Should we offer congratulations to Alice Walton? Forbes just revealed that she is now the richest woman in the world.
She has a personal fortune of $46 Billion.
She spends a small part of her vast fortune undermining public education and democracy.
At every election that pits public schools against privatization, she throws in a few millions to support privatization. What a shame.
Imagine the praise she would garner if the Walton Family Foundation changed its direction and supported public schools, the schools that enroll 85% of all children in the United States? What if the Waltons supported experienced teachers, or teachers who plan a career in public education, instead of giving $50-100 million to TFA?
Imagine if she tried to strengthen our democratic institutions instead of using her wealth to undermine the schools on which most children rely.
I wonder why she uses her fortune to disrupt and destroy the public schools that educated her father, the founder of Walmart, Sam Walton. Sam went to public schools, not a religious school or a charter school or a prep school. He went to David H. Hickman High School in Columbia, Missouri.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Another reason to bring back the 90-percent (or more) Eisenhower tax rate for the wealthiest among us.
No individual should have that much wealth because wealth translated to power and power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
There are so many arrogant billionaires in this country. They are dictating policies that harm the 99% and benefit the 1%. We are now an oligarchy. The income inequality is choking working people. The only hope for regular people is to vote for more progressive candidates and keep working on a creating a better representative democracy.
It’s going to take a lot more than that. Both parties are beyond being redeemed through the ballot box. For starters, we need a nationwide strike – all levels, all professions. We also need bodies-in-the-streets protests. Power does not relinquish power without a fight and a reason to fear. We have to give them that reason. This will not be accomplished without violence. The billionaires and their minions will not hesitate to use violence, so we shouldn’t rule it out either.
Dienne,
Yes. See France.
That very comment sounds quite liberal-minded to me. Her family EARNED their wealth….FROM WORKING, and each of them have the God-given RIGHT….to keep it, or use it legally as they wish…. What is illegal….or should be….. is to try to punish ….SUCCESS. What corrupts….is a controlling behavior. Your opinion…which you have a right to have….as I do mine….sounds like the wealthy deserve to be punished…just for having wealth.. Many of those wealthy people have employed other hard-working families providing a means to support their own families. Sadly….at times it does appear to be about power, money, and control in this fallen world….but….what is in the heart….is shown by one’s actions….Unless one breaks the law….what those actions are…are no one’s business. No one should be punished….for honest hard work. After all….free enterprise is what has set America apart from the rest of the world….and made this nation….GREAT.
God BLESS AMERICA!….God BLESS YOU!!!
And, God bless, this President that we have in office. There has never been…nor may there ever be…another….that has helped America…more….than, Donald J. Trump. Another American that is being punished….for his many accomplishments, and he too, just happens to be…wealthy. .
Kindest regards to you, and your family.
Alice Walton and her siblings, like Betsy DeVos, never worked a day in her life. She didn’t earn a penny. She inherited her billions. The Waltons are collectively worth $150 billion. They have one million low-wage workers. If they really cared about America’s children, they should pay their workers $20 an hour and stop destroying public schools. They should lobby Congress to raise their taxes so that every child has medical care and nutrition.
Good morning!
You know…most families leave their children, an inheritance if they have one. Nothing wrong with that. Would we wish that the most affluent…would do more…to help…the less fortunate…and to make a great difference in the world in the care of others…of course! But, to penalize them…because they chose not to…is just as great a tragedy….to take away their freedom because they don’t do as….we wish. Its all about a person’s heart…that determines their character. Not all children live what that learn….Not all children are taught to care….Its starts in the home….one family at a time. You, and I both have the right…to leave…any inheritance….to anyone…whether they deserve it or not….And, really….do any of us…get what we deserve….be it good, or bad? If we live long enough in this world….we all suffer loss.
I respect your thinking….as its good that we both still have a brain to do so. And, the fact that we were blessed to be born in a country that honors that freedom….is also a blessing.
Kindest regards to you, and wishing you, and yours a most wonderful new year….After all…we are still here….That in itself…is also a great blessing!
Gizelle, I think God would disagree with you that He gave the wealthy the right to keep everything they acquired, through crime (as in Trump’s case), and/or earned.
For instance:
Mark 10:25 — “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
1 Timothy 6:9-12 — “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”
Matthew 19:24 — “Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
1 Timothy 6:17-19 — “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.”
It never surprised me how the brain-hacked members of the Alt-Right (also known as Forever Trumpists) cannot resist throwing out the “liberal” word as if it defines everything that is evil in this world when the opposite is in fact, the truth.
Thank you, Lloyd.
I didn’t realize that Jesus wanted the rich to keep everything and give away nothing.
How about a national teacher-led, union-endorsed boycott of Wal-Mart? Long overdue to teach the busy billionaires their own vulnerability.
I don’t disagree but there are a couple problems. First, in rural areas, there are often few alternatives. And second, the alternatives that there are are often just as bad or worse. Amazon, for instance has bloody hands in many different ways and is controlled by yet another billionaire (who, incidentally, is worth nearly three times Alice Walton).
Those who can should certainly boycott, but what we really need is to figure out how to get retail back in the hands of ordinary Americans through local shopping options.
Bezos: $150 Billion.
Walton Family: $175 Billion.
Alice: $46 Billion.
Numbers may be lower after yesterday’s stock calamity.
I have boycotted Walmart for years.
Cheap shoddy goods.
Me too. and I have added Netflix, Gap, Google and HP to that list.
Add me to the Walmart, Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Gap boycott list. My school district forces me to use Microsoft, Apple, and Google, but if I had my druthers I would boycott them too. Amazon and Walmart are the worst, most destructive monopolies, though, and the Waltons are a family most entrenched in the war against democracy and humanity.
