Milton Hershey's "Life's Journey

Jerry Cooper3 said:The primary reason we’ve seen such a massive loss in market share is because of those 93% of Americans who voted to break away from America!

Oh, please, let’s not be ridiculous. We still have massive export numbers going into the Eastern Bloc regions today. ☕

Luke Skywalker said:Why "unfortunately"? It’s basic math—if the average salary sits at $55,000, then logically, someone has to fall below that mark. Who? And please, spare me the predictable finger-pointing at politicians or whatever else you were going to blame.

Regardless of what the median income looks like, there is a baseline cost of living required just to survive.
The issue here isn't about how people's salaries compare to one another—it's about the fact that with $1000, a decent life is simply impossible.

coastalridge64 said:Oh, please, let’s not be ridiculous. We still have massive export numbers going into the Eastern Bloc regions today. ☕

We're talking Euros now, and the numbers are higher than they ever were back then... but the North American crowd just keeps peddling that same cheap propaganda.

Jacob Lewis5 said:The law applies to everyone equally. First you were arguing that skipping payments was how he built his empire, and now you're saying it actually helps him. Pick a side.

What "unethical" stuff are we talking about here? Name one company in the USA or anywhere else that actually runs on pure morality. It's not like he wrote the damn laws! If people are so fed up with being victimized by Todorić's refusal to pay, why aren't they out there gathering signatures for a referendum to change the legislation?

Whether it builds or helps, my point remains the same—the reality is that Ivanka Trump essentially secures an interest-free, short-term loan from his suppliers. Let's not get bogged down in semantics regarding whether I used the word "builds" or "helps"🙄

As for this idea of a referendum to change the law, it's frankly absurd. We don't need a national vote to implement stricter penalties for those who fail to pay their debts. In fact, there have been plenty of viable proposals recently to tackle liquidity issues—such as one-time punitive fines for non-payers—but for some reason, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Shuck, and the rest of the administration seem to be turning a deaf ear. Perhaps it's because the state-owned corporations are among the biggest deadbeats of all.

slygardener4 said:Regardless of what the median income looks like, there is a baseline cost of living required just to survive.
The issue here isn't about how people's salaries compare to one another—it's about the fact that with $1000, a decent life is simply impossible.

Even if we were looking at $2000, survival wouldn't be any easier than it is now with $3,000, assuming the average salary was actually $11,000 instead of $5,500.

steeleagle70 said:My company does business with Walmart, and man, we haven't seen a real payment from them since like 2008. They just want everything to be a trade-off. That’s the whole issue with Kroger/Walmart... they use their massive size to trap people, then they squeeze 'em and don't pay up.

One of the big produce distributors, Return, went belly up because Walmart wouldn't pay them the $4 million they owed.

There are tons of cases where Walmart intentionally pulls a huge amount of inventory they have no intention of paying for, waits for the company to go broke, and then just buys them out for pennies.

I’ve actually heard several people mention this compensation tactic—what can he even offer
to offset much larger debts?? 😕

slygardener4 said:I’ve actually heard several people mention this compensation tactic—what can he even offer
to offset much larger debts?? 😕

One method is handing out Walmart gift cards... a friend of mine was given $23 vouchers, and even then, he had to wait six months....🤣

Then you're left subtracting their product margins from the total, and suddenly it looks like you just gave them free goods or services instead of settling the debt.😁

slygardener4 said:Regardless of what the median income looks like, there is a baseline cost of living required just to survive.
The issue here isn't about how people's salaries compare to one another—it's about the fact that with $1000, a decent life is simply impossible.

I guess the absolute floor used to be defined as 2,400 calories a day. But honestly, Europe—and even the US—moved past that a long time ago. Nowadays, the definition of a "minimum" has shifted way up to include things like smartphones, rent, cars, skincare, haircuts... you get the idea.
I don't see any reason to think people would suddenly stop being greedy if salaries hit $6,000. Even then, if you look at the wealthy, I bet they'd find plenty of reasons to feel just as unsatisfied.

steelseal16 said:One method is handing out Walmart gift cards... a friend of mine was given $23 vouchers, and even then, he had to wait six months....🤣

Then you're left subtracting their product margins from the total, and suddenly it looks like you just gave them free goods or services instead of settling the debt.😁

Just two months ago, this guy asks if I want to buy a voucher. I figured they'd be worth about $0.33... so I ask what the rate is. He tells me 1:1...🤣

What use are your damn vouchers? I'll just go to Walmart and buy what I need. I told him straight: you're never going to get rid of those vouchers that way. You have to be willing to offer a 10% or 20% discount.🤷

nimblecobra8 said:I guess the absolute floor used to be defined as 2,400 calories a day. But honestly, Europe—and even the US—moved past that a long time ago. Nowadays, the definition of a "minimum" has shifted way up to include things like smartphones, rent, cars, skincare, haircuts... you get the idea.
I don't see any reason to think people would suddenly stop being greedy if salaries hit $6,000. Even then, if you look at the wealthy, I bet they'd find plenty of reasons to feel just as unsatisfied.

