[Oe List ...] Wal-Mart and the weapons of mass destruction

[Jim Baumbach]

Marianna Bailey said:


"I think the point is. "Wal-Mart" is not a sustainable model for the future. 
We need to do some big picture thinking of how do we deal with global 
distribution of food. or world hunger. Seems like I remember us saying that 
every community has the possibility of feeding itself. I'm not sure if that 
is true today."

It is interesting to note that the definition of sustainable model depends on one's perspective.  Her comment is true as far as it goes.  What is missing is the understanding that no model is sustainable ad infinitum, even one that redistributes wealth, food and resources to the humans throughout the world.

If one looks at the WalMart model from a capitalism's perspective it is a sustainable model as long as it has raw materials and resources that it can sell profitably, as long as there is a market for its products and as long as people can afford the products and keep buying them.  To keep the model alive in capitalism the creators of the model must continually innovate to keep operating profitably.  Presently, innovating seems to be expanding product lines, building more stores, reducing prices usually by finding cheaper work forces, using cheaper raw materials and buying in such huge quantities that freight and transportation costs can be absorbed into the price.  There are extremely strong forces intent on keeping this model in being and there are also opposing forces that will break the model down.  The model works very well now as it is measured by capitalism's standards of profitability.  Capitalism is amoral and will just as easily crush its adherents as it does other forces that stand in its way.  

The WalMart model is not the problem, it is a symptom of our culture's life style.  As long as it supports that life style, it has a good chance of staying in being.  When the majority of its customer base no longer wants its products nor desire its presence in their community, the model will fall.  And we will abandon WalMart without hesitation if it fails to satisfy us.

Models that try to operate outside of the self-centered rules of capitalism are usually short lived despite their sustainability.  Even in the light of all the warning signs of global warming, diminishing potable water supplies, pollution, etc., etc., human beings are functioning as a biological species that is out of control.  Added to all of the fouling of our own nest, we strive to increase our world's population which in itself is unsustainable.  Human beings must change and do so quickly if there is to be any surviving during the next 100 years or so.

Jim Baumbach