Bill wrote: Harry, Wal-Mart is cheap and I do shop there. Something about the end of small stores and the fact that Wal-Mart and others use basically a temporary work force that will have to live totally off of SS at the end it would appear.
But we know that nobody is going to be able to live off "SS".
[snip]
There are other points to consider. As the Institute for Self-Reliance (www.islr.org) and /The Hometown Advantage/ (Stacy Mitchell) document, communities dominated by corporate chains are worse off economically than are diverse economies maintaining small-scale, locally owned enterprises. Here is Mitchell’s list of why, paraphrased by yours truly:
1. Jobs and taxes. A new Home Depot will not sell anymore hammers and nails than 3 local hardware stores – it’s supply and demand. But because the Home Depot will eventually force the local stores to decline, all the revenue exchange goes out of town rather than staying local. For every 1 job that a Wal-Mart provides it takes away 3 previous jobs.
If I have enough money, there is no way I am going to go in a Walmart. I'll pay extra to be able to buy in a less depressing place (I can well understand why persons "go Postal"...).
But if I'm being paid a less-than-living free-fall-global- capitalism wage, then I guess I don't have a choice (I'm not sure I'm up to shoplifting, however...). If it's do it at Walmart or do without, then I'll "choose" Walmart.
I've never been in a QWalmart in my life to date, and I hope I have enough of a liberal education to be able to keep my "identity" from collapsing if I ever do have to go into one as other than an independent scholar anthropological researcher. Education isn't worth much if it doesn't console you in harsh and degrading times.
I do remember going into a Bradlee's (one of Walmart's victims...) right after seeing the movie "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers". It was "creepy"....
\brad mccormick
--
Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works.... (Matt 5:16)Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1 Thes 5:21)
<![%THINK;[SGML+APL]]> Brad McCormick, Ed.D. / [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----------------------------------------------------------------- Visit my website ==> http://www.users.cloud9.net/~bradmcc/
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