Sunday, April 08, 2007

Why we don’t support Wal-Mart…

Vicky and I have never been big supporters of Wal-Mart.

Okay, that might be an understatement. Not only have I never shopped there but, the entire time we’ve been together, neither of us have shopped there. (I’m not going to try to speak for Vicky but I’m pretty sure she didn’t shop there before we met, either.)

They are horrible global citizens, horrible American citizens, and they are horrible to every city and town they swarm into. Just a single good example is the amount of government subsidies they suck up. And then, there’s the way they push their employees onto welfare rolls, how they deprive governments money for schools and other services, and even their own brands of propaganda. Are their prices low? Not if you consider the incredible strain they put on federal and local governments, employees, small businesses, and manufacturers. Shopping from Wal-Mart is like stealing from others. It’s just not fair.

Of course, I’m not the only one to say so.

And, in fact, there’s a great movie out there, Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, that’s been out for a while. Vicky and I are kind of behind the curve on this one because we just saw it today. It does a great job of spelling out the many instances where Wal-Mart does some pretty horrible things.

I think it’s a great movie to see. If you can afford the price of lunch – a cheap lunch – you can get it from DVD Planet. There are also free showings, like this one in my old neighborhood in Orange, Ca.

I think it’s also important to note how much this film wakes you up to the power you can have as a citizen, how you can change things for the better. The company behind the film, Brave New Films, has created other films to help educate you on the truths behind the lies.

Iraq, Gonzalez-gate (if you will), and a federal deficit created to aid the mega-rich are just the start of all the atrocities being carried out in the name of greed. It’s time we wake up.

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