistics. "Just how rich are the Waltons? According to the latest edition of the Forbes 400, released yesterday, the six wealthiest heirs to the Walmart empire are together worth a staggering $115 billion. ..... The average Walmart worker earns just $8.81 an hour. At that wage, the union-backed Making Change at Walmart campaign calculates that a Walmart worker would need 7 million years to earn as much wealth as the Walton family has (presuming the worker doesn't spend anything)" (Mother Jones, 20 September) RD
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While the nation's richest person is still Bill Gates, the sixth-, seventh-, eighth-, and ninth-richest Americans are all Waltons. Their wealth is higher than the entire 2012 budget for the state of California.
ReplyDelete170,000 years to earn as much money as the Walton family receives annually in Walmart dividends and one year to earn as much money as the Walton family earns in Walmart dividends every three minutes
In 2011 the 6 Walmart heirs held more wealth than 42% of Americans combined.
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/09/sam-waltons-fortune-walmart-employees-7-million-years
Walmart store strike California
ReplyDeletehttp://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/13948/california_walmart_store_workers_go_out_on_historic_strike/