Asbestos, which has been mined for more than 4,000 years, was not largely distributed until the end of the 19th century. Today, armed with the knowledge about the dangers to human health that asbestos poses, production in the modern world has been brought to a halt. However, in many developing countries, particularly in Asia, many are surprised to hear that the use of asbestos has been increasing.
The world’s largest asbestos mine was the Jeffrey mine in the town of Asbestos, Quebec. Because of the preciousness of asbestos to the Quebecois economy, when results began to show the toxicity of asbestos, the Quebec Asbestos Mining Association (QAC) needed to find a solution preventing the stoppage of asbestos use. They turned to McGill University.
Professor J.C. McDonald, working for McGill’s Department of Epidemiology, was funded by a front organization set up by the QAC to research the effects of asbestos. His findings, using outdated and inaccurate techniques, demonstrated that exposure to chrysotile asbestos could give protection against cancer.
Despite the fact that no other scientist has been able to replicate McDonald’s data – even McDonald himself refuting his own findings, going so far as to admit that some of the data taken was thrown away until specific results were found – many companies continue to use his research to support the use of asbestos.
As such, every year, two million tons of asbestos are being put into homes and schools, ultimately causing a public health catastrophe to come.
Kathleen Ruff, founder of the human rights website RightonCanada.ca, and senior advisor on Human Rights of Rideau Institute was joined by Professor David Egilman of Brown University, who is the President of Global Health through Education, Training and Service (GHETS), a NGO dedicated to improving health in under-served communities around the world, at a conference on October 1st at McGill.
Here, Egilman and Ruff addressed McGill’s “internal review” on McDonald’s study, which Abraham Fuks, McGill’s research integrity officer, concluded Professor McDonald to be “a pioneer in the demonstration of health hazards of asbestos.”
Fuks states that while it is true that McDonald’s project was funded by the asbestos industry, there was no collusion between the university and the asbestos industry.
Egilman contends noting, “[McDonald’s team] threw data out because it gave them wrong results.” And when they finally had data that matched up to what they wanted to prove, Ruff points out that “the industry [then] went on a mission to developing countries to get them to use chrysotile asbestos.”
The problems associated with asbestos-related risks are manifold. The previous installation and further dismantling of asbestos abroad lacks proper regulation and legislation, with many companies not respecting safety and proper execution. Consequently, exposure increases the risk of lung cancer, mesothelioma, and nonmalignant lung and pleural disorders.
Countries with economic ties to asbestos, such as Russia, India and Brazil continue to use McDonald’s information to lobby for increased use. Without an independent review of the research conducted and a final nay-say of McDonald’s results, it will prove difficult to put a stop to these organizations.
What started as a good PR strategy back in the 1960s has now exploded into one of the main justifications of continued global asbestos use.
GHETS, founded in 2002, places emphasis on “grassroot partnerships, sustainability and the development of primary healthcare infrastructure.” In association with many major institutions, GHETS funds training of local doctors and distribution of seed grants to for local business start-ups.
RightonCanada, an advocacy campaign to put human rights back on Canada’s political agenda, believes that Canada, when refusing to recognize the human right to water, aid in sabotaging a U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and block action to control export to developing countries of asbestos, among other things, has consequently become “a human rights saboteur.”
– Chloe Nevitt
Feature Writer
Sources: Rabble, McGill Daily,McGill Daily, Global Labour University, CDC, Right on Canada, GHETS
Photo: Wikimedia
U.S. Fiscal Crisis Impact on World’s Poor
It is constantly said of the profound impact of the United States’ domestic developments have abroad, that when the U.S. sneezes the rest of world catches cold. But what of the bottom 40% of the population of developing countries living in such squalor, unable to afford access to the most basic medical attention?
President of the World Bank Jim Yong Kim warns of the dire effects that a hard credit defaults would have on the world’s poorest. Kim issued these statements in Washington D.C. where this week meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund took place in the wake of the recent government shutdown.
The inaction on Capitol Hill has led to international anxieties that a bill will not be passed on time to raise the U.S.’s debt ceiling, and would thereby create a U.S. default that would result in an international calamitous economic backlash. The U.S. Treasury debt has kept global economies perilously afloat for years, including those emerging economies of developing countries in Asia and Africa.
As the House and Senate continue their standoff, the Treasury Department’s Oct. 17 deadline looms mere days away. World leaders are deeply concerned with U.S.’s perilous waltz at the edge, but in the midst of dense official debate, it becomes easy to forget the repercussions on the world’s poorest people.