I boycott the businesses listed and also, Home Depot, Hobby Lobby and the right wing pizza chains.
I used to grocery shop weekly at WalMart, but now I choose to spend a little bit more and shop at my local, family owned grocery store. I still have to go to WalMart for some things, but I don’t make a habit out of it and I don’t ever fill my cart. That’s my boycott and the best I can do. I wish others would/could do the same and put them out of business. They are horrible human beings….each and every one of them.
They are principled and their principle is to not buy or sell American, and make sure their employees know how to get food stamps.
46 billion on the backs of the poor.
She’s basically a modern day slave-driver.
Many of her workers can’t even afford to feed themselves and their families on the low wages they are paid and are therefore forced to get public assistance.
Remove the word ‘basically’ and I agree.
Sad case for democracy here especially with the kardashians now flaunting a 18 carrot christmas tree 20 feet high. The politicians in this country have proven to be the stupidiest people in this country.
Stupid all the way to the bank.
The politicians are not stupid. They are incompetent and extremely corrupt. They know, but they are paid to say and/or do nothing. If you want to see real change, vote with your dollars instead of casting pointless ballots. Since our elections are scripted and your leaders are chosen in advance, investing money on something good will bring wonders.
“If you want to see real change, vote with your dollars instead of casting pointless ballots.”
I disagree. If we want to see real change, there must be both state and national campaign finance reform that limits how much is spent for each candidate and the same amount of funds must be allocated from one source with no strings running back to corporations and billionaires.
There MUST be a total end to all the Super PACs that Citizen’s United allowed/unleashed to corrupt our already imperfect political system.
With Citizen’s United, we went from a diseased political system to one with the worst form of terminal cancer.
Perhaps the most upsetting thing in Alice Walton’s life that has angered many is a series of automobile accidents for which Alice got off with a mere slap on the wrist.
In 1989, Alice was speeding in Fayetteville, Arkansas and hit a pedestrian. Oleta Harden, a 50 year old cannery worker died from her injuries. Alice was not cited or charged for the incident.
I guess if you have money you can even get away with murder
That’s IS correct. Even when rich people get sentenced there are backdoor pardons that happen and after a few months, they are walking free again.
Maybe Alice has to disrupt to prove her worth?
Alice disrupts because she is bored. When you have $40plus billion, everything is boring.
Possibly. But, as Diane says, she’s probably doing that out of boredom. I think (1) the need to prove her “value” and (2) the drive for unlimited power and (3) greed is why she disrupts to get what she wants.
Maybe she would feel more at home in Wisconsin where they love undermining the will of the people and attacking every tenet of American democracy. I’ll take a millionaire over a billionaire every time.
Our nation needs to adopt public financing of political campaigns. With this one concept the moneyed interests would be out of politics forever.
Bill and Melinda Gates, John and Laura Arnold, Alice Walton…do they fund UNICEF’s program, Kids In Need of Desks? The organization provides desks for students in countries like Malawi.
I’m speculating that they don’t because if they did, that would be a real gift (no strings attached), unlike what appears to be their preferred education transactions (1) money exchanged for control and/or (2) spending that ultimately results in more people ground into poverty.
Desks encourage face-to-face learning which provokes the observation that investors in digital schools-in-a-box, like Gates and Z-berg, would likely oppose infrastructure spending. I presume that’s why Gates lives in the state with the most regressive tax system in the country.
Sure: I congratulate her on inheriting a fortune made by exploiting the most vulnerable people on this planet, for destroying vibrant Main Streets across the United States, and for leaving ghostly hulks of abandoned stores (like the one at the foot of Mount Wantastiquet, in Hinsdale, New Hampshire) strewn like garbage throughout rural America,
Dude, congratulations!
It is unspeakably sad to drive off the big highways through small-town America and see small towns where Main Street is boarded up. Then you see a Walmart, which killed all the long-established businesses, and sometimes the Walmart is also boarded up. Walmart has meant death to these towns.
While I was crashing and burning in my doctoral program in the late nineties, I took a job for a wholesaler in Wisconsin for a brief time, merchandising convenience stores. One day I went to the small town of Ohio, Illinois (no, that’s not a typo), which is pretty much smack dab in the middle of the state. The downtown was full of gracious, arcade-style storefronts, all boarded up. I asked the manager of the store I was stocking what had happened to his beautiful town. He muttered “Wal-Mart” disgustedly.
So, yes, Diane, you said it. And thanks once again for saying it every day, and eloquently.
Mark,
It’s even worse when you go to the small town, see the boarded up stores, then drive a few miles outside town and see a shuttered Walmart. First, they kill the Main Street of every town within 50 miles by undercutting prices, then, if they aren’t making a profit, they close their big box and move on.
One thing I notice the company does is to start with a “regular” Wal-Mart, then, after a few years, close it and open a “Wal-Mart Super Center.” The “Super Centers” contain grocery stores, which generally destroy the remaining local business in these rural towns, the supermarket.
So, I have to say once again, congratulations to Alice Walton for inheriting a fortune earned from the worst sort of predatory capitalism!
And, the Walmart cadaver stores remain for years as eye sores.
What a good line. Walmart cadaver stores. The ones that ate all the little stores, then died.
A long time ago I was in a behemoth Walmart store in rural America that had at least two birds trapped in the building. The birds were flying above the food aisles. Since then, my mind always rewinds the potential for unsanitary outcomes resulting from scared, trapped birds. So, in any context, the memory association with the name Walmart gives me a gagging reflex.