Walmart has the second largest active army in the world

Mayor Bloomberg said last week, incorrectly, that his army-the NYPD-is the seventh largest in the world. That wasn't correct, seeing as the NYPD only has about 33,000 people.

Walmart, however, has 2.1 million people, so if they all decided to buy a gun from the superstore (then walk out to their car, put the gun away, walk back in and buy bullets--and yes, that's a rumor I heard that I can not confirm about not being able to buy guns and ammo at the same time in some states), they'd be the second biggest active army in the world, trailing only China.

That's just one statistic out of many in this nice little infographic about Walmart.

Other tidbits include that 96% of Americans live within 20 miles of a Walmart, and that if you lined up every one of Walmart's warehouses, they would cover the entire island of Manhattan.

Check it out after the jump.

A case against Walmart in New York City

I posted something earlier from the Rev. state Sen. Ruben Diaz supporting Walmart, so here is something pointing out the problems Walmart has. While Diaz told us it would be beneficial to have the store's discounts available to the city's poor, there are many who have serious problems with how Walmart treats and pays their workers.

Clergy and community leaders slammed the so-called “community partnership” announced Wednesday between Washington, DC and Walmart. Activists denounced the agreement as window dressing for Walmart’s well-documented practice of providing low-wage jobs with poor benefits, and vowed to fight against similar agreements from being reached in New York.

“People should not forget that this is a company that has a history of making promises and then breaking them,” said Rev. Jerome Washington of the New Mt. Calvary Baptist Church. “They can negotiate all kinds of backroom deals, but we’re not going to forget their history of taking our communities for granted. We’re not going to allow this to be replicated in our city.”

“We know what people in our community need: good jobs that come with healthcare and other benefits,” said Joyce Scott-Brayboy of Community Board #5 in Brooklyn. “The agreement reached between Walmart and Washington, DC does nothing to provide that kind of employment. We refuse to be fooled in East New York and we’re going to make sure our elected officials know that.” 

“We have to remember that this company has broken promises over and over again,” said Rev. Demetrius Carolina of First Central Baptist Church. “Today, we need to send a clear message: We’re not going to be fooled by sham community benefits agreements. Instead, we want our political leaders to demand real, enforceable change from Walmart or keep it out all together.” 

“This so-called CBA is nothing more than a glorified press release. If Walmart wants to enter NYC, it's going to have to make real commitments to our communities. Walmart's so-called CBA isn't worth the letterhead it's printed on. If the world's richest retailer actually wanted to do right by DC, they'd make it binding. This is a gimmick, pure and simple,” said Maria Maisonet of East New York.

These types of agreements are not the only way that Walmart tries to fool the public. For example, the company came out in support of national health care reform back in 2010. The company claimed it wanted to expand coverage for employees, but then significantly cut back on health care back less than two years later.

Diaz Sr. tells us what we should know about Walmart

The Rev. state Sen. Ruben Diaz sent out an email today titled "What you should know." His emails are usually full of bold statements, so I hope he continues to use this title.

In the first of hopefully many "What you should know," Diaz tells us that he supports bringing Walmart to New York City. He says that a Walmart would be great for the poor Hispanics and African-Americans in the city because of their bargain deals, but because many of them can't get out of the city to shop, they miss out on the deals, and specifically the Black Friday deals from last week.

By the Rev. Senator Ruben Diaz

The Rev. state Sen. Ruben Diaz loves Jesus and Walmart.

While the City’s poor residentswere the losers of the week, Walmart was the big winner.

The local, state and national mediahave reported that, in terms of sales, this past Thanksgiving weekend wasthe largest in history.

"Black Friday," as thesales date after Friday is called, generated an unprecedented 52.4 billionsin sales, providing an enormous boost to the economy. Despite thefiscal crises, consumers spent an historic amount of money on “Black Friday.”

Shopping centers, supermarketsand all types of stores were overcrowded with people, including rowsof consumers who either slept or stood in lines for more than 48 hoursprior to "Black Friday."

Despite reports of fights, insultsand pepper spraying, because of the astronomic sales, “Black Friday”was a blessing for Walmart. “Black Friday” provided the opportunity ofthe century for the nation’s poor to take advantage of the bargain pricesfor clothing, household goods, food and other items sold at Walmart.

However, because the family ofSam Walton, the founder of Walmart and Sam’s club, has not been allowedto build a store in New York City, the City’s poor residents who couldnot afford to travel to a Walmart store, were not so fortunate.

I understand those who oppose buildinga Walmart in the City. What I do not comprehend is why the City’spoor, mostly Hispanics and African-Americans pay the consequences? Becausethey could not benefit from these mega bargain sales, they were the biggestlosers. However, despite major opposition in the City, theWalton family still reaped in major profits. Clearly, oppositionto Walmart does not extend to the average person. There was no evidenceof any major boycott, including the City’s poor residents.

Although I deplore the violentincidents at some at some Walmart stores, I congratulate Walmart and Sam"s Clubs for their astronomical sales. However, I feel muchmore sympathy for the City’s poor who failed to benefit from Walmart’sbargains.

I am the Rev. Senator Ruben Diaz and this is what you should know.