Home town or clone town?
Back in the days when small businesses made up the backbone of our local towns and villages, there were jobs and everyone was connected to the well-being of their friends and neighbours and their home town.
Now, some 50 years on from those days, our planet is ruled by corporations not governments.
And corporations only exist to create profit, no matter the cost to human lives or the planet.
There are plenty of equally destructive corporations wreaking havoc today, but Wal-Mart really stands out of the crowd for its negative impact on our planet and its people.
Local residents were filled with excitement when Wal-Mart came to Grand Falls some 10 years ago. All that cheap, plentiful merchandise! Made in third world countries by virtually enslaved workers…Yay!
Bargain hunters defend the store, and claim Wal-Marts bring jobs and money to the communities they set up in.
This is simply not true. For every two jobs a Wal-Mart store creates, it destroys three local jobs as small businesses are forced to shut down due to lost revenue. Not to mention manufacturing jobs lost due to the overseas factories that makes their stuff.
No Wal-Mart ever rides into a town unless it has first received generous government subsidies and tax breaks. They never set up shop on their own dime. We, the taxpayers, fund their monolithic empire!
The 6 heirs of the Walton fortune are worth 115 billion dollars. They hold more wealth than the bottom 42 percent of Americans combined.
Yet, they pay minimum wages to their “associates” and keep hours down so no one works full time. In the US, each 200 employee Wal-Mart store costs taxpayers more than $400,000 per year, based on the assistance their underpaid workers receive from the government such as public housing, food stamps and Medicare.
A Wal-Mart “associate” ….and what a cynical title that is for a wage slave…would need to work one year…and not spend any money…to earn as much as the Waltons receive in dividends every three minutes!
To restore our communities we need to put our attention and money where our hearts are. Support local businesses and help to starve the corporations who want to rule the world. If we continue to feed the beasts they will continue to rape the planet and pillage the people.
Help rebuild healthy, thriving and connected communities filled with diverse small businesses and enterprises. Be part of the movement to restore our small towns to the lively and thriving places they used to be before corporations took over the planet!
Stephanie Kelley
