- Multinationals -The 'conspiracy' is a de facto oneIn Reply to: Why so afraid of progress? posted by Sprout on February 03, 1998 at 11:41:52:
There is no evil conspiracy, nor is the public making conscience, well informed choices. The 'conspiracy' is a de facto one and, in my view, the publics choices have a particular cause. I think that everyone, myself sometimes included, fail to weigh choices carefully because there is an immediate reward for choosing convenience whereas the reward for choosing a locally owned store or business may be greater, but is more abstract. Convenience and locally owned choices are not always in conflict, but often they are. People who see themselves as essentially independent will choose Wal-mart because they consider only direct, immediate benefits to themselves ie. convenience, lower price. People who view themselves as essentially interdependent, (have a 'sense of community') will choose local, small businesses because of perceived longer term benefits to everyone in the community. They may also take into consideration many harmful hidden costs in the megastores(like enviromental damage etc.) I think the US is country where the first view dominates. I think it has many causes, but I also think that there are things that can be done to combat it, if one decides that it is the way to go. The first, and obvious thing to do is to stop shopping at Wal-mart, Kmart, etc. whenever possible(not just whenever convenient) and the second is to stop using cars so much. I think that cars have an awful effect on the social fabric. This, however, is a topic for a debate somewhere else so I'll shut up.
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