Off the Wal: The first post.

This is not an "I Hate Wal-Mart" blog. This is a chronicle of my family's attempt to escape the riptide of consumerism. In August 2005, we moved to a rural town in the Mississippi River Delta region of Arkansas, a part of the world that has literally forgotten that it is possible to buy groceries, underwear, and school supplies without going to Wal-Mart. Here, Wal-Mart embodies convenience, selection, and value. It also embodies the death of local entrepreneurship. Yet entrepreneurship is essential to sustainable, self-reliant communities. Wal-Mart has perfected a business model that satisfies short-term, individual desires at the expense of long-term community needs. Other businesses have replicated that model, to compete as well as to survive, and local economies-not to mention the environment and the international workforce-are paying the price.

This blog is based on the assumption that there is an alternative. Consumers can meet all of their needs and most of their desires by looking close to home. Wal-Mart and other multi-national corporate outlets can make a profit while supporting sustainable local economies. Here, I will describe my spending habits on a daily basis and rate each day's spending according to how well it promotes my community's recovery from codependency. Shopping at Wal-Mart in its current incarnation is the ultimate shortcut, the equivalent of dumping your garbage in your neighbor's back yard, and so it is the choice to be avoided above all others. The red stars will tell you at a glance what sort of day it's been.

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

The first post.

TODAYS RATING:

Today, I shopped at

Fred's (national chain),
ACE Hardware (locally owned national franchise), and
Kroger (regional franchise supermarket).

I should note that I also went to a locally owned furniture store, but they didn't have what I needed and sent me to ACE Hardware. Their first suggestion was that I try Wal-Mart, of course.