Is Walmart Truly the Devil?
Last night Penn and Teller took on a topic that most people feel incredibly strongly about. Walmart. The name alone brings tons of baggage to a conversation, with people feeling shamed for even darkening the doors of such a mega-shopping store. Walmart is blamed for the ruin of the Mom & Pop store all across small-town America, and statistics are used time and again to prove that it also brings with its lower prices higher crime rates and poverty levels.
B.S. takes a different approach. Without completely defending the store and its practices, the two men take on some of upper-middle class America’s protests against the store. They interview people who fought to bring the store to their areas, and talk to one former welfare mom who credits Walmart’s job for getting her off government money. They go into towns where most of the stores are boarded up and closed down, with unemployment rates that would make anyone shiver, and where a Walmart would bring needed jobs to a community if it weren’t for lawmakers’ protests to the superstore.
At the end of the program I found myself swaying. Walmart is the store I know I can get yarn for my charity knitting and crocheting projects that will be inexpensive and still warm. It’s a great place to get pet supplies if you get the grocery store varieties of food. Cleaning supply prices are always lower. And while I’ll always have issue with the way some stores treat their employees, I also have seen too many people earn enough money to support their families at these stores to write them off completely. And both Penn and Teller would agree.
Showtime, Penn and Teller, Bullshit, Walmart
March 30th, 2007 at 9:22 am
Hey, first off, thanks for commenting at my blog! I’ve never been here before, I’ll have to subscribe to this blog.
Secondly, I also see Walmart in a less dreary aspect than most people. Out here in Kansas, the Walmart is surrounded by trailer parks and always seems to be populated by the less wealthy. And I believe that it really does a help for the community. Our town isn’t suffering for having a Walmart. We still have the Mom & Pop stores and our independently owned businesses (we’re battling more with Gap, Ambercrombie&Fitch and other big name, trendy stores that would more than happily gobble up the beauty of our downtown).
I wonder if people don’t object to Walmart because of the stigma. They dislike that it’s full of ‘white-trash’ and ‘ghetto’ people because Wal-mart is kinder to their pocket books than, say, Target. And the whole political aspect also rubs some people the wrong way.
Food for thought.
March 30th, 2007 at 9:44 am
i actually agree with that. out here in omaha, it’s the same way. the walmarts may be populated with the “white trash” and “ghetto” of our area, but we still have plenty of mom & pop shops and other kitschy things happening.
and welcome to the blog!