We Have Met Big Brother...

An old sci-fi movie favorite of mine is “Outland” starring Sean Connery made back in 1981. Connery plays the new marshall in a mining colony on Io, a moon of Jupiter. The Marshall isn’t there for even a week when he begins to knock heads with the CEO of the mining corporation which really controls every phase of life on this remote outpost.
At issue is the easy availability of an illegal recreational amphetamine the miners are taking to prolong their work hours which is leading to an unusual number of deadly incidents on the settlement. When the Corporation discovers this cop can’t be intimidated into doing its will they import a team of futuristic hit men to eliminate him. With only two allies, a deputy and the colony’s medical officer Connery manages to prevail.
Corporate control of a local town is something some Americans are familiar with although the rest of us don’t always notice it until the company closes shop and a community sinks into economic depression.
We spend a lot of time nowadays worrying about privacy issues and government controlling our lives. Libertarians would rather let the marketplace and its forces determine what is important and leave the rest of us alone. I generally agree with that philosophy. This morning though while reading the newspaper I had a sudden revelation:
We have met “Big Brother” and he turns out to be..Now before you think I’ve gone completely off my rocker consider this. The major news story for the past seven days around here in Western Pennsylvania has been that a hillside in Kilbuck Township has collapsed and a major traffic artery route 65 northwest out of Pittsburgh has been blocked in the aftermath.. not only that but also the parallel Norfolk Southern Railroad tracks. The road and the rail aren’t expected to reopen until October 7 at the earliest. What caused the collapse? The alleged culprit is site preparation fill for a new Wal-Mart.My mom said to me a few days ago. “Do you know where they are taking the ‘fill’ they are cleaning off the road in Kilbuck?”
“Probably back to the top of the hill,” I replied. "They still need it for their shopping property."
What else was in the news in the last few days(?)…let’s see:
“Wal-Mart is organizing its 1.8 million employees into a political action force.”
“Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. will begin selling all its generic drug prescriptions for $4.00 each,” first in the Florida area with plans to extend the program nationwide shortly thereafter. (This particular announcement caused a pharmaceutical stock I own to jump 31% in price on that day..why(?).. because it’s a relatively new company and none of its products has a generic equivalent.)
Today the major story on the front page of USA Today is about how “Wal-Mart is going green”. Wal-Mart haters are viewing this cynically as a political move to get the public to take their minds off the low pay and benefits Wal-Mart associates receive and the tens of thousands of small businesses that have closed when a nearby Wal-Mart opened and undercut their sales with discounted merchandise.
The real focus of the article, however, is about how Wal-Mart in recent years has adopted various energy saving measures which it claims are paying off in reduced costs when applied over its massive economies of scale.
The company also promotes and stocks conservation products that have yet to catch on with the general public.
Here is the part which makes me nervous. Wal-Mart is requiring its vendors to adopt and practice similar policies as a condition for doing continued business with the retail giant. Fish vendors are required in the next three years to provide only fish from fisheries certified as “sustainable” by the “Marine Stewardship Council”. Packaging of items must be made from corn based PLA, a biodegradable plastic.
All tree huggers are worried that the US hasn’t signed the Kyoto Treaty. It’ll happened when the Board of Directors in Bentonville, Arkansas decides it’s time.
Fred Krupp President of Environmental Defense is quoted as saying, “Wal-Mart has as much or more potential to change the way the world does business.
He’s probably right…