One more reason not to shop WalMart.
What a lot of people don’t realize is that we have the system of crime and punishment that we have because for hundreds of years, it’s been determined that once someone has been punished for a crime, they should be re-incorporated into society. Yet, today, it is increasingly the case that once you’ve committed a crime, however minor, you’re marked for life — even if it was a youthful indiscretion.
And the more corporations take over, the less rights ordinary humans will have. Already, corporations that own shopping centers know more about you than any government agency would be allowed to know under the Constitution. Even the USA PATRIOT Act has more safeguards (almost none) than those that cover corporations.
And corporations — which themselves have most of the constitutional rights and protections of ordinary human beings, but almost none of the responsibilities of ordinary human beings — are not (officially, anyway) “the government.” This means they don’t have to pay attention to the fact that we, the people, have certain unalienable rights.
In fact, in a corporate world, we do not have certain unalienable rights. You want a job? Your rights are now “alienable.” You want to enter a certain amusement park? Your rights could now be “alienable.” How long before it becomes: “You want to eat? Your rights are now alienable.”
Cashing checks, using credit cards, identity theft and, of course, the big Boogie Man (terrorists on every street corner and constant yellow alerts) — all these things drive us to willingly, unquestioningly, give up our rights. And once we’ve done so, precedent is set. It’s much easier to keep your rights than to get them back once you’ve given them up.
But as Benjamin Franklin said,
Those who would sacrifice their essential liberty to gain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Believe me, there are much worse dangers in the world than terrorists.
In the Dark Ages, the real dangers to ordinary human beings were called “feudal overlords” and regular people, like me and you, were called “serfs.” They virtually (sometimes literally) owned the people they allowed to live in “their” land. Most people lived on land they never could own and worked it, farmed it, only to turn over most of what they owned to the overlords.
In the 21st Century, the descendants of the feudal overlords are more powerful than in the Dark Ages. And they can track their serfs — that’s me and you — much better. Today, we call them “multinational corporations.”
And unless we refuse to become serfs, by refusing to accept the easy path they promise us in return for that trifling thing called “liberty” or “freedom,” we will, like the serfs of old “owe [our] soul[s] to the company store.”
9 responses so far ↓
1 Mark // Aug 13, 2004 at 6:31 am
Gee, I guess this means that if votes are actually counted on November 2 and the current appointed President and Vice President of the United States are removed from office — they can’t work at Wal Mart. Both have criminal records.
People being “marked for life” by a criminal record only applies to the poor and minorities in this country. If you are white and have a lot of money — it doesn’t matter. You can have a criminal record, go AWOL for more than a year when you are supposed to be performing military duty, tell blatant lies about your military service in your auto-biography (and you can bet the mainstream media will ignore the lies), and lose millions of dollars given to you by your daddy’s friends in business busts — none of it will matter. With some luck, you might get appointed to the White House!
2 nick meyer // Aug 17, 2004 at 9:34 am
What does the policy of Wal Mart have to do with President Bush? Mark I think it is hilarious the way you choose what to comment on. When it suits your needs you fly off at the mouth. Yet when it does’nt we hear nothing from you. A comment from you a while back spoke to the fact that republicans could not get women as democrats could. (referring to the semen stained dress) It seems to me that democrats can get men too as witnessed in New Jersey. Why can’t democrats just keep it in their pants ? On another note did you see the story yesterday about Kerrys first campaign run and his two advisors arrested for breaking and entering. Then their excuse was they thought their office was being wiretapped so they were just trying to prove it. Both sides play the game.
3 Rick // Aug 17, 2004 at 12:48 pm
Actually, Nick, I think the policies of Wal-Mart have a lot to do with Bush.
First off, this Big Brother move of Wal-Mart shows that we have more to fear from corporations than from governments — something I’ve said before — because the Constitution doesn’t apply to corporations. That is, Wal-Mart can violate your constitutional rights all day long and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it. And Bush is eliminating the few tools that “the people” (as in “government by, for and of the people”) had to reign in the corporations. By making sure that corporations can do whatever they please without regulatory controls, the situation for ordinary humans worsens. Corporations have virtually the same constitutional rights that human beings have; they are considered “persons” under the Constitution. Corporations, however, are stronger, richer, and live longer. Humans don’t stand a chance against them without some larger power (e.g., government) limiting them. As Bush & Co. release corporations from the burdens that our forebears wisely placed upon them, corporations become, in the long run, more and more powerful and dangerous to regular persons.
