I'm Done Being Reasonable
WalMart Can Kiss My Cheeky Pink Ass
By Joan Opyr, 3-06-06
For the past few months, Moscow's community chat group, Vision 2020 has been buzzing with arguments for and against the proposed WalMart Supercenter. The laissez faire free marketeers have accused the smart growth opponents of wanting to limit choice or, worse yet, of wanting to "stick it" to poor people. By opposing the Supercenter, we liberal, progressive, pink commies are just demonstrating, once again, that we're out of touch elitists. We don't know what it's like to be poor. We want to force everyone to shop at the expensive but attractive Moscow Food Co-Op.
(Only conservative Republicans truly understand poverty. Oh, yeah, when I think poor, I think George W. Bush. I think of him growing up in a log cabin in Springfield, Illinois; walking miles to borrow a book; always curious, always working to educate himself; desperately trying to hold together a nation divided. No, wait! That's Abraham Lincoln. Nevermind. Same thing. Or so George W. and Condollezza Rice would have us believe.)
Ah, well. Screw reason and sound argument. Forget facts and figures and proof and evidence. I've decided to stick not just my hand but my whole head into the Moscow WalMart Supercenter hornets' nest. Though I do have sound economic and ethical reasons for opposing Wal-Mart, I've decided to come clean and offer up a confession. I believe that it is wrong to shop at Wal-Mart. It's wrong to shop at a company that relies on slave, child or prison labor. I no longer want to discuss globalization, economics, or percentages -- I want to state categorically that if any company uses a single prisoner, slave or six-year old in its workforce, then that company is wrong, and you are wrong to buy from that company. It is wrong to shop at a predatory retailer that screws its workers and its suppliers, and, once you know exactly how it is that Wal-Mart is able to sell you incredibly cheap tennis shoes or vacuum cleaners or toothpaste or Kotex, it is morally reprehensible to choose to benefit from the misery of others. When you shop at Wal-Mart, you and your dollar bills are saying "F*ck those Chinese child workers" or "My American pocketbook is more important than your Honduran civil rights." We are what we buy, and I don't buy abuse. And here's a hot one for you -- I do want to limit your buying choices to the extent that don't believe you should have the unfettered right to buy abuse either.
The Fox News empty talking heads believe that George Bush has the right to wiretap potential terrorists like PETA or peaceniks or the PTA without a FISA warrant. I believe that I have the right to trample on your stinkin' buying power whether you like it or not. Both of us claim to be acting on behalf of U. S. national security. Neither of us were legitimately elected to public office, at least not in the year 2000, when I didn't run and George didn't win. You don't like it? Lump it. I'm flowing with the national zeitgeist here; I'm tossing reason to the wind and going straight for the gut. Some fear Al Qaeda. I fear predatory global monopolies. Go figure.
I'm told that the average Wal-Mart sells 60,000 products. Hooray. What percentage of those are cheap-assed versions of better things available at better stores? What percentage are things you could buy for even less at Goodwill? Don't tell me I don't give a rip about poor people; I am poor people. My take home pay won't take me home, but I will not buy a toy for my kid that's made by a kid even younger than my kid. You catch my drift? I'd rather buy less, shop less, and own less than consume on the backs of pennies-a-day foreign labor. And, what's more, I'm willing to step out to the very edge of my swaying limb and say, "Not in my backyard, Herr Free Marketeer. Go buy your cheap plastic shit somewhere else, Mr. Laissez Fair. Hop on the Wheatland Express bus, Gus. Ride your bike, Mike. Take Pat and Charlie, hop on your Harley, or lace up your boots and hoof it on shank's mare to a WalMart Supercenter somewhere else, somewhere far from Moscow, because I don't want the damned thing here." I don't give a monkey's brasses whom that might annoy or inconvenience. Why? Because the free market be damned; I don't want to look at a 200,000-square foot store squatting on a piece of ex-farm land adjacent to the Latah Trail, directly across from the Moscow Cemetery, and that will obstruct my view of Paradise Ridge. Call me selfish. I'll agree; I am.
I guess this polemic makes me unreasonable. There it is; my secret is out. On my recent drive to Portland, I got a good look at a Wal-Mart Supercenter in the hideous collection of strip malls that Washington residents call the Tri-Cities. It was a giant carbuncle of a building; an ugly behemoth; a complete and utter bastard. I don't want one of those beasts here in my little Moscow. The contrast between that . . . thing . . . and downtown Portland, or our own beautiful and lively downtown, couldn't be more striking. Let others make reasonable arguments. I've given up. I'm going to rely on my old favorites fear and loathing, and what I say is keep that awful engulfing retail hell-hole out of my town. Keep its crap products and its cheap prices and its tire and lube center away from the Troy Highway and way the hell away from me. Go find somewhere else to wreck. Moscow's too good for a Super Wal-Mart. Way too good.
I invite my critics to hop right on that last sentence because I mean it to be both absolutist and elitist. Launching the occasional hot dog out into cyberspace is what keeps me off the Pepcid AC and allows me to sleep at night.
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Comments
Where do you think those more expensive stores get the merchandise they sell. Go in there and check the labels.
Worse than that, there's the mentality that you succumb to while shopping at WalMart, and for that matter most discount stores that buy in bulk and “Sell For Less"... Oh, look how affordable this is. All the while, never thinking DO I NEED IT? Can I afford it is only part one of the quandary and often WalMart answers that for you by supplying junk with 90 day warranties.
