Editor, The Record:
Re: Wal-Mart will keep shopping dollars in this municipality, Aug. 18 edition.
J. Elizabeth asks why I would want to turn away business. I don’t, but there’s no way on Earth I want Wal-Mart here.
Her letter was one of those do I laugh or cry decisions. For one, when she makes totally silly statements like how neither small or larger businesses are hiring, but goes on to contradict herself by saying “if they are they are.”
The troubling thing for me is that she is not alone in singing the praises of, in my opinion among others, the worst of the American chains, that has all the charm of an invading army.
Like J. Elizabeth, these people say they’re for jobs but don’t see that Wal-Mart often means fewer net jobs. J. Elizabeth talks about her mommy friends and customers who apparently think they’re too good to work for McDonalds, for example. How they don’t want inadequate hours.
Wow, I bet they want benefits as well. Wal-Mart will fulfill all their delusions: No.
Some downtown cores are decimated when Wal-Mart comes along. Go look at downtown Chilliwack if you want to see empty store after empty store.
Isn’t it bad enough that our mayor and council betrayed those who’ve worked on the revitalization of First Avenue without having J. Elizabeth make insulting statements such as downtown appeals only to those shoppers with fat wallets.
I hope for J. Elizabeth’s sake that she prints up a copy of her letter slamming those of us who read books, do the research, and get into the real story behind the big box stores up to and including the fact that the globalization, and the abuse of overseas workers that fuels the flood of cheap crap found in these stores, is the enemy of any country that wants to maintain its own democratic institutions and its political sovereignty.
Robert T. Rock
Mission