WallyWorld
Call out the Militia, Vancouver is in crisis!
Wal-Mart may soon be blighting the landscape of lovely Marine Drive....the beautiful commercial district that is home to "Vancouver Honda, between Oak and Cambie" and warehouse after warehouse, fast food joints, car dealerships and strip malls.
I can see why so many west side Vancouverites are rabid in their defense of the integrity of Marine Drive.
Oops, no I can't.
This city is a study in the "mountain out of a mole hill" phenomenon. Wal-Mart, though big, American, non-unionized, cheap and ugly, is a reality, a huge player in the low-end department store scene. Wal-Mart is everywhere. That so many priviledged citizens of this odd little city have enough energy to fight the building of another WallyWorld while real issues: homelessness, illicit drug manufacturing, underage sex trade workers, property crime, etc, etc, etc, are pushed to the back burner, is simply amazing.
Most of the people fighting the Wal-Mart application on Marine Drive have never and will never set foot in a Wal-Mart store. They do not understand the realities of living on the edge of poverty, of raising a family with absolutely no money available for "extras", like new clothing, food, toys.
These same people, living in Kits and Shaughnessy, rarely venture from the confines of their multimillion dollar homes and offices to visit the little people in the areas they pretend to protect. They do not have a clue as to the needs or wishes of the people who depend on part-time jobs and low cost staples that stores like Wal-Mart provide.
Perhaps the fine citizens balking at this application should stick to breathing the rarified air of their gated communities and let the people who are actually affected by this proposal fight their own battles.
Wal-Mart may soon be blighting the landscape of lovely Marine Drive....the beautiful commercial district that is home to "Vancouver Honda, between Oak and Cambie" and warehouse after warehouse, fast food joints, car dealerships and strip malls.
I can see why so many west side Vancouverites are rabid in their defense of the integrity of Marine Drive.
Oops, no I can't.
This city is a study in the "mountain out of a mole hill" phenomenon. Wal-Mart, though big, American, non-unionized, cheap and ugly, is a reality, a huge player in the low-end department store scene. Wal-Mart is everywhere. That so many priviledged citizens of this odd little city have enough energy to fight the building of another WallyWorld while real issues: homelessness, illicit drug manufacturing, underage sex trade workers, property crime, etc, etc, etc, are pushed to the back burner, is simply amazing.
Most of the people fighting the Wal-Mart application on Marine Drive have never and will never set foot in a Wal-Mart store. They do not understand the realities of living on the edge of poverty, of raising a family with absolutely no money available for "extras", like new clothing, food, toys.
These same people, living in Kits and Shaughnessy, rarely venture from the confines of their multimillion dollar homes and offices to visit the little people in the areas they pretend to protect. They do not have a clue as to the needs or wishes of the people who depend on part-time jobs and low cost staples that stores like Wal-Mart provide.
Perhaps the fine citizens balking at this application should stick to breathing the rarified air of their gated communities and let the people who are actually affected by this proposal fight their own battles.
posted by Alphamutt at 12:27 PM
2 Comments:
I think quite a few of the protesters of Wal-Mart will actually be affected by it because they're small business owners. The 'Petty Bourgeoisie', so to speak, somewhere in between the rich Shaughnessy set & the ordinary-to-poor folks (who I personally care a lot more about). Wal-mart's modus operandi is basically to go into areas with mainly small businesses & crush them completely, becoming the only game in town. Of course, Vancouver's not some middle-American hick town, so who knows how small businesses will actually be affected in the area.
Vancouver seems to be able to handle these kinds of things much better than a city like Calgary. There are virtually no 'mom & pop' kind of businesses there now. There are still lots - even around walmarts. Just look at the one in North Van - there are tons of small businesses around there. I think the major issue being cited is traffic. But there does not seem to be a big problem in North Van. The road it is on there is much smaller than Marine Drive in Vancouver.
Chris
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