In an interview with USA Today, Kim urged legislators to “Please consider politics beyond the Beltway, politics beyond your own districts. Really think about the impact that inaction can have on poor mothers in Africa, trying to feed their children. It will really have an impact on those mothers. It will have an impact on young men and women trying to create businesses in the Middle East. This is real. This is not a theoretical impact. It’s very real.”
In the cold shadow of an uncertain future, President Kim’s words shed light on a cause that all parties and nations can and must agree on: the eradication of extreme poverty. Perhaps it is more fortuitous than darkly ironic that the meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund followed up the United States government partial shutdown.
The talks have surely opened the dialogue to support heroic bipartisanship in Congress in the interest of the global good and sustainability—a responsibility that the United States has the privilege to hold alone.
– Malika Gumpangkum
Sources: CNN, New York Times, LA Times, BBC, USA Today
Photo: Yahoo News
What Steven Spielberg Movies Teach Us About Conflict Resolution
From sci-fi and action thrillers, like E.T. and Jaws, to historical dramas such as Amistad, Schindler’s List, and Saving Private Ryan, director and producer Steven Spielberg has done it all – and he’s done it well. Spielberg has produced and directed everything from amateur releases to box office masterpieces and has won multiple Academy Awards in the process.
A common thread in all his works seems to be his detail and interest in conflict resolution. Time and time again, his characters are faced with impossible circumstances; yet through perseverance and determination, a favorable outcome is usually reached on their behalf. Perhaps this is a means of teaching the audience life lessons.
Spielberg movies teach us about conflict resolution. First and foremost, they teach us that giving up is never an option – Spielberg characters never take an easy out.
Take Saving Private Ryan, for example, when Miller and his troop go searching for the paratrooper, Ryan, they easily could have left after the first bump in the road. However, they didn’t. They kept on searching until they found him, thus making the story the epic tale that it is.
Spielberg audiences are also taught that helping others ultimately helps oneself. This is portrayed in several Spielberg movies. In Amistad, freeing the illegally enslaved Africans gives Americans a sense of morale and gives the country a backbone to rely upon. Again, in Saving Private Ryan, helping Army authorities by retrieving Ryan also helps the fellow soldiers get back home faster. In Schindler’s List, Schindler employs numerous Jews, and in return, is able to gain their love and trust.
Audiences are also taught to fight until the finish. Honorable characters in Spielberg movies stay until the conflict at hand is over, thus exemplifying reliability and loyalty. Take any of the Transformers movies for example – Sam always waits to see what happens and shows courage in the face of peril.
Another component of conflict resolution in Spielberg movies is the fact that characters never leave their men behind. They are loyal until their last breaths.
Last but certainly not least, Spielberg movies teach audiences to be kindhearted—to show mercy and humility to those deserving of it. Spielberg movies show that conflict resolution can be obtained by respecting others, by not boasting in times of advantage, and by only using violence when necessary. “I just know that every man I kill, the farther away from home I feel,” Miller said in Saving Private Ryan.
Steven Spielberg has made a name for himself by which movies he chooses to direct and produce. Nearly all movies associated with Spielberg teach some form of conflict resolution to its viewers. The reason for this is not really known, but audiences hear his messages loud and clear. Spielberg’s thoughts and theories on conflict resolution seem to be both rational and reasonable, leaving plenty of food for thought. What if more people adapted to these methods of conflict resolution?
– Meagan Hurley
Sources: IMDb Steven Spielberg, IMDb Saving Private Ryan Quotes, Kottke, Tactical Operations Center
Photo: The Guardian
Why Knightley Would Make a Great Aid Worker
Everyone knows Keira Knightley as the multi-talented British actress who’s been nominated for awards year after year. The twenty-eight year old has already starred in over thirty films in her career since 1995, but what you may not know about this pop culture icon is that she also has a charitable side (having donated to eleven different non-profits) which makes her an asset to any organization.
Listed below are three reasons why Keira Knightley would make a fantastic aide worker.
1. She’s knowledgeable.
Knightley keeps up with current events and knows the battles that the underprivileged constantly fight–basic necessities like food, water, medical treatment, and education.
2. She’s passionate.
Because she knows the struggles that many individuals face, she knows that people must take a stand in order to make a change. She takes that stand. Knightley has lent her face, name, and finances to eleven charitable organizations including American Humane Association, Amnesty International, Beat, Cancer Research UK, Charity Projects Entertainment Fund, Oxfam, Save the Children, SMA Trust, UNICEF, Variety Club, and Women’s Aid.
