AlterNet: Mega Giant Corporations Are Very Bad for America

[marmar]

Mega Giant Corporations Are Very Bad for America

By Barry C. Lynn, AlterNet. Posted January 2, 2010.

Wal-Mart delivers at least 30% and sometimes more than 50% of the entire U.S. consumption of products. Why the monopolization of our economy should scare you.




The following is an excerpt from the first chapter of Cornered: The New Monopoly Capitalism and the Economics of Destruction, published by Wiley Press.


Even with a GPS and a good map, I have a hard time finding Diane Cochrane’s home, which is tucked in the crease of a hill a few miles east of Prescott, Arizona. The one-story green frame building sits at the bottom of a steep driveway that drops from a rocky road that cuts off a maze of streets that, as I drive along in my rented Pontiac, seem more like a mad Motocross track than the arteries of a neighborhood.

Yet it is easy to understand why Diane settled here with her husband after they fled the monotony of a Ford assembly line in Ohio. The landscape is a testament to the creativity of both humanity and God. Every one of the hundred or so houses in the community is unique. There are ramblers, chalets, A-frames, ranches, and log cabins. The terrain, meanwhile, seems to change in character almost inch by inch as the roadway drops and twists vertiginously into deep and scrubby ravines, only to crest a moment later to stunning views of a far shimmering horizon.

A few miles down Highway 69, the Wal-Mart Supercenter at the edge of Prescott is a different world. The parking lot alone is the grandest swath of flat space I’ve seen in the last hour of driving. Then there’s the store itself. To fit the big box into the undulating land, the builders had to cut deep into the side of a hill, carving away as much as six or seven stories worth of dirt and rock.

Once I am inside Wal-Mart’s door, it takes me nearly two minutes, striding swiftly, to walk from one end of the store to the other. Along the way I pass twenty-seven checkout lines and what seems like a whole town -- a savings bank, a McDonald’s, a portrait gallery -- tucked under this one roof. I almost wish I’d brought along some music to entertain myself, because there isn’t much new to look at on my stroll. Other than having a rack of cowboy hats, this Supercenter is filled with the exact same collection of products as every other Wal-Mart Supercenter in the United States, be it in Ohio, California, or Virginia. It also has the same empty feeling. When I arrive, it’s early evening and the parking lot is full. Yet the store seems almost vacant, and the few shoppers I do see wander listlessly and almost silently through the aisles. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/workplace/144716/mega_giant_corporations_are_very_bad_for_america

[samplegirl]

1. The Cancer just grows and grows

http://projects.flowingdata.com/walmart/

If theres a chance to dog Walmart on D.U. yeah I'll take it.

[FreakinDJ]

2. A blythe upon the nation

[samplegirl]

3. If left unbated I can see where this is going....

•All of the restaurants in popular locations will be big box, boring and tasteless.
•All of the media will be owned by one company.
•There will be one, ginormous bank that will be maintained by the government at any and all costs.
•One store where you buy everything from groceries to goods, you know, like Walmart. (I'm sure there will eventually be a Walmart in NYC. It's going to happen.)
There are plenty more things that could be on this path, along with a privatized police force, mandatory vaccinations for all, usury like we've never seen usury before, etc. and so on.

I don't want to be all doom and gloom but unless people start to resist this stuff, unless we just say no to it, then it's going to happen because these corporations will continue to grow, continue to rake in the wealth, and continue to have political power that far outweighs what we, as individuals, will ever have.

Arguing over Climategate or any other fiasco is pretty pointless. Whether they lie to us or don't lie to us is irrelevant. They manufacture the reality. They control what we think, what we hear, what we see, what we eat, they control everything. And many of them don't do it intentionally. They just work within the system. They just do what they do because, well, that's what they do. It's hard to resist it all, but resist it we must.

Because not resisting it will be the death of human culture, and I'm not saying that to just be bombastic. It really will be the death of human culture.

No original thought can occur in an bland environment. If we're all having the same experiences, eating the same food, wearing the same clothes, watching the same shows and movies, listening to the same music, if we're all thinking and doing the same things, where will our creativity come from? Differences are needed to spark controversy, and I'm not talking about the difference between Ruby Tuesday's and TGI Fridays (is there a difference between those two?) If all of human culture becomes this amalgam of big box, corporate culture, the end of history will have occurred... and more than likely, it will happen with a whimper.

[marmar]

4. Very true.

nt

[ret5hd]

5. So you are unconcerned?

[Vidar]

6. K&R.