 Typical Kunstler. Senseless elitest liberal gibberish. For some unknown reason, Kunstler prefers a demonstrably miniscule number of jobs that pay 'a living wage' to many MANY jobs that allow opportunity in communities where very little opportunity existed. I was reared in rural Louisiana (Columbia) and saw the half dozen main street merchants who made a middle-class existence based off of the lack of choice of the rural population. Charging far too much for shoes and clothing, their livelihood hinged on the plight of people further from competition. Then, when competition arrives, the Kunstlers, who think that competition is bad, carp and moan about that little gaggle of merchants that have no leverage to compete in return. I worked for a hardware/feed and seed store from the age of 16 until I graduated high school. This was in the late 70's. The minimum wage was just north of $3 I believe. I was paid $1.75 an hour working for this small, family-owned operation. The adults who worked there were paid more, but not more than the equivalent of what they would have made at a Walmart. The 'Leave It To Beaver' revision of history wears thin for those who actually lived and worked in those places that Kunstler idealizes.
You know, actually, Walmart has never put ANYONE out of business. The clientelle put businesses out of business by voting with their feet. You can still go into those small towns and still find merchants who service customers outside the doors of Walmart. And, as a firefighter who inspects those businesses on a regular basis, I find Chinese wares in those small mom and pops, also. and the ones who stock the much more expensive American made products have made a choice that works for them. So, if the merchant can choose what merchandise he wants, why can't a customer have a choice like a Walmart as to where to spend HIS hard-earned money?
Another thing that the Kunstlers never seem to get around to is the EXPANSION of the economy that Walmart brings to a community. If I spend all of my money on Easter clothes for my children, then, I have no money for groceries, and vice versa. if I spend all my money on tires for my car then I have no money to go to the movies. But, If I can go to Walmart and buy Easter outfits, which truck drivers, and warehousemen, and clerks, and janitors, and managers, and all of the rest of the support staff sell, and I have enough money left to go to Safeway and buy a ham and rolls and the eggs to devil and tea and greenbeans, then, I've helped support even MORE people. And if I buy my tires at Walmart, and have money left over to take my kids to the movies, then there's ANOTHER business that I can patronize that I wouldn't have the opportunity to if I'd spent all my money on tires at a local merchant. Its a well established fact that discount merchants improve local economies by leaving more money in the pockets of people that allow them to do all manner of things. Having a house painted (Walmart doesn't paint houses), having fences built (Walmart doesn't build fences). Oh, and guess what: no one ELSE paints houses or builds fence if you have to spend all of your money buying Easter outfits and tires. Thank you, Walmart!
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