Knightley starred in a short film entitled Cut for a Women’s Aid domestic violence campaign in 2009. She also visited Chad in March of 2012 to see UNICEF’s work with the local children there. She recently voiced a radio campaign for Marie Curie Cancer Care’s Great Daffodil Appeal in March of 2013, as well.
3. She’s influential.
Because of Knightley’s political and economic stature in society, people listen to her. Knightley can give a voice to the silent and inspire others to do the same.
Other celebrities who have donated to the same foundations include Al Pacino, Annie Lennox, Bono, Daniel Radcliffe, Forrest Whitaker, George Clooney, Kelly Clarkson, and Madonna.
The starlet shows no signs of letting up on charity work anytime soon. She continues her work as a critically acclaimed actress and a global humanitarian simultaneously.
– Meagan Hurley
Sources: Look to the Stars, Contact Music
Photo: Knox News
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Politics
The sixty-six year old Austria native, Arnold Schwarzenegger, first began his career in American politics in 1990 when he was appointed Chairman of the President’s Council on Fitness and Sports under the administration of George H. W. Bush. Little did he know that just thirteen years later he’d be serving as Governor of California–a title that would remain his until January of 2011. Listed below are five things that Schwarzenegger’s political career tells us about politics.
1. Anyone can become a politician.
This isn’t meant as an insult, but merely as a hopeful observation. A person doesn’t have to be born into a political background or wealth in order to hold an office.
Schwarzenegger had built a name for himself based on physical education, body-building and acting long before he ever made the decision to run for Governor of California. Upon election, Schwarzenegger went on to lead California politics for eight full years.
2. Celebrities are becoming increasingly involved in politics.
Celebrities holding political positions are becoming a common trend in society. Other entertainers like Schwarzenegger to hold office in California include former actor George Murphy, former singer Sony Bono, and former actor and United States President Ronald Reagan.
Political scientist Darrel M. West comments on celebrities in government, “There are a number of factors that have made it possible for celebrities to run for elective office. One key aspect of celebrity politics in the post-World War II period has been the emergence of television and its enormous ramifications for the political process.”
3. Age is irrelevant.
A person doesn’t have to work their whole life climbing the political ladder to succeed in politics. Schwarzenegger didn’t.
At the age of twenty-two, he was winning the Mr. Universe competition. By thirty-five he was starring on the silver screen as Conan the Barbarian. It wasn’t until he was forty-three years old that his involvement with politics began. This just goes to show that it’s never too late for a person to make their voice heard.
4. Being goal-oriented will get you far.
Schwarzenegger’s entire career began with a simple dream to be more than ordinary. His parents wanted him to become a police officer, like his father, but he was too ambitious for such a mundane job. Against many people’s wishes, he made a career for himself in body-building and used that as his “ticket to America.”
He later wished to transform himself into an actor, and after much criticism and perseverance, was able to achieve this goal. When he decided that he wanted to get involved in politics, he made yet another transformation. Though he knew that switching to a new career as serious as politics would be difficult, his determination took him all the way to governance.
In a Huffington Post article, Fred Whelan & Gladys Stone write, “Whatever your opinions are of Arnold Schwarzenegger, he’s a great example of what happens when you go after goals despite what people (well-intentioned or otherwise) might say.”
5. All dark secrets will eventually come to light.
Though Schwarzenegger had what most would call a successful political career, he received much backlash after his split with his wife of twenty-five years, Maria Shriver, once it was revealed in May 2011 that Schwarzenegger had fathered a child more than fourteen years earlier with housekeeper Patty Baena. The scandal was the subject of much media attention and had many Americans questioning the morale of the former governor. In politics, nothing stays hidden.
Though Schwarzenegger’s political career has come to a halt, he still continues to be a great subject of learning for American politics.
– Meagan Hurley
Sources: NY Daily News, Huffington Post, Arnold and Celebrity Politics, LA Times
5 Great Male Writers Recognize the Importance of Giving Back
These 5 great male writers express in their writing the importance of giving back:
I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.
– Rabindranath Tagore, a Nobel Prize winning Indian writer, whose novels and poetry are still admired by the whole world today. Famous works include Gitanjali, The Home and the World, and some select poetry.
No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.
– Charles Dickens, a 19th century English writer who was well known and renowned for his giving voice to the poor through his writing. Famous works include A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, and A Christmas Carol.
