In America, There is Such a Thing as, “Too Successful.”
by John Reit

Zogby International has apparently supported my own theory that the American public frowns upon success when it's not their own. A poll it recently conducted revealed that 56 percent of U.S. consumers think that Wal-Mart is bad for America. The poll was comprised of two statements of which the respondents were asked to choose the one that best fit their view of the retail giant. The majority chose, “I believe that Wal-Mart is bad for America. It may provide low prices, but these prices come with a high moral and economic cost for consumers.” Thirty-nine percent chose, “Wal-Mart is good for America. It provides low prices and saves consumers money every day.”

Let's forget for a moment that the union-funded group, WakeUpWalMart.com, commissioned this poll. Let's assume that most consumers, contrary to the fact that its earnings for the third quarter were $75.4 billion (a 10 percent increase from the previous year), find Wal-Mart to be an American abomination. What does that say about our country?

The retail chain should probably count its luck stars that it has, thus far, avoided being called before the U.S. Senate. The oil industry wasn't so fortunate. After posting record profits this year, executives from the America's five largest oil companies were asked to explain themselves.

That's right. The Senate of the United States of America (led by a Republican – Sen. Bill Frist – no less), with no proof of any illegal practices whatsoever, summoned legitimate businessmen to explain why they were so profitable. This wasn't the action of the People's Republic of China, or Castro's Cuba. A supposedly free market, capitalist nation where we encourage every citizen to live up to their full potential suddenly turned on its own. Their only beef was that these companies were too successful. And as if to add insult to injury, numerous senators “recommended” that big oil “give back” a portion of their profits toward alternative energy research.

Again, this was the American Senate that conducted this inquiry and made this “request” of the oil industry.

In very little defense of the Senate, I will say their actions were not really of their own behest, but rather of a paranoid nation with little economic education who were paying about $3.50/gallon at the gas pump.

This along with the recent Zogby poll tells me that, at some point, America has been transformed from the Land of Opportunity to the Land of Opportunity Up to a Certain Point . It's clear that if you're an aspiring entrepreneur, you had better be careful exactly how much success you enjoy, how much money you make, and how many jobs you create.

Some of you reading this have probably thought at some point in your lives how big of an uncaring, ruthless, greedy giant the oil industry is. I know I have… before I educated myself on the basics of economics. Some of you might still feel that way, especially in light of the fact that gas prices were raised as much as they were in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. If you do, I would hope that you at least have the intellectual honesty to say that if you owned your own business, you would think ill of yourself if you achieved a certain level of success.

This is where American opinion seems to be heading: You can be successful only to a point. Beyond that, you are an evil, selfish corporation out for world domination and you deserve to be taxed to the point where you will hopefully learn your lesson.

But we all know that, if given a choice, most of us would choose to be successful business people rather than a cashier, copywriter, data entry associate, line cook, etc. And if we were able to achieve a success comparable to Wal-Mart through hard work, efficiency, and wise business decisions, we would certainly take offense to accusations that we were hurting America.

In this scenario, I am of course including the owners of those Mom & Pop stores that Wal-Mart is supposedly running out of business. The absolute, undeniable truth is that there isn't one Mom or Pop that wouldn't trade places with the CEO of Wal-Mart. Not only that, they would take immense pleasure in seeing themselves outdo their competition. No one goes into business with the attitude that they hope they and their competitor can achieve the same amount of success and that neither will ever steal the other's customer base.

Companies of the same industry are constantly trying to improve efficiency to reduce costs and sell a lower priced product than the others. The goal? Persuade as many customers as possible to buy from them instead of the other companies. Period. Wal-Mart is no different.

Another obvious truth is that, in the end, Wal-Mart never has the last word. The customer does. If the American consumer has a problem with the way Wal-Mart conducts business, they can shop at K-Mart, Target, Costco, or a whole host of other companies. Sales figures apparently show, despite what the Zogby International poll says, customers don't have a problem with their business practices.

However, the fact remains – there is something about runaway success by a select few companies that really boils the blood of many Americans. Then I have to simply ask… why? Jealousy? Have we become such a liberal country that we constantly expect a level playing field with each team scoring the same amount of points every time? Or is this the sign that we are surrendering to pure socialism, rejecting the principles of a free market economy? I happen to think it's a mix of all three, with a whopping heap of option #1. Perhaps I'm in denial, but I don't want to think it's option #3. I don't want to think the American people would choose a nation in which no matter how hard one works, their rewards will be no greater than those who put in a minimal effort. But I could be wrong.

So let's examine what would happen if the 56 percent of the Zogby poll, along with the self-anointed liberals and economically ignorant got their wish. Let's assume that tomorrow Wal-Mart announced it would run its business in the same, “acceptable” way that K-Mart or Target does. One of the first things that would happen would be that Wal-Mart would buy fewer products from countries like China or India. Next, their employees would probably unionize. The first noticeable change, or course, would be that prices would go way up. And when prices go up, people buy less. Despite what socialists and liberals think, consumers don't buy based on morality. They buy based on price. And if Wal-Mart's prices go up, the anti-capitalists would get their wish – the company's sales would go down.

What happens from there is of little concern to the anointed. They would have achieved their goal. What they wouldn't (and never do) think of is that as a result of fewer sales, Wal-Mart's profits would also decline. Now, this is important… and it's something that socialists and liberals also ignore – profits are a good thing. They allow companies to open more stores, create more jobs, develop newer, more innovative products, contribute more to an employee's 401K, and so on and so forth. Profits are not funds that go into a big bank vault only to be taken out when rich, fat capitalist pigs feel like filling their solid gold bathtubs in champagne and sharing it with a dozen call girls. Profits lead to a company's expansion, which creates more jobs and more tax revenues.

But again, socialists and liberals could care less. Their tunnel vision only allows them to see the moral imperative – Wal-Mart is evil because it is too successful. They can't see the jobs that aren't created if Wal-Mart can't expand. They can't see the wealth that isn't transferred to the workers of Third World nations because Wal-Mart is no longer buying their products. Even though these are the same people who claim to care about the plight of the so-called “poor,” they would rather see them rely on government welfare than to see them accept a job from this retail giant as it expands. As always, they are more concerned with making themselves feel better, instead of improving the situation of those about whom they claim to care.

So, for whatever reason, America has adopted this notion that success is good, too much is bad. If this is the case, then all I would like to know how much is too much? How much success can a company experience before their legal and public persecution becomes justified? How many jobs can a CEO create before we're ready to tar and feather him? How much can a company lower prices and save consumers money before the public rises up and says, “no more?”

I would like a system of measurement in case I ever decide to go into business for myself.