Buying what you don’t need because it’s cheap will not only fill your house to the rafters with junk, but since you did not have to pay much for it, and when it soon breaks, you’ll often toss it as if it never had any significance to you. This topples landfills at twice their normal rate and it contributes to WalMart's bottom line. Don’t think you waste?... Let your weekly garbage tell the truth about your habits.
No only is WalMart not providing for their employees, they are also taking advantage of the poor. That’s right, taking food out of the mouth of poor Johnny so he can have a mini-3-wheeler. Why not? “It's cheap”, is their immediate gratification mentality.
I don’t know about you, but I am cutting back these days and I am really starting to see value for what it is. The real question for me is, besides “How can we keep WalMart small and from taking over our homegrown town of Moscow, keeping local businesses intact without shutting down to become a ghost town of empty storefronts with only vanilla and cheap goods at our access at Big Box stores like WalMart?”...
The real question is: DO I NEED IT?
The candles, the socks, the interim furniture, disposable wipes for everything from my face to my floor... DO I NEED IT?
Do I need to buy DVD’s as opposed to rent them, do I need new trendy clothing, and do I need anything that is not a passing thought. It helps my budget to say NO! to places like WalMart and to ask myself first... DO I NEED IT?
And in the process I get to say YES to wonderful handmade goods like the colorful scarf I bought myself this winter from the CoOp. Each time I wear it, I get lots of comments and I feel happy when I am told it brings out my eyes. It fills me with pride to know that it supports the earth because I want to keep it forever!
I wish everyone thought like I do. So, fight WalMart and especially ask yourself today and each time you start to grab your wallet... DO I NEED IT?
And when you do need it, consider supporting the businesses that make your town the gem that it is. Because buying too much of what you don’t need costs way more than the small, significant purchases we make that feed the soul along with the local economy.
Save the Land - Save the Economy - Save America from itself.
Thanks for the opportunity to air my 2 cents. -ljg
It has done nothing for Canada or the USA except to drive our industry to the other side of the pond.
Walmart can go straight to you know where.
It is like I always said while I was living in Moscow, if I need something and WalMart is the only place that sells it in town, then I probably don't need it that bad. I mean come on, of all the items that WalMart sells, what can a person not find anywhere else in town? Everything WalMart sells is sold at a local business within 10 miles, Pullman included. Books (Book People), Music (Paradise Ridge CD's), Videos (Howard Hughes), Clothes (Tri State), Food (Co-Op, WinCo, Safeway, Rosauers), Tires (Les Schwab, Bruneel, Martin's), everything a person needs is already in Moscow/Pullman. Yeah it might be cheaper, but remember, you get what you pay for.
Great write up and wonderful opinion. Keep on keeping up.
Tim
While you are ranting against those who exploit foreign labor go to your ski country outfitter and look at the labels. Just see where Patagonia, North Ridge, Columbia, etc. are made. I have no idea if those foreign workers are treated better than the Wal-Mart suppliers workers, but you might want to check it out. None of that stuff is cheap, so do the workers get it or the corporate big wheels?
This town is mainly full of students and professors, and the businesses and people that support them. Making money stretch implies that value and true cost is part of the equation, and that means the cost to the community as well. WalMart is just one example and they are not alone, but they are the current topic.
We definitely would not expect value from the likes of WalMart, who has quite a track record. They have far too many strikes against them and they are not ALL labor issues. Their issues are the environment, fair wages, health care, tax burden, union-busting, etc. They are also bound to be depicted as the monopoly that they are by the legislature at some point in time. Why wait until the damage is done when we can act now?
When we need something, we buy it once – not cheap – so that it lasts. And when that time comes we want options, not domination.
We also believe: If you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem.
By all means go where you like and spend what you like, just like I intend to do. I can't imagine what you think is illegal about shopping at Wal-Mart.
Praise God, we live in a country where we can have a choice.
I am speaking to you directly now. Do not attack people personally, as we would never attack you. We respect your well thought out opinions and input. It is unfortunate that you did not offer it here.
You are right... You may shop anywhere you like, and so will we. We are neighbors, we need tolerance, and we choose acceptance of all ideas – even yours. There are many ways to live a life and that is just part of the fun each day.
We want to hear your thoughts and ideas. They force us to consider different perspectives. And that is what makes this a debate forum for the mind, not an argument of angry hearts. It is a growth process for all, not a shouting match for one.
So, please do articulate yourself on the merits of the topic. We are happy to hear opinions from everyone. Attack no one; it only makes you look bad.
I am always amused at the argument that Wal-Mart has cheaper prices than other stores. Back when I (ignorantly) shopped there, I didn't find the prices for the items I regularly buy to be any cheaper than what I paid when those items were on sale at other local retailers. Indeed, Wal-Mart's "everyday low prices" were often higher than the sale prices of other local retailers.
Shopping sales is something I learned out of economic necessity. I found the *perception* I was actually saving money by shopping at Wal-Mart was just that: a perception that didn't match up with reality.
And, once I stopped shopping at Wal-Mart for things like small appliances, I happily found I was able to once again patronize manufacturers I'd written off for making cr*p. Turns out there was an awful lot of "value engineering" going on with those "Made by X for Wal-Mart" products that had made me swear off come manufacturers.