because they are tools...
April 30, 2007 1:41 PM   Subscribe

Why do Penn & Teller love Walmart?
posted by geos (27 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: Yes, Penn and Teller still have a TV show. -- cortex



 

“We wanted to do a pro capitalism show and it seems like Wal-Mart is a really good way to do it. … Wal-Mart does a lot of good. It saves the average family that shops there $2,000 a year. It may be a trivial amount to Hollywood, but not the rest of the country. They give people jobs.”
Penn Jillette from the magician act, Penn & Teller, Your World With Neil Cavuto, FOX
3/21/2007


I know that they are entertainers looking for ratings, but still... Walmart has built it's business on sucking out capital from small towns like Greenfield. It's as exploitative as anything the British did in India and the same basic business model.
posted by geos at 1:46 PM on April 30, 2007


If only there were a place where you could write about these opinions of yours. Some sort of web-log, perhaps.
posted by roll truck roll at 1:47 PM on April 30, 2007


Because the economic foundation of Libertarianism isn't proper market capitalism but a childish greed-based worship of acquisition that would make a ferengi blush?

Just a guess.

(Gee I hope this thread get's deleted: I don't like me when I'm screedy and nerdy, especially simultaneously.)
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 1:53 PM on April 30, 2007


It's as exploitative as anything the British did in India

Have you actually read about what the British did in India? I'm not quite sure it's the same thing.

Though I agree Walmart is pretty evil. It's kind of the perfect example of everything that is wrong with capitalism.
posted by chunking express at 1:53 PM on April 30, 2007 [1 favorite]


This is the End Time.
Next you'll tell me that McCain has a secret strategy to---
Uh-oh.
posted by Dizzy at 1:54 PM on April 30, 2007


My favorite part of the episode is the part where there's a series of headlines that flash on screen about Wal-Mart's misdeeds, then a group of people saying they don't like Wal-Mart, which Penn immediately characterises as "knee-jerk". When you show the reason that people are upset, and then you show them upset, and finish by calling them "knee-jerk"... well, I think Penn's slowing down in his old age. You can't say "look, a coin!", openly place it in your pocket, and insist it disappeared.
posted by Pope Guilty at 1:55 PM on April 30, 2007


Because they're assholes.
posted by billypilgrim at 1:56 PM on April 30, 2007


Ha! Good one pope. Yet that is the trick of the 21st century. That is the trick that we read about in 1984, and scoffed at, and said, "I will never see five fingers", and yet here it is, the five fingers wave in our faces constantly, reminding us that there is no truth but the official truth. Penn Jillette has drunk deeply of the Kool-Aid, and really needs a good kick in the balls.
posted by Mister_A at 1:58 PM on April 30, 2007


um, double?
posted by I, Credulous at 1:59 PM on April 30, 2007


Why is it that whenever I hear about anything Penn or Teller do these days it makes me like them less? Used to be they were a likeable no-bullshit magic act... nowadays I fully exprect to hear that they've started a kitten crushing factory.
posted by Artw at 2:01 PM on April 30, 2007


Because Penn Jillette is a libertarian blowhard egomaniac who really knows little about economics or history?

and what Lentrohamsanin said.
posted by tula at 2:02 PM on April 30, 2007


Wal-Mart is damned if they do, damned if they don't.

When they want to move a store into a poor area in a large city with no decent shopping, they are called “predatory”.

When they want to move a store into a small town, they are accused of destroying mom and pop stores (which, incidentally, have been doing a pretty good job of destroying themselves by not keeping up with what their customers want, or upgrading to 21st century tech)

When they want to provide jobs in a minority neighborhood, the unions (which are white majority) push them out.

When they want to provide jobs in a white rural area, they are called “opportunistic”.

When they carry products not made in the USA, they are called “anti-American”.

When they carry products made in the USA, they are called “racist” or "anti-free trade".

Have the many enemies of Wal-Mart considered that they are a symptom of the problem (the problem, I guess, being classism/racism, and poverty issues), and not the problem itself?
posted by weirdoactor at 2:20 PM on April 30, 2007


Man, weirdoactor, the white man's burden is heavy indeed.
posted by boo_radley at 2:21 PM on April 30, 2007 [3 favorites]


Penn Jillette is the comic book guy. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the comic book guy was modelled after Penn Jillette.
posted by Trochanter at 2:24 PM on April 30, 2007


Someone should explain 'monopsony' to Penn.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:27 PM on April 30, 2007


Penn Jilette, the magic man's John Stossel.
posted by mikeh at 2:27 PM on April 30, 2007 [2 favorites]


Penn Jillette is the comic book guy. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the comic book guy was modelled after Penn Jillette.

Nah, that guy's based on a (now defunct) comic store owner near the Simpsons' studio. As far as I know, outside of Preacher, he's really not a fan of comics.
posted by Pope Guilty at 2:28 PM on April 30, 2007


Poor, poor Wal-Mart. It's a wonder they manage to make any money at all.
posted by The Card Cheat at 2:29 PM on April 30, 2007


Though I don't agree with the show, I respect they allow a thriving debate on their message board. Some of the replies posted are extremely thoughtful and well spoken. (Registration required).
posted by BlackRose at 2:30 PM on April 30, 2007


Wow, boo. Thanks for making my point for me.
posted by weirdoactor at 2:32 PM on April 30, 2007


I was reading an interview with Gore Vidal in which he referred to an appearance of his on The Tonight Show back in the 70's. At one time in this country, Gore Vidal was considered a mass-entertainment figure. Today, Penn and Teller are considered intellectuals.
posted by bonecrusher at 2:34 PM on April 30, 2007 [1 favorite]


I proved that walmart is a symptom of poverty and not a driver?
posted by boo_radley at 2:39 PM on April 30, 2007


still going through the links, but I've always said:
"Walmart is a whipping boy for modern US bigboxes. If you're going to boycott them, this list is pretty long for of other companies you should boycott. The bullshit episode does a pretty good job of weighing the pros and cons here. They are obviously pro, but still, they make a good argument for the use of Walmarts as a kind of socialism thru capitalism.

Always remember, in capitalitic democracy every dime you spend is a vote you cast.
posted by es_de_bah at 2:39 PM on April 30, 2007 [1 favorite]


Well, I believe what the Walton family "wants" is to make as much money as possible for the Walton family, so I disagree with your premise.

If you mean to say that WalMart is not the only large multinational corporation selling sweatshop goods and giving its own workers the shit end of the stick (driving the economy into the ground), then I guess, yeah, WalMart, in and of itself, is not "the problem".

P.G.'s politics don't surprise me. His act has always been mean-spirited. Thought he was fighting the good fight with the boy scout stuff, though.
posted by flotson at 2:40 PM on April 30, 2007


It saves the average family that shops there $2,000 a year.

I'm curious where this comes from. How much money does this family spend at Walmart that they can save that much, and compared to what, a similar item at Target, Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price?
posted by drezdn at 2:40 PM on April 30, 2007


ps. i'm unemployed and have shunned a very attractive career at both walmart and home depot. but i'm losing faith. go ahead and prove me right. i'll thank you.
posted by es_de_bah at 2:41 PM on April 30, 2007


Someone should explain 'monopsony' to Penn.

That's interesting, and I'd never considered them a lone buyer of (unskilled? retail?) labor. For this to be true, Walmart would have to be the nation's top employer of unskilled labor by a significant margin, no? For all I know, they are.

I'm not first-hand familiar with Walmart, since they haven't really struck it big around here.
posted by kid ichorous at 2:42 PM on April 30, 2007


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