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson, a 19th century American transcendentalist writer, who wrote mostly philosophical essays. Famous works include “Self Reliance,” “Nature,” and other select essays.
Charity itself fulfills the law/ And who can sever love from charity?
– William Shakespeare, the great bard, perhaps the most well-known playwright in history, toyed with themes of politics, society, and family. Famous works include Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Much Ado about Nothing, and a collection of sonnets.
While we do our good works let us not forget that the real solution lies in a world in which charity will have become unnecessary.
– Chinua Achebe, a 21st century Nigerian author who writes from a post-colonial perspective, tying his stories back to the colonial era. Famous works include Things Fall Apart, Arrow of God, Anthills of the Savannah, and a particularly controversial criticism of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.
– Aalekhya Malladi
5 Great Female Writers on Giving Back
Sources: Goodreads, Moveme Quotes
Photo: Paste Magazine
Investing in the Base of the Pyramid
Last Thursday, in a session aptly named “Creating Business at the Base of the Pyramid,” leaders in world of business, academe and activism convened at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) to discuss issues faced by those at the base of the so-called human pyramid. The base consists of over half of the world’s population; those who live on less than five dollars a day.
CGI effectively demonstrated that a business’s profits are not in conflict with investment in the lives of those at the bottom of the pyramid, but rather are in line with them. With companies such as Barclays, the Western Union and the Ooredoo Group (formerly known as Qtel Group) on the frontlines fighting against global poverty, the paradigm has shifted from the base of the pyramid being viewed as an isolated market, to seeing their potential as consumers and active participants in a globalized economy. Though one may be weary of profit-driven corporations exploiting the vulnerable, all three companies exemplified creating shared value with a sustainable and mutually beneficial approach.
For example, Barclays’ partnership program with Plan UK and CARE International called “Banking on Change,” provides rural villages the ability to start businesses and save money through village savings and loans associations or VSLA’s. This “savings-led micro-financing” started in 2009 with a ten million pound grant from Barclays, and has reached 513,000 individuals with 25,000 VSLA’s in eleven different countries. Moreover, recognizing the disproportionate amount of women at the base of the pyramid, out of the 513,000 members which comprise these VLSA’s, eighty percent of them are women who are now economically empowered and financially liberated.
Group Chief Executive of Barclays, Antony Jenkins, recounted the story of a woman in Uganda, who as a member of a VSLA used a loan to buy cows, sell their milk, purchase a small hotel and eventually send her children to college. While 600 VSLA’s have linked back to Barclays with formal bank accounts, the story above along with countless others shows how business can help break the cycle of poverty and create new jobs while maintaining profitability. Both Western Union and the Ooredoo Group represented at the CGI presented similar examples of how their business models could effectively be customized to fit the needs of the base of the pyramid, provide shared benefits to all sides and increase economic activity for the poor.
With a clarity only those with an outside perspective could give, the only two non-business members of the session warned of touting business as a cure-all for poverty. Both Esther Duflou, a Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development at MIT, and Bunker Roy, the founder and director of a NGO that works to establish sustainable growth and solutions to poverty from within rural communities, called the Barefoot College, emphasized that without the right environment and approach real progress will not be made. Esther advised that the correct policy framework is essential to the alleviation of poverty, while Bunker Roy declared that the only true way to integrate and lift the base of the pyramid out of poverty is to acknowledge, value and utilize the inherent traditional knowledge within each rural community.
While business may provide a way to combat global poverty, it is only one piece of a complex puzzle. By harmonizing public, private and charitable entities with the interests and abilities of the people at the base of the pyramid, the full potential of each individual can be realized in the global economy. The models of success CGI presented will hopefully inspire and convince other key players in the world of business that the potential inherent at the bottom of the economic pyramid is enough to mutually benefit all sides. Regardless of professional affiliation or motivation, the improvement of half of the world’s living conditions is simultaneously an improvement to the global economy as well as an endorsement of the belief that as equal human beings, we all deserve a level of human dignity and economic security.
– Jacob Ruiz
Sources: Barefoot College, Clinton Global Initiative, Barclays, Plan UK, Care International
Is McGill University Doing “Asbestos” it Can?
Asbestos, which has been mined for more than 4,000 years, was not largely distributed until the end of the 19th century. Today, armed with the knowledge about the dangers to human health that asbestos poses, production in the modern world has been brought to a halt. However, in many developing countries, particularly in Asia, many are surprised to hear that the use of asbestos has been increasing.
