I don't know much about economics, finances, or anything of the like. I am exceedingly trusting of my credit union that my balance in my accounts is what they say it is. I generally pay all my bills on time, although I forget sometimes. It all eventually works out. I could be more organized on this subject but so far I haven't had any major disasters.
All of the above is a disclaimer that the thoughts I am sharing come only from personal musings on the matter, not any kind of specialized knowledge. I am only sharing what I've been pondering. I am not as informed on this matter as I could be; I haven't read extensively on the subject.
What I do know is that this issue probably is much more complicated than the average American citizen will admit to. Certainly the news outlets are trying to simplify things so that we can choose a side of some kind.
Recently major restaurants, such as Papa John's, have made the news. Papa John's founder has blamed Obama's health care policies for either forcing him to raise prices on pizza, or lay off workers because he can't afford to supply health care for his workers. Other major restaurant chains have also come under fire for deliberately scheduling "full time" workers below 32 hours per week, thus avoiding the requirement to pay for health insurance. And of course Walmart is the evil empire as well for how it treats its employees.
I have Facebook friends who are posting memes, infographics, and the like urging us to boycott these kinds of businesses. According to them, these businesses are horrible for refusing health care to their workers. From store management on up, the rights of the common worker are being ignored. It makes sense.
It seems to be popular these days to portray big corporations as evil. But then I started to think. Next to the federal government, Walmart is one of the largest employers in the US. Think about how many people a single Super Walmart store employs. I would imagine that for every employee we see on the floor of one of these stores, there are at least 10 employees we don't see (those who load and unload the trucks, those who drive and maintain the trucks, and so on.) While Walmart may not offer benefits to all of its workers, it employs millions of Americans. If a Walmart closes in a community, the economic impact would be enormous.
These companies do not ship in workers from outside the community to work in their facilities. They hire local employees, use local services, and donate to local charities. My school benefits once a month from "spirit nights" put on by restaurants, some of them national chains, that provide a percentage of an evening's sales to our school. They sponsor little league teams, high school athletic teams, and much more. The people who work there are a part of the community.
These chains employ local workers. Employee hours are based on sales revenue. Boycotting a business like this doesn't, in the long run, really affect the CEOs or other bigwigs. It affects the individual restaurant and its employees. If a local restaurant closes, local citizens lose their jobs.
This is where my thoughts are hard to express.
If I manage a business like this, let's say I have 25 employees. However, if I want to offer a 40 hour work week to those employees, plus pay for benefits, I may have to cut 5 jobs in order to stay in budget, OR I can offer a 30 hour work week to all 25 of those employees. What's the tradeoff? Which is the better choice? I'm just saying that a decision like this may or may not be related to profits or evil corporate greed.
Businesses, large and small, sometimes overlook the human element in pursuit of profits. Even though I sometimes accuse my students of saying "But what if...?" too much, sometimes in situations like this, you have to ask, "But what if?"
I support local small businesses. I do prefer "mom and pop" restaurants over chain restaurants. I'm also not ashamed to patronize national chains, either, because I know that they contribute to our community and provide jobs.
