I don't like Walmart. There is that thing that Beagles mentioned where they come into a town, drive out all the other businesses and then sometimes they decide it wasn't worth all the bother for that particular puny town and pull out and leave the town destitute having killed off all its independent business. I guess those businesses could come back since people have to get their stuff somewhere, but maybe they will have gotten into the Walmart habit and start driving to the one in the next town. I know this will not shine a gentle light on my Americanism, but I don't like driving.
I don't like cars, I don't like big highways, I don't like those huge hulking parking lots, nothing bu t asphalt for miles and miles, no trees, no weeds, just ugly cars, and when it rains the water does not seep gently into the earth but it picks up automotive waste and rolls it through the countryside, flooding here and there and polluting the rivers when it gets to them,
Well that's another thing wrong with Walmarts even when they don't pull out and leave the town destitute, they are always outside of town because they need those gargantuan parking lots, and so the downtown that you used to be able to walk to, or in the case of bigger towns ride a cozy city bus with your neighbors. And you would rub shoulders with your townsmen, tip your hat and howdy do, and drop in at Ed's hardware store because Ed was like an old pal of yours and if you didn't know exactly what kind of hinge you needed to fix the screen door, why Ed was happy to sit down and talk to you about it, no trouble young man, glad to be of use, glad to be a vibrant member of a vibrant community. So much nicer then cruising the gargantuan parking lot hunting for a parking space nearer the door so that you wouldn't have to haul your booty of stuff you didn't really need but you had to get because the price was so low, and those hinges that you have no idea if they are the right ones because the teenager working for less than minimum wage didn't know shit about hinges.
And then there is that thing where one Walmart is just like another Walmart and so one place is pretty much like the next place and you drive miles and miles just to get someplace that is just like the place you just left. And then there is monopolies. Remember Teddy Roosevelt, remember trust busting, remember how monopolies were the bane of laissez faire capitalism which is the primal faith of libertarianism?
So maybe because I really don't like Walmart I remembered Chicago's victory as more sweeping than it actually was, and I probably remember it as being more progressive when it was likely promoted vigorously by local fat cats who just plain did not want competition.
But I want to say again that my error was in not doing sufficient research and not because I knew better and was trying to pull the wool over anybody's eyes. You'll notice that the non-Trumpists rarely use the term fake news. This is because when they call Trump on a lie they explain that what he said was untrue because of this and this and that, whereas when Trump proclaims fake news he gives no explanation, just calls it fake news and moves on to another lie. I think this is an important distinction and for that reason I think non-Trumpers would be wise to avoid the term. Except for my esteemed colleagues who I am sure use it only in a mocking reference..
I think that anchor thing is for like shopping centers, where even if a person comes in to buy from your competitor he is stuck at the mall for awhile and may drop in to see what you have to offer. I don't like shopping centers either, but i won't take that up this morning.
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