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

[Marianna Bailey]

Netflix or any DVD rental place.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Herman Greene" <hfgreene at mindspring.com>
To: "'Order Ecumenical Community'" <oe at wedgeblade.net>
Sent: Thursday, April 24, 2008 7:28 AM
Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] Wal-Mart and the weapons of mass destruction


> How do I get the 11th hour?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: oe-bounces at wedgeblade.net [mailto:oe-bounces at wedgeblade.net] On 
> Behalf
> Of Marianna Bailey
> Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2008 2:59 PM
> To: Order Ecumenical Community
> Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] Wal-Mart and the weapons of mass destruction
>
> As a P.S. to the Wal-Mart conversation, I highly recommend watching the 
> DVD
> "The 11th Hour" . It gives a very big picture of where we are headed.
> Marianna
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Jim Baumbach" <wtw0bl at new.rr.com>
> To: "Order Ecumenical Community" <oe at wedgeblade.net>
> Sent: Friday, April 11, 2008 9:53 AM
> Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] Wal-Mart and the weapons of mass destruction
>
>
>> 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
>>
>>
>>
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