1. I'm a capitalist.
2. I don't like Wal-Mart.
Not because of some dumb straw man argument about leftys and sharing and a communist paradise.
I don't like it because the merchandise at Wal-Mart is of low quality and creates a sense of false economy. The FTC issued a report earlier this year about how the significantly lower quality of products sold at Wal-Mart end up not actually saving the customer money in the long run because of the replacement work.
"But Chairboy", you snivel, "eh, it's all the same brands I love!" Yeah, but the stuff that goes to Wal-Mart is usually constructed/made differently to meet the aggressive pricing requirements. "But CHAIRBOY," you shout, spittle flying from your gums as they flap around in your mouth like an oil soaked seagull trying to escape the mouth of a crocodile, "Wal-Mart lets me feel WEALTHY as I purchase my SUNY brand CD player dancing Santa!" Stuff does not equal wealth. A Wal-Mart house is a house that ends up full of broken or unused plastic crap.
My wife shops at Wal-Mart, and it drives me nuts. She bought a computer desk there made of particle board from trees that must have been in the hospice section of the forest. Look at it funny, and it cracks, releasing a cloud of dried epoxy dust. It's the only desk I've ever seen where a piece of cardboard is load-bearing.
She made us go in there last night to get some picture frames. As we walked in the front door, she curled her nose and said "ooh lovely, I just walked into a fart". Well, as usual, the smell didn't go away because this Wal-Mart, like others, has the 'fug' that they all acquire after being open a year.
Some day, we'll all work for Wal-Mart. All the other companies will be gone, and we'll all be "associates" with snappy blue vests, welcoming our foreign tourist overlords and hoping the boss doesn't find out we're not baptist.