Corporations like Wal-Mart are ensuring that people who have committed crimes in their lives — no matter how long ago it was — will be treated as second-class citizens. With some such corporations, they will not be able to find jobs — at all. And as more small businesses die out (remember that even FAO Schwartz went bankrupt trying to compete with Wal-Mart), that’s a big problem. But even where such citizens have paid their debt to society, the Wal-Marts of the world — if they will hire them at all — get to treat them like less-than-whole. They can justify holding up promotions, paying less money and/or giving you the more menial tasks — after all, if you’re a criminal, you should be thankful you have a job at all. Any real corporation would let you starve to death.
But the burden, as Mark pointed out, doesn’t fall evenly on all people with criminal backgrounds. The President of the United States of America at the current time — that is, George Bush — has a criminal record. Mark jokingly noted that if Wal-Mart’s criminal checks mean criminals cannot work at Wal-Mart, then George Bush would not be able to work at Wal-Mart. Yet, of course, we know that’s b.s. Rich, politically-connected people such as Bush can commit crimes not only according to the criminal codes of their states, but they can, like Bush, commit crimes against humanity and people like you will still feel they walk on water. They will make even more money for themselves and their cronies by shifting the tax burden to people like you. Just as a frog sits placidly in a pot of water that is gradually increased to the boiling point, just as he’ll stay there until he’s boiled to death, so, too, will people like you blithely vote for a President whose policies gradually sap your buying power.
Did you know that middle class taxpayers — that’s you, buddy — have seen their taxes go down perhaps 4% over the last few years, while the rich have seen their taxes go down 19%? All the while, of course, the deficit goes up. Do you know what “deficit” means, Nick? It means the government is using a giant credit card. And like all credit cards, it will eventually have to be paid with taxes.
But who will spend more of their income on paying back that credit card? The rich who are paying 19% less taxes now than they did a few years ago? Or the middle-class who are currently only getting a 4% reduction? Are your children going to be in the upper 1% of the nation? (That’s the category of the rich.) I don’t think so.
And when taxes get raised, do you think they’ll be raised more on you? Or on the rich?
I don’t know about you, but I’m betting the rich aren’t going to get dinged more than you.
Thank G-d you’re a smart froggie. ‘Cause I just know you’re going to figure this out before that pot boils . . . not.
4 Mark // Aug 18, 2004 at 8:55 am
You’re right again, Nick. BOTH parties do the same thing.
Democrats lie all the time about reasons for getting soldiers killed in wars against countries that were never a threat to us.
Democrats pay others to lie about their opponents.
Democrats increase the size of government and run record-high deficits, increasing the birth tax our children and grandchildren will be stuck with.
Democrats LOSE jobs when they are in the White House.
Yeah, right. Both parties do the same thing.
What color is the sky in your world, Nick?
5 nick meyer // Aug 18, 2004 at 1:58 pm
“FLIP FLOP I WAS TAKING A BATH LONG ABOUT SATURDAY NIGHT. NO I WAS’NT. YES I WAS. NO. YESNOYESNOYES OH I JUST DONT KNOW WHAT I KNOW”
John Kerry-2004
You tell me what to say and think and I’ll do it. Mark-2004
“The johns need to be flushed. Re-elect Bush!!!”
Nick Meyer-2004
6 Rick // Aug 18, 2004 at 2:59 pm
Thanks for not letting me down, Nick. 😉
7 ncik meyer // Aug 18, 2004 at 3:25 pm
What are friends for? I would never let you down!!
8 Mark // Aug 19, 2004 at 6:37 am
Nick,
The ever-changing (on a daily basis) positions of Shrub on various issues are far too numerous to mention here. This, however, is the most significant, to my mind:
BUSH WANTS OSAMA DEAD OR ALIVE… “I want justice. And there’s an old poster out West, I recall, that says, ‘Wanted: Dead or Alive.'” [President Bush, on Osama Bin Laden, 09/17/01]
…BUSH DOESN’T CARE ABOUT OSAMA “I don’t know where he is. You know, I just don’t spend that much time on him… I truly am not that concerned about him.” [President Bush, Press Conference, 3/13/02]
If you like “flip flops,” you gotta LOVE Shrub!
9 A Day In The Life Of Joe Republican // Sep 17, 2008 at 9:08 am
[…] At any rate, there was a time when strikers really did risk more than their jobs — they risked death by beating, shooting and other measures intended to get the American serfs back to work. I’m sure, though, that the serfs will . . . oh, they’ll probably cave in for another round of the Dark Ages. […]
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