Reply #20: What makes the growth of Wal*Mart so dangerous [View All]

[Ron Green]

is that their strategy from the very beginning was to kill the economic centers of small towns (albeit some that weren't doing a good job) by establishing car-based shopping areas outside of town that were then controlled by a distant corporate office.

The next important move was to keep waving the flag and playing the "folksy" local cousin while building a Chinese supply route. The stores are now designed to feed a pathological shopping-for-needless-crap habit created in part by the deaths of all those once-vibrant town centers.

Of course, people who aren't keenly aware of this and aren't politically committed to resisting it will show up in Wal*Mart, because of low prices (never mind the many hidden costs.) You see plenty of Wal*Mart defenders here on DU, whining about "my only choice."