The world’s largest asbestos mine was the Jeffrey mine in the town of Asbestos, Quebec. Because of the preciousness of asbestos to the Quebecois economy, when results began to show the toxicity of asbestos, the Quebec Asbestos Mining Association (QAC) needed to find a solution preventing the stoppage of asbestos use. They turned to McGill University.
Professor J.C. McDonald, working for McGill’s Department of Epidemiology, was funded by a front organization set up by the QAC to research the effects of asbestos. His findings, using outdated and inaccurate techniques, demonstrated that exposure to chrysotile asbestos could give protection against cancer.
Despite the fact that no other scientist has been able to replicate McDonald’s data – even McDonald himself refuting his own findings, going so far as to admit that some of the data taken was thrown away until specific results were found – many companies continue to use his research to support the use of asbestos.
As such, every year, two million tons of asbestos are being put into homes and schools, ultimately causing a public health catastrophe to come.
Kathleen Ruff, founder of the human rights website RightonCanada.ca, and senior advisor on Human Rights of Rideau Institute was joined by Professor David Egilman of Brown University, who is the President of Global Health through Education, Training and Service (GHETS), a NGO dedicated to improving health in under-served communities around the world, at a conference on October 1st at McGill.
Here, Egilman and Ruff addressed McGill’s “internal review” on McDonald’s study, which Abraham Fuks, McGill’s research integrity officer, concluded Professor McDonald to be “a pioneer in the demonstration of health hazards of asbestos.”
Fuks states that while it is true that McDonald’s project was funded by the asbestos industry, there was no collusion between the university and the asbestos industry.
Egilman contends noting, “[McDonald’s team] threw data out because it gave them wrong results.” And when they finally had data that matched up to what they wanted to prove, Ruff points out that “the industry [then] went on a mission to developing countries to get them to use chrysotile asbestos.”
The problems associated with asbestos-related risks are manifold. The previous installation and further dismantling of asbestos abroad lacks proper regulation and legislation, with many companies not respecting safety and proper execution. Consequently, exposure increases the risk of lung cancer, mesothelioma, and nonmalignant lung and pleural disorders.
Countries with economic ties to asbestos, such as Russia, India and Brazil continue to use McDonald’s information to lobby for increased use. Without an independent review of the research conducted and a final nay-say of McDonald’s results, it will prove difficult to put a stop to these organizations.
What started as a good PR strategy back in the 1960s has now exploded into one of the main justifications of continued global asbestos use.
GHETS, founded in 2002, places emphasis on “grassroot partnerships, sustainability and the development of primary healthcare infrastructure.” In association with many major institutions, GHETS funds training of local doctors and distribution of seed grants to for local business start-ups.
RightonCanada, an advocacy campaign to put human rights back on Canada’s political agenda, believes that Canada, when refusing to recognize the human right to water, aid in sabotaging a U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and block action to control export to developing countries of asbestos, among other things, has consequently become “a human rights saboteur.”
– Chloe Nevitt
Feature Writer
Sources: Rabble, McGill Daily,McGill Daily, Global Labour University, CDC, Right on Canada, GHETS
Photo: Wikimedia
World Bank Risk Management Helps Reduce Poverty
In its annual World Development Report on October 7, the World Bank stated that successful risk management can be an essential tool for development.
Risk management in development involves policies that can help improve the negative effects of natural disasters, economic shocks or health crises. The World Development Report suggests that poor risk management has resulted in a staggering child mortality rate from injury and illness in low-income countries, one that is nearly 20 times higher than that in high-income countries. These slacking policies have also led to more deaths during droughts in Africa than from any other natural disaster. However, if governments and decision-makers can create more durable environments for managing risks, these trends can indeed be reversed.
“Risk management can save lives, avert economic damages, and can provide resilience and prosperity by allowing people to undertake new endeavors,” said Norman Loayza, director of the 2014 World Development Report.
The World Development Report has been released annual since 1978 and is the World Bank’s most comprehensive publication. As inferred, this year’s report looked at how managing risks can end poverty and increase equity.
As of now, many societies and individuals fail to tackle risk successfully because of lack of resources and information, missing markets and public goods and even more, social exclusion. “We’re advocating a sea change in the way risk is managed,” World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said. “Our new approach calls for individuals and institutions to shift from being ‘crisis fighters’ to proactive and systematic risk managers.”
The report tells us that because most individuals remain ill-equipped to confront many shocks and disasters, they must instead depend on shared action and responsibility. Without coherence from the international community, individuals, states and nations will continually be unable to handle problematic events on their own terms.
