Thursday, July 09, 2009

Walmartization.

In a few decades, about everyone will have a Wallymart vest, except for the Uber-executive-celebrities in Wally-mart towers and gated enclaves, and maybe some red-rebels in a few third world nations (No se quiero El Wally!). The academic-left went through a Walmart-fetish phase a few years ago, so this topic may be boring to some; regardless of a few whines from marxist sorts or journalists, however, Walmartization does not appear to have abated much (though paraphrasing Iggy Pop, I don't have time to like check the demographics). Walmart marches on, regardless of war, economic collapse, revolutions, or water and environmental issues (building one of the super-stores--and it's the brokering, building and contracting that brings in the big shekels, not the mere day-to-day retail biz--requires more energy, water, and resources than many towns will use in a few years).

W-mart also functions psychologically, we suggest. As the Super-stores shut down the Ma and Pa shops as well as the mid-sized retail--best buy, circuit city (gone from eastside), pep boys, k-mart, various restaurants--the herd congeals, and becomes a sort of ersatz proletariat. Of course wally-bots (aka employees) are not allowed to unionize, per their employment contract, and usually are pink-slipped if they show any inclination towards collective bargaining.

The small town or 'burb sort of becomes a Walmart-feeder--the host to the Wally-parasite. One might say the Consumer does not consume the commodities offered by the store-machine, but that the store-machine--and waxing marxista for a few nanoseconds, the capitalist-owners, aka the Waltons, and their managers--consumes the towns and cities, urban areas, and finally entire regions, producing a class of 'Merican-bots, usually obese, addicted to fast-food, booze, various narcotics, firearms, bad movies, muzak, and cheap technology. Or something like that.

1 comment:

Jonathan Rowe said...

James H. Kuntsler thinks Walmart --a a warehouse on wheels -- won't survive the soon to be "End of the Oil Binge." I don't agree with him.

But, I will note, as long as Walmart doesn't go to government for bailouts, so be it.

I'd rather be run by Walmart with the demands the market (i.e., the bottom line) makes on it, than the state.

Walmart does a pretty good job delivering goods at an affordable price, better than any top down command and control govt. bureaucratic system could.

My biggest problem with them is the time it takes me to walk around the store and get what I need and sometimes the waiting in line. That's not because I don't like walking a lot; I'm in pretty good shape. But rather, my time is $$.

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