Wal-Mart

At least the furor against Wal-Mart has subsided a bit. No longer are there daily news atorys about how "evil" Wal-Mart is.

Could that be because so many formerly middle class folks are now shopping at Wal-Mart because they have to? Have they finally begun to realize Wal-Mart is the USA's "company store"?

As inequality increases. Folks who were accustomed to "The Good Life", as defined in the USA, find they can no longer afford all the false trappings of wealth. For them, Wal-Mart is a godsend. By golly, they can still (sorta') buy food, AND get some cheap Chinese crap.

This is in addition to those of us who shop at Wal-Mart because we have to. If you can save a dollar on a box of cereal, two dollars on toilet paper, etc., etc., etc. it allows you to buy some really fresh fish, or decent meat somewhere else.

Much of the railing against Wal-Mart has been quite classist in nature.

Now, David Brooks -- a great example of affirmative action for dumb white guys -- has called the Tea Party folks "Wal-Mart hippies". This just proves he's a dumb ass.

Just because the Tea Party folks are railing against the wrong targets, does not mean they do not have real grievances. The "contract" that has been in force between our massive corporations and working folks (both blue and white collar) has been broken.

Job security, the forty hour week, sick time, paid vacations, paid health care, either are, or are becoming a thing of the past. In the "push for excellence", and the cry for "greater efficiency", the worker has been asked to do more, do it better, and get less in return. At the same time the "top" people at most corporations are reaping outsized rewards.

As a result, the old, post WWII middle class has disappeared. Some folks are still hanging on, but most have lost out. In addition, it seems anyone climbing a corporate ladder these days has become an itinerant worker -- going from place to place, job to job, all for the glory of their REAL community -- the corporation.

No more setting down roots, no more getting tied into a community -- two, three years -- then move. Go from one gated community to another, from one cookie cutter home to another. At least the very sameness of temporary homes makes it tolerable.

I suspect that's one reason for all the identical "McMansions" around the country -- at least let the rising young exec. have a measure of comfort, of "luxury", while he's fighting for dear-old-Corporate-U. Similar floor plans, similar amenities, school systems, etc.

For those folks -- they might go to Whole-Foods, Central-Market, or Fairway. All the rest of us go to Wal-Mart at least some of the time.

There are fewer complaints about wal-Mart because more of us NEED it.