Wal-Mart

I’m currently on a cross country tour. And what is the one thing that is universal across the United States, the unifying thread of our society? Wal-Mart. You guessed it. So…

Is it bad to shop at Wal-Mart. The short answer is yes. But the longer answer is more important. Consumer politics can be extremely classist. In the case of Wal-Mart, some people with the financial flexibility to spend a little more money, make the political choice not to use their purchasing power at Wal-Mart (aka The Evil Empire). Another demographic that refuses to shop at The Evil Empire, are young politically minded people. Many of them were raised in privileged households. Some of these individuals make the choice not to patron The Evil Empire. This decision is not a very difficult one, as the Evil Empire is designed for families on a budget, since most American families consider themselves to be on a budget, most people shop at Wal-Mart. This unfortunately contributes to the tremendous war chest that is the Walton Family (Owners of The Evil Empire). This allows the Walton's to continue to travel the world, destroying Eco-systems and assassinating smaller local businesses. These are reasons to not to spend your money there. I commend your decision. But under no circumstances should you be judgmental of people that do shop or work at The Evil Empire. Because we have a dependency on this institution. So many of us are struggling to make a dollar and don’t have the time to visit five stores that are all more expensive and inconvenient than The Evil Empire. Some of y’all might think this is an excuse. It’s not. I personally have been known to shop at The Evil Empire. I’m not proud of it. In fact every day I plan on never returning. My children know the appropriate name for Wal-Mart, The Evil Empire. But they also know the name Wal-Mart and that shows you how pervasive this monster is. I long for the day that the Walton's lose every penny and I plan on working towards that goal. In the meantime, the vast majority of people in the US will shop there. Those of you that have broken from this evil institution, are no better than the people that shop there. And I think that for people to really break away from The Evil Empire, we need empathy. We can defeat Wal-Mart together, after all we are the ones that gave them their power. To get there let’s try and be a little more understanding. I’ll meet you half way. I’ll double my efforts never to return to the Evil Empire as long as you don’t try and imply that I’m as evil as the Walton's if I fall short. Deal?