The Purpose of my Last Argument (Wal-Mart is a disease spreading across America and the world)
Uploaded by Drakecons on Aug 29, 2005
Royce S. Moore
Channing Grigsby
English 200
Wed, 8/24/05
The Purpose of my Last Argument
My last argument, in the Bruno's Foods’ break room, with a “fish department” member, was for the most part about Wal-Mart. I was reading, How Wal-Mart is Destroying America (and the World) and What You Can do About It, by Bill Quinn, when John (FD, for short) said, “A Wal-Mart is better than a K-Mart.” Wal-Mart may have a “better,” variety of merchandise to choose from, however, Wal-Mart's goal is not to bring bigger and better things to our neighborhoods, it's to drive out all other businesses making you dependent, then once you're completely dependent their always low prices begin to rise. Wal-Mart destroys the down-town area, the community, and the livelihood of any town it invades.
The downtown area dies in a Wal-Mart infected town. “...:Wal-Mart builds on undeveloped land away from both a town's established center and/or business district,” (Quill, 12). Wal-Mart will draw people away from the downtown area by offering a convenient alternative. With people doing all their shopping at Wal-Mart; out side the down-town area, the private businesses within the downtown area will see a loss in sales due to the thinning traffic on, “main street.” “The Save Historic East Aurora (New York) Association projected that a new Wal-Mart would 'strip our retailers, and especially our Main Street business district, of 68 percent of their existing sales' ... Scary!”(12). With this information fresh in my mind I naturally respond to FD's comment;
RSM: “Wal-Mart is in many ways far worse than K-Mart, yeah, Wal-Mart has more to sell and
for lower prices, but K-mart is not out to kill the local community, K-Mart is not trying to destroy the downtown area, K-mart does not send people in to local shops every week and see what they’re selling and for how much so they can sell the same for cheaper and drive them out of business, and K-mart how bad it may be, does not have a person in the back room who's sole job is to write off an amount of damaged goods for every in coming load, telling deliverers, “you had better believe us or we'll drop you as a supplier!” K-mart is bad but Wal-Mart is the worst.... Wal-Mart’s down right blatant about cheating and stealing.” FD didn't have anything...