I think arctic asks some good questions and I will throw my two cents into the ring. To start off with, I would like to emphasize the fact that these are OUR communities that we are talking about. These neighborhoods belong to the people that live there...the people that own homes, rent homes, raises their families, work in that location to make a living and so on. These mega-corporations such as Walmart come into our communities to provide a service and in return, they make a profit if that service is something that their customers benefit from. It is not a service if they are able to come in and systematically wipe out any other form of competition; now that turns into a detrimental factor of that community. By the time this happens though, then the choice is usually wiped out and people feel that is all they have to choose from. In my opinion this is simply not acceptable. I think as private citizens, we have to understand this value and from that, make a choice as to what we want in our communities. As the original post points out, these large corporations do not give a shit about the communities they move into. If the economy goes south and a neighborhood finds itself in hard times, then these companies do not waste any time in shutting down their doors and moving on. Then we have these communities that essentially look as if it has been raped and a skyline of abandoned buildings exist. The fact is that local business would not do that because like you and I, that neighborhood belongs to them as well. There is a value when the owner of the hardware store is also the person that lives down the block from you. When you have this, then you do not have a business owner whose intention is to suck a neighborhood for every penny it can but rather someone in business that looks to provide a service that benefits both themselves and their community they have invested in.
I am 42 and I remember as a child my old man getting really pissed off as when these corporations were first making their move into a lot of these communities across the country. Looking back now, what is missing now in many of our neighborhoods is the community aspect. I remember running down to the local deli as a child and getting some bread and milk, or something that mom might of forgotten about for dinner and needed badly. Joe, the owner of the deli, knew me, my mother and father and all of the family. His son played on the pop warner team with me and would always get what I was sent for, put in a bag and put it on my mom's tab and then would tell me to be careful going home. If the weather was looking bad or if it was getting late, then he would tell the guy working for him to watch the counter as he took me home. It seemed like Joe at times ran more of a taxi service for his customer's children than he did sell products. Would we see that take place in a Walmart? Would anyone even feel comfortable enough to send their child into a Walmart by themselves? Times have changed of course but their was crime when I was growing up...the 70's was a bad time in NY for crime. But the people in the neighborhood collectively chose to make it better because it benefited themselves, their family, their property values, and the rest of the community in general. This is the component that we have to get back to in my opinion.
I assume that a lot of people on this thread perhaps bought a Triumph because of the companies history and that this is a motorcycle that is unique; a great product and an alternative to the super power builders? That was a factor in my decision. That same attitude should be brought with us when we go to buy a pair of gardening gloves or a loaf of bread. Buy that product from the person that has invested into your community and not to someone that just looks at your community as a fiscal investment. Lastly, I also believe we need the help from our elected representatives, preferably at the local level starting off with. It has gotten to the point that the private citizen is out gunned and overwhelmed and it is a battle now. The government went after Bill Gates a few years ago because Microsoft was employing monopolizing tactics within the market and this in turn did help Apple re-establish. Walmart is utilizing the same tactics and they are tactics of gaining a monopoly but now the monopoly is attempting to get established right in your community. This is not only unacceptable but it is un-American. It is time for government to accept this and not hide from it. If they don't, then vote out the schmuck that refuses to take this issue on and vote in the individual that will.
I would also like to add that it does not have to be this way. I saw Walmart operate in Great Britain when I was stationed there under the name of ASDA. They changed their name because of negative name recognition but what is more interesting though, the British government was a lot more active that what America has done. ASDA operated in GB with much stricter regulations and those regulations look to protect the market so that other enterprises have a fair chance in setting up a competitive service as well. And this has worked; ASDA does not go in and strip mine a local community like Walmart does in America. This held true in Germany as well with ASDA. So it does not have to be automatic that these corporations can swoop in and blaze a path wherever they choose and then leave it baron and dead behind it when they are done. So you guys need a pair of gloves, loaf of bread, a pair of socks....whatever; just remember that value is something more than just the price tag. What is that company doing for your community? Walmart might be the big guy but fuck them...what they are doing is wrong and these are our neighborhoods, not theirs.
