The Company Store
I understand the argument against what I said, which is why I said “whenever possible” please support locally owned stores. If you can’t, you can’t and that’s understandable. Do what you can with what you’ve got. That being said, major corporations (Clear Channel, Blockbuster, and Wal Mart specifically) have managed to force me out of three seperate jobs (and into poverty on multiple occasions) because of my local employer going under due to their competition. Maybe theres something to think about in the fact that they buy everything they sell from other countries, give nothing back to your community, drive your rent up, put you and your neighbors out of business, and are essentially a big reason why we are all so broke to begin with.
I also understand that I am fortunate to live in an area where it’s easy to shop locally - so like I said if you can’t you can’t. But if you can you should. It doesn’t need to turn into a class argument - I’m just saying if you have 2 choices for something and can afford and access the one made/sold locally, please try to do so.
Also, it should be noted that not all Mom & Pop stores cost more. My local bodega has cheaper toilet paper and spaghetti sauce and basics than the local Rite Aid by a long shot.
This is a nice thought, but it isn’t realistic. People shop at places like Walmart out of necessity, not because they like it. If you ask anyone why they shop at Walmart, the typical answer will be “because of the low prices.” If a single parent is presented with 2 identical packs of toilet paper, one selling for $2.99 and the other for $5, it doesn’t really matter which store is offering it…
…I think it’s inappropriate to expect people to change their shopping habits if it means a lower quality of life for them.
I agree with this completely. ‘Luxuries’ like Starbucks excluded, places like Walmart help out people who need that help. People are people and they’re just trying to get by… no need to make them feel guilty about it. Thanks karmcity.
I’d love to think that most people shop at walmart et. Al out of necessity but that’s just not the case. They shop there because it’s easy. But there are hidden costs of shoppping there, like the fact that you have pay for gas to get there, since most big box stores of their ilk aren’t exactly in urban centres and rather in subdevelopments and the fact that it’s nearly impossible to make a living wage while working at the mart. Everyone has their different priorities - however I think most people missed allgrownsup’s point entirely.
My personal opinion is that I will shop where ever it is convinient and whatever offers the best quality of product. I do not blame others for doing the same. For me, yes, that means that I buy things from one of the two locally owned grocery stores in my neighborhood, but in other situations, I will very unapologetically go to Walmart or Albertson’s. My reasoning is that many people in this country have access to education. The problem is, many people either a) don’t go to college, or b) don’t pursue a degree, because the economic pressures in the past have not been high enough that they needed to do this. A struggling actress could expect to work at a grocery store and recieve a decent living wage while pursuing their acting career. That’s why there are so many shitty actors in and around LA. As the number of people taking jobs at this low-end segment of the market increased, large corporations could afford to push down the price. So what that meant was, low wages for all those people that had access to better education and didn’t take it, as well as all the people that weren’t priveledged enough to have access to better education. If these people had gotten a better education and been able to gain access to a better job, there would have been a smaller number of low-skilled jobs, driving the prices for these jobs up instead of down.
I have absolutely no numbers to back this claim up, besides a functional understanding of economics. But it appears we’re arguing in generalities and opinions here, so, whatever.
- Reblogged from allgrownsup
- Source: allgrownsup
