Sowell, Walmart, and Community
A few years ago my mother turned me onto Thomas Sowell. What a well-reasoned man. His thoughtful discourse is a force of conservatism. I enjoy reading his words. It took until today for me to disagree with him.
Anyone who doesn’t like chain stores is free not to shop there. But that is wholly different from saying that they have a right to stop other people from exercising their own freedom of choice. That’s not too “complex” to understand.
The above was the ending to his treatise. Yes, downtown America is against Walmart.
Sowell does a good job of highlighting the importance of the big box stores. Chains permit those stores to sell goods at a lower price. Of course, that is good for the customer. Therefore, big box stores are good for us.
Sowell contends this is good for towns, despite whether or not people want these stores. Some towns construct laws against chain stores. Sowell argues that towns are doing themselves (and their citizens) a disservice by doing this:
Fortunately, enough sanity eventually prevailed that Fair Trade Laws were repealed. But the emotional needs that such laws met were still there, and today they find an outlet in hostility to Wal-Mart and other “big box” stores– especially in San Francisco and other bastions of the liberal left.
People have every right to indulge their emotions at their own expense. Unfortunately, through politics, those emotions are expressed in laws and administrative decisions by people who pay no price at all for indulging either their own emotions or the emotions of the people who vote for them.
But this is where Sowell runs afoul. Those laws can be good for the community.
I grew up in historic Victorian Cape May, NJ. There were no chains in this tiny seaside resort. I believe there were laws preventing chains from establishing business there. It was after I moved away that the town finally acquiesced to two Wawa convenience stores. But you’ll never find Walmart, McDonald’s, or other national chains there. And that is beneficial to Cape May. The town attracts its visitors by selling Victorian architecture, wholesome family activities, and quaint businesses (antiques, bed and breakfasts, etc.). Collectively, all businesses and citizens benefit by not having big box stores on the island.
Dismissing small towns from constructing its business climate the way it sees fit, Sowell undermines business plans for communities that work. Does this equate to Walmart being big, bad, and evil? Absolutely not. But certainly we can agree that Walmart does not have to have a place in every town. It isn’t that complex, is it?
Also blogged on this date . . .
- The Olive Garden - 2008
- Batona's Promise (Updated) - 2007
- Ha! - 2006
Tags: business, Cape-May, New Jersey, Politics, Sowell
By Zoooma on May 17, 2008
“Walmart does not have to have a place in every town.
I have a feeling they would disagree. I’ve also got a feeling that Walmart has hundreds, if not thousands, of plans to get into places they are not yet welcomed, places that are expanding, and places where they seek to abandon their regular store for a new Super Walmart as soon as the community builds more cookie cutter subdivisions on existing forests or farm land.
I’ve also got a feeling they have plans to build mini-Walmarts in the future wherever possible. (I think I’ve heard that idea in the past.) Mini-Walmarts will take over Wawa’s and other similar convenience store chains to go head to head with 7-11 and AM/PM, etc.
This is the nature of the beast. I think in a way they are evil… but at the same time they offer people goods at prices that allow them to buy more than they could at alternative local stores, especially now considering the OUTRAGEOUS cost of gasoline.
Personally I hate the places but I commend towns like Cape May for doing things their way. So long as a community is positively functioning and a majority of people aren’t complaining, let the big/chain stores stay away. Frankly, I would rather live in a place like that… and I know many feel the very same way.
By Bob on May 18, 2008
Lest it be misunderstood, I am a huge fan of Walmart. I think their business model is excellent and they provide inexpensive goods to customers. That’s great!
But I also think that a town should have the right to set its own business climate. A Cape May succeeds by collectively tying its business interests to the Victorian architecture and seaside business. For that town, Walmart does not fit. It could be a mistake (although I do not think it is in this case), but a mistake the town makes together.
Most of the opposition I have heard to Walmart is not based on a collective business model.