Dear Mom - Letters to Heaven

Friday, December 22, 2006

Philadelphia Says No Thank You to Wal-Mart

In a pathetic attempt to buy "class" Wal-Mart heirs (the ones who keep all the money they are not paying their employees, the ones who pave their homes with marble and install swimming pools, the ones who own acres, and acres of land, the ones who write fat, fat checks to the hard right pseudo Christians vying for power in the Federal government, the ones who do all this while exploiting children and using child labor) tried to quietly pirate a priceless heirloom out of this country's founding city. When the citizens of Philadelphia realized Wal-Mart was shopping for a piece of their history and heritage the good citizens of Philadelphia privately pulled together and said no to the kings of polyester and the China trade deficit. Wal-Mart released this statement;

"We are disappointed that Eakins' Gross Clinic will not be coming to the nation's capital or America's heartland. However, we are pleased for the city of Philadelphia."

This statement struck me as disingenuous and typical lobby spin speak.
Wal-Mart is good at that. I've got three words for that statement - Go F*** yourself.

Here's why...
Americas heartland as embodied by Wal-Mart has given us a trade imbalance with China - senior citizens being exploited, hellish working conditions and draconian attitudes about people, and profit, the exploitation of children and child labor is their business model, employees forced onto federal welfare because zero health care is provided. Their business model has given us the homogenization of culture and is a reflection of a classless, crass, dictatorship that values money above everything else. Everything about Wal-Mart is pathetic and wrong. The jobs they provide suck and as an investment their stock is falling. They specialize in dis-information campaigns and want to become a banking institution. That's right they have petitioned the Federal government to become a member of the banking community. They have Hitler like tendancies and want to drive everyone else out of business. Because as we all know monopolies are how the free market system thrives (sarcasm).

If Wal-Mart is America's heartland - then it's heart is made of coal and doomed to dress the same, act the same and be horribly exploited across generations.

How dare they align themselves politically with the good people who would never exploit their grandmothers and grandfathers or the children of the planet. Their attempt to acquire respectability through a museum and to try and quietly pirate priceless pieces of art is a one shot attempt at having some class.

They could have a museum that rivaled the MET but because they put profit over people and consolidate wealth in the hands of the few Wal-Mart is a heartless, classless, blight on this country - trying to pull the traffic congested, self impressed, corrupt and bloated District of Columbia into the dialog overflowing with wannabes and political hacks to shore up the Wal-Mart image is laughable.

Philadelphia has the heart, Philadelphia has the class and the vision. Philadelphia is the founding city of this nation! Bravo City of Brotherly Love who's Quaker citizens lived in harmony with the indigenous Natives, bravo William Penn and the first home of religious freedom, Bravo Ben Franklin visionary, innovator and first American and bravo Thomas Eakins world renowned artist and teacher who called Philadelphia Home. These were men with vision and drive for the good of all. These were men who reflected our better nature as human beings. These were men who were great and good citizens. These men are the true Americans, what America is supposed to be and those that run Wal-Mart should take a closer look and then they would understand - you can not buy greatness!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

There is a Wal-Mart on it's way to the shopping center where I work. I know it will bring more business to my record store... but I HATE Wal-Mart. I'm considering flyering cars during their grand opening.