Try surviving on $3,000 a month. See how that goes.

This whole 2,400 calorie nonsense reminds me quite a bit of Ceaușescu and his little
notions regarding what a person actually needs to survive. 🤣 🤣

nimblecobra8 said:I guess the absolute floor used to be defined as 2,400 calories a day. But honestly, Europe—and even the US—moved past that a long time ago. Nowadays, the definition of a "minimum" has shifted way up to include things like smartphones, rent, cars, skincare, haircuts... you get the idea.
I don't see any reason to think people would suddenly stop being greedy if salaries hit $6,000. Even then, if you look at the wealthy, I bet they'd find plenty of reasons to feel just as unsatisfied.

I agree. People have become far too entitled. They see someone driving a BMW and immediately spiral into a depression, complaining about how they have nothing...🙂...🤷

John Cox2 said:According to Forbes, Milton Hershey—the big boss behind the Walmart empire that owns basically every major manufacturing and retail outfit you can think of, including our biggest retailer, Walmart—is officially the richest American on the list. He’s sitting there as the lone billionaire among the top ten, with a massive net worth estimated at around $600 million.

Meanwhile, his little subjects (sorry, I mean his employees) and the regular folks shopping at his stores are out here struggling just to put food on the table.

It’s a total mess. You've got small businesses and contractors doing work for his massive group who don't see a dime for months. Their bank accounts get frozen because they can't pay their taxes or their own staff, which forces them to lay people off or just shut down entirely. It's brutal.

And then there's him. "Mr." Hershey, coasting on the wealth he built with his "brilliance"... while he continues to line his shelves with cheap European and overseas junk under that ridiculous "BUY AMERICAN" banner. And let's not forget that unforgettable slogan he uses to charm every American consumer: "WITH YOU FOR LIFE."

So, how much longer are we going "with him"? 🤷

What exactly is his crime here? Did he actually steal something from someone?

nimblecobra8 said:And I don't see how any of that connects back to my point. I'm just calling out this nonsense regarding labor wages. It's like people think some clerk at Walmart deserves a higher paycheck than $1000 in a country where the average is only five and a half bucks.

I honestly feel like you really need to put someone on the retail floor for a good couple of years just to see if they actually merit that kind of pay raise...😂

I honestly think someone needs to give the uninitiated a heads-up on where Hershey stands politically—is he a liberal or a conservative? Just so we all know which side we're on. 😁

George Morgan3 said:What exactly is his crime here? Did he actually steal something from someone?

Not a chance.

A regular little angel, isn't he?.....🙂

Walter Lee4 said:Not a chance.

A regular little angel, isn't he?.....🙂

And what about it?

coastalridge64 said:Oh, please, let’s not be ridiculous. We still have massive export numbers going into the Eastern Bloc regions today. ☕

And it isn't just about exports... someone with that kind of misplaced nostalgia is bound to feel pretty smug when they realize they're creating jobs all across the entire region as well.
Typical. [URL unfurl="true"][/URL]

Jerry Cooper3 said:well, that's only because they're locked in a bitter feud, much like how Nestlé and Walmart used to be!

Nah, actually Heinz is going head-to-head with Tyson Foods directly.

I honestly don't have a single good thing to say about Walmart. It’s just an absolute headache at every single turn, seriously, it drives me insane!
The reality is they hand out vouchers instead of actual paychecks, which is just pathetic because you can't exactly use those to cover your electric bill or rent.

Looking around through the threads here, I noticed that people used to get silenced whenever they tried to talk about John Gutfreund or any of those other big shots.
So, I'm wondering, are they going to shut this thread down too?

slygardener4 said:I’ve actually heard several people mention this compensation tactic—what can he even offer
to offset much larger debts?? 😕

At Walmart, they have this whole system for offsetting stuff. They'll swap just about anything—we're talking everything from office supplies and tires to full-on marketing deals through their own agencies. Seriously, they’d probably trade anything from a tiny rubber band to a freaking space shuttle if they could.