– Sonia Aviv
Sources: Global Issues, World Bank, Topix
Photo: World Bank
“The Space Between” Documents Kenyan Healthcare
“The Space Between,” a documentary co-directed by Travis North and Kimberly Nunez-North, traces the lives of four perilously ill individuals in Kenya, shedding light on broader issues of poverty and healthcare along the way.
In “The Space Between,” the audience is introduced to four Kenyans currently being treated at the Living Room Hospice, an organization founded by nurse and HIV volunteer, Juli McGowan Boit. Working to improve medical conditions across the country, the hospice treats those living in extreme poverty, who do not have the means to afford adequate healthcare.
The first, Maggie, is a young mother with cancer. As she deals with her deteriorating health, she worries about her four children. With Maggie’s husband working 12 hours a day and earning around $7 a week, the children have no caretaker other than Maggie.
The second individual, Jacob, is a teacher who was paralyzed by a gunshot wound inflicted during a robbery. While receiving treatment in a Kenyan hospital, he developed four bedsores. The wounds are so deep that they are unable to heal, a condition that causes pain, fever and potentially fatal infections.
The third interviewee is Barnabas, an older gentleman who is in the final stages of throat cancer. He is living his last days in an impoverished hospital that lacks morphine or any other painkillers. His greatest hope is to return home, where he can die in comfort, surrounded by family and friends.
The last Kenyan is James, a young man who has contracted HIV, but is afraid to seek treatment because of the subsequent social stigmatization. He has been largely incapacitated by the illness, and thus, is under the care of a hospice.
Describing the process of filming, Nunez-North said: “During our 16 day shoot in Kenya, we received unprecedented access to HIV clinics and hospitals. We engaged in-depth conversations with physicians whose primary focus is on relieving and preventing patients’ suffering, an area of healthcare referred to as Palliative care.” As “The Space Between” unfolds, the intimate nature of the crew’s interactions with patients and doctors reveals itself clearly and magnificently.
“The Space Between” narrates an important struggle between life and death, illness and health, in a healthcare system that lack supplies, funding and trained personnel. However, telling a story can be the first step toward transformation and reform. By documenting the lives of these four individuals, “The Space Between” creates a space for change.
– Anna Purcell
Sources: Indiegogo, Ezra Winton
Where Walmart Won’t Win
Walmart has sales reaching over $135 billion in 26 countries outside the United States making it the world’s biggest retailer. It’s also the world’s largest public corporation when ranked by revenue.
It has shattered the expectations of many small businesses that have either opened in a Walmart’s vicinity or have had a Walmart take over the local community. It’s a seemingly unstoppable force in the retail business. But looking abroad to several of the world’s largest economically sound countries, not a single Walmart store can be found.
On October 9, 2013, Walmart announced that it was breaking up its corporate partnership with Bharti Enterprises, which hints to the dissolving of its vision of opening up hundreds of stores throughout India. Scott Price, head of Walmart Asia, referred to the breakup being fueled by “poor investment conditions.”
This is a deeper issue than pro-small business owners and supporters celebrating over this breakup. When an individual, group, or corporation ascends to the heights that Walmart has in its respective niche, competition has no choice but either to compete and take a tiny share of the market or to hope that the empire crumbles.
While this decision by no means points to Walmart losing its stranglehold on the retail market, it sends a sign to most investors looking to put money in Southeast Asia. If Walmart is backing out and cannot make a steep, yet potentially rewarding investment, how can others?
Russia is another market Walmart has not tapped. For six years, Walmart has been in talks with a Russian-based company to join a partnership that would ease Walmart’s entry into the bureaucratically strict nation. Germany and South Korea are without Walmart stores, as well. Walmart was present in both nations until 2006 when it shut down all operating stores.
For Germany, it was a rather strange issue that possibly stems from cultural and sexual repression. German men did not like when Walmart clerks handed their groceries to them and smiled as they were leaving the store. They believed the friendliness was a sign of flirting which made them uncomfortable. South Korea has also found it hard to house a Walmart chain, as it preferred to stock electronics and clothing as opposed to food and beverages, which can be bought at local markets.
This is not a loss for Walmart as much as it is a rattling in its marketing process. This shake up abroad almost seems like collusion between governments not wanting to take away domestic profits from local businesses, and can anyone blame them?
– Sagar Jay Patel
Sources: Business Week, New York Times
Photo: Chieforganizer.org