We don’t often point our proverbial internet fingers and say read this and pass it on,but today is one of those days. According to the article, published in partnership with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, “Having gained more say over our food supply than Monsanto, Kraft, or Tyson, Walmart has been working overtime to present itself as a benevolent king.” Yet the reality is far from the truth: wage deflation, lost jobs and an increasing reliance on cheap non-nutritious foods, which is well known by now are the root cause of our twin pandemics of obesity and diabetes.
Author, Stacy Mitchell’s brilliant TEDx talk on Why We Can’t Shop our Way to a Better Economy is a must see. Mitchell, very simply and quickly shows how in retail sector after sector, corporate interests have rigged the game, giving big corporate players huge advantages over smaller, local ones. Yet most importantly she reminds us that as individual consumers our ability to create change is very weak, especially in an era when growing monopolies in banking, food and retail are given preferential treatment. She argues instead for efforts at changing public policy that favors corporate interest over community interests. In Mitchell’s historical lens, the Boston Tea Party was our first act of revolt against a growing monopoly (The British East India Company) given unfair advantage by the government and that should inspire us all.
[…] In an county where corporate interests increasingly dominated everything, smaller, owner operated stores are increasingly rare. Whether driven out of business by greedy giants or zero-sum, cash conscious shoppers, the result is the same. Chains grow more powerful. City Target, anyone? Unlike Wal-Mart’s attempts to open city stores, Target’s urban expansion has oddly been welcome. For more read NBN on Stacy Mitchell and why we can’t shop out way to change. […]
[…] In an county where corporate interests increasingly dominated everything, smaller, owner operated stores are increasingly rare. Whether driven out of business by greedy giants or zero-sum, cash conscious shoppers, the result is the same. Chains grow more powerful. City Target, anyone? Unlike Wal-Mart’s attempts to open city stores, Target’s urban expansion has oddly been welcome. For more read NBN on Stacy Mitchell and why we can’t shop out way to change. […]
[…] In an county where corporate interests increasingly dominated everything, smaller, owner operated stores are increasingly rare. Whether driven out of business by greedy giants or zero-sum, cash conscious shoppers, the result is the same. Chains grow more powerful. City Target, anyone? Unlike Wal-Mart’s attempts to open city stores, Target’s urban expansion has oddly been welcome. For more read NBN on Stacy Mitchell and why we can’t shop out way to change. […]