Ayn Rand is Screwing with My Brain

Posted by Hiraghm 12 years, 4 months ago to Culture
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Just got home from work.

My store loaned me out to a Neighborhood Market that's going to open soon. That's okay, it's closer to where I live.

But this morning, I'm listening to ASp1 (having already listened to ASp2 earlier) and I see a bunch of the store's employees gather in a big circle near the registers. I'm not paying attention.
I finish up some work in the back, and after listening to John Galt's sell Atlantis to Ellis Wyatt, and listening to Dagny's scream (I swear I'm going to make that a ringtone :D ), I'm walking out past this circle of employees.
Suddenly they all cheer, and one person says, "Give me a W!"... I kid you not these employees all spelled out "W-A-L-M-A-R-T" like they were a bunch of high school kids at a football game.

If that wasn't creepy enough, just before I ducked into the office to clock out, I heard (presumably) the manager ask, "Whose Walmart is this?" and they all shouted, "MY WALMART".

I grew up in the cult era of the 70s, so this really creeped me out.

But, I was thinking like Galt, or Rand. Because, what I thought was, "No, this is not my Walmart; people do not tell me what to do with my property. This is a business. I have contracted to do certain work for you in exchange for a certain amount of dollars. This pep rally is a not-so-subtle attempt to engage my emotions in order to extract from me more work than that for which you have contracted."

Bear in mind, that... person... Sam Walton once said individuals don't win; teams win.

Oxymoron of the day; The Walmart collective.


All Comments

  • Posted by Rozar 12 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    What if you have a dictator who runs the country but doesn't let the government interfere with the economy. You can have a few different types of government and still retain a laissez-faire capitalism economy. I think.
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  • Posted by 12 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    You sound like Head of State Thompson...

    "We'll do anything you say. We'll give you a free hand. We'll co-operate. We'll compromise. We'll split fifty-fifty. We'll keep the sphere of politics and give you total power over the sphere of economics. We'll turn the production, of the country over to you, we'll make you a present of the entire economy. You'll run it any way you wish, you'll give the orders, you'll issue the directives—and you'll have the organized power of the State at your command to enforce your decisions. We'll stand ready to obey you, all of us, from me on down. In the field of production, we'll do whatever you say. You'll be—you'll be the Economic Dictator of the nation!"" - Atlas Shrugged

    More prosaically, you can't rigidly separate one from the either, and those so power hungry they'd be dictator wouldn't give up power over the economy.
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  • Posted by Rozar 12 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    A well coordinated team of girl scouts might be able to sell more cookies than a Navy seal.
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  • Posted by 12 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Hmm...

    This buys into the idea that activity equates to success. A well coordinated team of Girl Scouts would be no match for, say a single navy Seal.

    A well-coordinated consortium of inept businesses couldn't match the success of a business run by a competent individual.
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  • Posted by 12 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    We will have to agree to disagree.
    A skilled, well coordinated team will outmatch a clown on a unicycle with a seltzer bottle in almost any situation.

    Any other adjectives you'd like to add on to make your statement valid?
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  • Posted by $ Maphesdus 12 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Haha, very funny. But the point is that a skilled, well coordinated team will outmatch a solitary individual in almost any situation. :P
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  • Posted by Rocky_Road 12 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    "One night she said over the PA, "We do NOT play with our balls in the store!"

    That's rich!

    Reminded me of something the Atlanta Braves TV play-by-play announcer once said, way back when Ted Turner had his Atlanta station. It was a dull game, and the camera zoomed in on a lone couple sitting in the empty right field stands, clinched in a deadly lip lock.

    The announcer (Skip Carey, I think) says: "There's two real Brave's fans...he kisses her on the strikes, and she kisses him on the balls."
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  • Posted by 12 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Nope. My father was, during WWII. And one of the things he maintained made the U.S. military better than other militaries was that American soldiers were more independent-minded back then.

    And as far as military unit of many soldiers vs the individual, I have one word for you... sniper.
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  • Posted by $ johnrobert2 12 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Have cousins living there. One is a Dr. One works/worked for the OK Osteopathic Ass'n. Have another living in Tulsa.
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  • Posted by $ Maphesdus 12 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    "The proper political system - laissez-faire capitalism - recognizes that for man to survive, he must be free to think, free to act, and free to enjoy or to suffer the consequences of his own actions."

    Capitalism is an economic system, not a political system. >_>
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  • Posted by 12 years, 4 months ago
    Yes! I have my hat! I look more like the "bum" Jeff Allen of the book than the employee Jeff Allen of ASp2, though...

    When I got to the office, I asked, "You've a package for me from Starnesville Wisconsin?"

    I intend my 20th Century Motor Corporation hat to be part of the costume I wear for Halloween (they let us dress up, go figger).
    The rest of the costume will be my usual clothing, and a special Walmart ID badge I had made up last year.

    Yup, the name on it is "John Galt".
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  • Posted by khalling 12 years, 4 months ago in reply to this comment.
    my husband's first engineering job was with McDonnell Douglas. He did star wars stuff so tehy had him in a windowless building. every day he'd have to take this elevator and read a sign tacked at eyelevel on the door. "The 7 Keys To Self-Renewal." I think what freaked him out the most, was a business organization trying to get their employees on board with a philosophy of life-but really it was some crazy rules that benefited the business at the expense of an employee's mind.
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  • Posted by $ rockymountainpirate 12 years, 4 months ago
    I just thought of my last experience at my local Walmart. Sitting on the bench by the exit waiting for my mother to check out, the assistant manager came to a checkout counter near me, grabbed the phone/PA and announced it was the managers birthday and all the staff started singing happy birthday over the PA. I just looked at them, turned and walked out. Of course I already doubt the abilities of management at this store because of a person they choose to employ....an evil, spiteful woman.
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