美国人眼中的沃尔玛

A capitalist-loving Republican against Wal-Mart? Where would you find such a person? Well, you expect Walmart bashing from union types and liberals, but not one of the GOP's most trusted former advisers¹, advisers like Terry Holt, who says that Walmart is giving capitalism² a bad name. He just joined the Wal-Mart Watch team. Terry, this is a bit of a surprise, why?

Hi, Neil, well, you know, Wal-Mart, uh, it has its roots in small-town , America , in red-state America. But lately Walmart's lost its way and in, in, for lots of different reasons but specifically, Wal-Mart is a huge recipient³ of co, corporate⁴ welfare. In fact, a couple of years ago, they got 35 million dollars from the federal government to repave their driveway, now this is the largest cooperation in America, in the world in, for retail⁵. And, and I just wonder if the American taxpayers⁶ should be footing the bill for things like that, and also for things like health care for tens of thousands of Americans who work at Walmart. The state government and the federal government pick up the tab because Walmart does not give a health care benefit that in the forces there-- it doesn't give an-an adequate health care benefit, and it forces these people onto the public rolls and it costs me, a republican money.

Yeah. But Terry, you could argue, I understand that but you could argue that a lot of the workers not covered are not full-time⁷ workers. And workers at Walmart as ..., with a lot of other (ur) convenience stores, retailers⁸ establishments come and go. So is that the fault of a company just being cruel to its workers or one that just recognizes its financial realities of a shifting workforce⁹.

Well, but in fact Walmart had in, in documents that have been disclosed to the public, er, not to Wal-Mart's happiness, but they have made conscious decisions to prevent people from becoming full-time workers, and keeping them part-time workers, so that they can't even qualify for benefits, forcing them on to the public rolls for an even , even longer period of time. And frankly¹⁰, you know, Walmart is, ur. . you know, it's, it's a highly successful company, but we have very low expectations for it, you know, price is keen at Walmart and all of us have been to Walmart because of price. But I wonder if most Americans, there's seventy million Americans who go to Walmart, I wonder if they would be surprised to know that their tax dollars being taken out of their bag pocket even while they are saving money.

But Terry you would argue Wal-Mart's a successful institution that has generated a lot of revenue that has helped a lot of people that for Americans who shop there, it's also meant a big difference in saving a lot of money on everyday items they purchase, right?

That's right, but there, there are better ways to do this, in fact, you know, Walmart used to make a big deal, of "Buying American" and in small towns all over America, most of us maybe still think that's true. But I'm not sure that most Americans know that 70 percent of Walmart's products are of Chinese origin. Even now do they make the point. . .

Yeah. But Terry, you know now one of the workers I've seen at Walmart, (ur) that I've noticed, chained to a cash register or chained to an aisle¹¹, they are working there, their own volition¹² they seem pretty happy with it. It's provided jobs and many of them would have never been able to find any. I mean, you seem to vilify¹³ a company that, that's done a lot of good as well.

Well, in fact I'm not vilifying¹⁴ the company, I would like to see the company become a better neighbour, to become a better corporate citizen. You know, Walmart is unique because of its size, it's a huge company. And many people are, are looking it as an example of success. I just don't want that success to result in, in a corporate culture where we, we are inspiring people to be the lowest common denominator. We are expect(ing) more from our companies. (All right. ) I think that republicans ought to be in a position to say that a company in coming into its community is doing the community good. (OK. ) But in fact when Walmart goes into a community, small businesses close, Christian¹⁵ bookstores close. (Alright, maybe. )

Well, all right. I wish I had more time, Terry, but you argue your point very well. Good to have you on.

Thanks, Neil.

Terry Holt, thanks.

1 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

2 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

3 recipient   

a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器

参考例句：

• Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。
• Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。

4 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

5 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

6 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

7 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

8 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

9 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

10 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

11 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

12 volition   

n.意志；决意

参考例句：

• We like to think that everything we do and everything we think is a product of our volition.我们常常认为我们所做和所想的一切都出自自己的意愿。
• Makin said Mr Coombes had gone to the police of his own volition.梅金说库姆斯先生是主动去投案的。

13 vilify   

v.诽谤，中伤

参考例句：

• But I also do not want people to vilify.但希望我也别给人诬蔑。
• Two chose not to vilify Skilling,however.然而，也有两个人并不愿诋毁思斯奇林。

14 vilifying   

v.中伤，诽谤( vilify的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• A: But he is vilifying you! You should fight back. 可他是在诋毁你啊！你应该还击。 来自互联网

15 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。